Feb. 28, 2012

A remarkable University of Wisconsin-Madison research triumph and artful renderings depicting the importance of biochemistry are the subject of a rare occurrence of the popular Wednesday Night @ the Lab series.

Held for one night only — maybe, as there won't be another Wednesday night on a Leap Day until 2040 — on Feb. 29 and in Room 1125 of the remodeled Biochemistry Building, 420 Henry Mall, this edition of the long-running science speaker series will give the audience an early public view of restored murals painted in the 1940s by John Steuart Curry.

Lauren Kroiz, a UW-Madison art history professor, will talk about Curry's work as the first official artist-in-residence in the United States and the art he intended to enrich farmers' lives and encourage experimental agriculture. Curry's paintings in the Biochemistry Building were meticulously stabilized, cleaned and restored by conservators from the Midwest Art Conservation Center as the building was gutted and rebuilt.

David Nelson, biochemistry professor and lecturer in a course on historic research breakthroughs at UW-Madison, will discuss the discovery of vitamins by the likes of Stephen Babcock, E.B. Hart, Harry Steenbock, and E.V. McCollum (all depicted in Curry's murals) in UW-Madison's agricultural chemistry department.

Wednesday Night @ the Lab — which is sponsored by BioTrek, the Science Alliance, the Wisconsin Alumni Association and the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute — is free and open to the public. There will be free parking in Lot 20, located nearby at 1390 University Ave.

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See restored Curry murals at Wednesday Night @ the Lab