By Chaz Lilly
There’s a lot of buzz around the new mural on the fourth floor of the Stillwell Science Building.
Painted in bright greens and golds, a mosaic of springtime colors, the mural depicts worker bees exploring and learning about their natural habitat.
Made for the Geosciences and Natural Resources Department, the painting was designed by Darla Lohwasser, a senior environmental science major from Marshall.
“I wanted to show the hive, but from the bee’s perspective. The activities they’re doing represent the different parts of the department,” Lohwasser said. “The bees are among native flora and fauna local to our region. You can see a trout Lily, for example.”
Lohwasser is passionate about using art as a medium to communicate science.
“With art you can engage with more audiences and convey a broader message more immediately to a large range of people. Sometimes, art is more accessible than words,” she said.
Assistant professor Sarah Parsons said Lohwasser is a phenomenal scholar, and she has contributed greatly to the success of the environmental science program at WCU. She was selected as an environmental science ambassador for the program last year. As a part of this position, Lohwasser wanted to mix her passions of art and science.
“We discussed a mural and we are all thrilled with her beautiful work,” said Parsons. “Darla’s mural not only blends art and science, but also highlights how all of our programs work together to make up our department. Darla's commitment to environmental science and the environmental science program is unmatched. She is a light in our program and we are lucky to have her."