The Art of Chemistry: Co-taught by Jennifer Hensley and Susan Hallstrom, the newly offered course, Chemistry of Art, combines both chemistry and art.

Brushing the green bile-colored chemical combination across a clear piece of paper, junior Kai Campbell used a cotton swab to produce a thin layer over the surface. Ten minutes later, after exposing it to ultraviolet light, a blue and white image of his cat was revealed.

Campbell was making a cyanotype, something that he gets to do this semester in his 5th-hour chemistry of art class, along with glassblowing and ink making. This newly offered course is co-taught by Digital Photography and Jewelry and Sculpture teacher Jennifer Hensley and chemistry teacher Susan Hallstrom. 

“[Ms. Hensley and Ms. Hallstrom] were talking about how they really wanted to get this class [started] at East and it was kind of almost their brainchild,” Campbell said.

The class combines chemistry concepts to create art projects. So far, they’ve created inks from fruits and plants and experimented with changing the colors by varying pH levels. These inks were used to paint jellyfish, flowers and more.

Most recently they’ve worked on creating clay sculptures while learning about the physical and chemical changes that the clay goes through from the kneading stage to firing it in the kiln. 

“I think that it’s a wonderful opportunity for us to realize that so many of the things that we’re learning here are interconnected,” Hallstrom said. “We don’t have just chemistry, we don’t have just art. You can tie chemistry with art.”

The idea started years ago when students noticed the similarities between Hensley’s jewelry sculpture class and Hallstrom’s chemistry class.

“I’d be doing stuff, and they’d be like, ‘Oh, Hallstrom would like that,’” Hensley said. “And so then I started talking to her about collaborating.”

When Hensley first came to Hallstrom about starting the class, Hallstrom’s first thought was that this class would only be more work for her.

“A lot of times I’m feeling I’m very barely keeping my head above water,” Hallstrom said. “But [Hensley] was so excited about it so that excitement was infectious.” 

None of the other high schools — that Hensley knows of — offers a chemistry of art class, though she hopes the class can be implemented in other schools. She already knows teachers in Shawnee Mission and Olathe schools who are interested in starting a chemistry of art class at their school.

Not only do students get to combine their science knowledge with their art skills, but they also get to learn about the practical side of the class according to Hensley.

“You’ve got ceramics [where] people think about their dishes and making ceramic pottery,” Hensley said. “But then again, you also have the heat shield in the tiles on the space shuttle. And seeing that and appreciating that overlap [you can see] two potential careers that allow you to use these materials in different ways.”