Katelyn found the bacterial colors so pretty, she decided to make artwork! Here is the plate before she began.

Sometimes she made templates, put them onto the plate, exposed the plate to UV light to kill the exposed bacteria, and then removed the template to let the remaining bacteria grow up.

And she'd get patterns like these

The color would develop more over time.

Another pattern - early in development

And after more time.

Fun with templates

And their success. Serratia marcescens, you're so pretty!

More pretty patterns

For the Health and Wellness poster, Emily Truax gathered images of microbes in art, Katelyn Burgett showed off her work, and I shared some historical impact of microbes in artwork.

At the American Society of Microbiology Curriculum for Undergraduate Education meeting, I found another group who enjoyed microbial artwork on plates!