The Faces of Science
Roberto L. Delgado
1999
Acrylic polymer on fiberglass mesh
The Artwork
The Faces of Science is a four-part mural composed of multiple layers of imagery based on past, present, and future scientific research, reflecting the work taking place in the Fort Interdisciplinary Research Center (IRC). Depicted in the mural are 46 portraits of astronauts, chemists, engineers, physicians, physicists, and numerous other pioneers in science. It is located on the fourth floor of the IRC.
Predominantly representing African-Americans, the portraits include George Washington Carver, botantist and chemist; N.C. A&T State University alumnus Ronald McNair, astronaut and physicist; and Mae C. Jemison, M.D., astronaut. The portraits are juxtaposed with abstract images taken from a variety of sources, such as scientific equipment, research photographs, and ancient star tracking systems. The images include the numerical simulation of hydrogen bubbles, the Toltec-Aztec symbol for movement, shock wave patterns, a Dogon West African sand painting of the orbit of a star, and details from the control panel of a NASA space shuttle.
Key to portraits
Mural Panel 1 (closer panel facing elevators)
James Andrew Harris, Nuclear Chemist
Granville T. Woods, Inventor
Mae C. Jemsion, M.D., Astronaut
Bryant W. York, Engineer
Charles Henry Turner, Zoologist
Sarah Breedlove Walker, Inventor
Ida Stephens Owens, Biochemist
Walter Eugene Massey, Physicist
Lloyd Augustus Hall, Chemist
Franklin R. Chang-Diaz, Astronaut
Ronald McNair, Physicist and Astronaut, N.C. A&T, Class of 1971
Mural Panel 2 (back of panel facing elevators)
George Washington Carver, Chemurgist
Frederick McDonald Massiah, Engineer
Roscoe Giles, Engineer
Daniel Hale Williams, M.D., Surgeon
Dorothy McClendon, Microbiologist
Vivien Theodore Thomas, Surgical Technician
Evelyn Boyd Granville, Mathematician
Lloyd S. Delgado, M.D., Physician
Frederick Gregory, Astronaut
Percy A. Pierre, Mathematician
Moddie Daniel Taylor, Chemist
James Ellis Lu Valle, Chemist
Mural Panel 3 (panel across the atrium, facing the elevators)
Meredith G. Gourdine, Physicist
Percy Lavon Julian, Chemist
Katherine G. Johnson, Physicist
Roscoe L. Koontz, Health Physicist
Mary Sylvester Deconge, Mathematician
Edward Marion Augustus Chandler, Chemist
Ruth Ella Moore, Bacteriologist
Ernest Everett Just, Zoologist
Warren Washington, Meteorologist
Scott Warner Williams, Mathematician
Dwight Davis, M.D., Heart Specialist
Augustus Nathaniel Lushington, D.V.M., Veterinarian
Samuel Lee Kountz, Jr., M.D., Kidney Specialist
Mural Panel 4 (panel facing conference rooms)
Harold Eugene Finley, Parasitologist
Edward Alexander Bouchet, Physicist
Albert Cornelius Antoine, Organic Chemist
Herman Branson, Physicist
June Bacon-Bercey, Meteorologist
Charles Richard Drew, M.D., Physician
Mary Styles Harris, Biologist
Herman Glenn Cooke, Entomologist
E. Luther Brookes, Chemist
Campbell C. Johnson, Engineer
St. Elmo Brady, Chemist
Key to Background Graphics
Mural Panel 1
Center area shows a detail of a gyrocompass position indicator from the control panel of a NASA shuttle. To the left is a Dogon West African sand painting of the orbit of star Sirius B. To the right is a modern astronomical drawing of the same orbit. Flanking these on the left and right are hands. Thematically, these elements represent the idea of time between the two Sirius B graphics, space as shown with the position indicator, and the hands as the users of tools.
Mural Panel 2
Center area is the "Olin," the Toltec-Aztec symbol for movement taken from a flat stamp in the Mexico City area, circa 1100 B.C.E. Flanking this is an adaptive grid showing shock wave patterns at M10 flowing over an obstacle. Thematically, the "Olin" and the wave patterns carry the idea of movement in the mural.
Mural Panels 3 and 4
Langley numerical simulation of hydrogen bubbles in transition of the air flow from laminar to
turbulent.
The Artist
Roberto Delgado attended the Academy of Fine Arts in Rome and has an M.F.A. from the University of California in Los Angeles. He has received two Fulbright Fellowships, a. Brody Arts Foundation Grant, and a Ford Foundation Fellowship. He has completed numerous public art commissions, including works for Hartsfield International Airport in Atlanta; the Federal Courthouse in Pocatello, Idaho; the Cleveland Regional Transportation Authority, Gateway Sports Complex in Cleveland; and murals in Costa Rica, Honduras, Mexico, and Nicaragua. His paintings and drawings have been exhibited in galleries in Costa Rica, France, Germany, Mexico, Scotland, and South Africa. He lives in Los Angeles.
The Selection Process
This artwork was commissioned after a nationwide competition, announced in the summer of 1996. Fourteen artists applied for the project. A two-tier selection process was used to review the applications. It included representatives of the university, the building’s architect, and art advisors, with the final decision made by the Artworks for State Buildings Committee.
