October 13, 2017

Exhibit translates scientific discoveries into art celebrating Vanderbilt’s Nobel laureates

A new exhibit on display at the Wond’ry honors the discoveries of Vanderbilt’s Nobel laureates by translating them into beautiful works of art.

“Cyclic AMP,” 2017, honoring Nobel laureate Earl Sutherland Jr.; pigment on canvas, 24″x24″ (Robert Lavieri)

A new exhibit on display at the Wond’ry honors the discoveries of Vanderbilt’s Nobel laureates by translating them into beautiful works of art.

Vanderbilt’s Nobel Laureates: A Visual Tribute to Discovery and Innovation has been installed on the second floor of the Wond’ry at the Innovation Pavilion, adjacent to the new Engineering and Science Building. The exhibit’s designer is Robert Lavieri, a project manager in the Vanderbilt University Medical Center’s Institute for Clinical and Translational Research.

“My goal in this exhibit is to represent the theme of an entire lifetime of work in a single piece of art for each of Vanderbilt’s Nobel laureates,” says Lavieri. “In general, part of my mission is to provide a much wider audience (than just scientists) the ability to see and appreciate the wonders in nature that can’t be seen with the naked eye.”

Six individuals associated with Vanderbilt are Nobel laureates, each of whom is represented by an image in Lavieri’s exhibit:

  • Al Gore Jr., former U.S. vice president; attended Graduate School 1973; attended Law School 1977: awarded 2007 Peace Prize for efforts to build up and disseminate greater knowledge about man-made climate change and to lay foundations to counteract such change.
  • Muhammad Yunus, PhD’71: awarded 2006 Peace Prize for establishing the Grameen Bank and pioneering the practice of providing microloans to the impoverished.
  • Stanley Cohen, Vanderbilt biochemistry professor (1959–90): awarded 1986 Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his discovery with a colleague of epidermal growth factor.
  • Stanford Moore, BA’35: awarded 1972 Prize in Chemistry for fundamental contributions to the understanding of enzyme chemistry.
  • Earl Sutherland Jr., Vanderbilt physiology professor (1963–73): awarded 1971 Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his discovery of the metabolic regulating compound cyclic AMP.
  • Max Delbrück, Vanderbilt physics professor (1940–47): awarded 1969 Prize in Physiology or Medicine for discoveries concerning the replication mechanism and genetic structure of viruses.

Lavieri is hosting an exhibit reception Oct. 25 from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. at the Wond’ry, second floor. The Vanderbilt community is invited. Please register to attend here.

The exhibit will remain installed at the Wond’ry at least through the end of the calendar year. Learn more about Lavieri here. Download the exhibit’s poster, with full explanations of each image and how they relate to each Nobel laureate, here: Robert Lavieri-Nobel laureates exhibit poster.

Contact: Robert Lavieri, (615) 875-7905