Join us on Saturday, October 10 to create your entry for the annual ASM Agar Art Contest, a world-famous painting-with-bacteria competition. Beginners, experienced microbiologists, first-time artists, and master agar painters are all welcome! Win prizes and bragging rights!

Workshop and contest entry FREE, with the $5 deposit refunded for those who attend.

🦠💌This year’s theme is Microbial Postcards. Every place has a microbial story, from hometowns and hidden gems to iconic landmarks and dream travel destinations. Create a microbial postcard inspired by a place you love, exploring the visible features that make it special and the invisible microbial communities that help shape it.

Bring a sketch that fits into a 100mm circle (template here) and a description explaining what your piece represents. We’ll provide the agar, paintbrushes, and glowing bacteria as paint! As you create your masterpieces, we’ll talk about how fluorescent proteins are used across art and science, and the importance of bacterial transformation in biotechnology.

Once your postcard has developed, we’ll photograph it and email you the photos, along with details about the agar and microbial strains used. Later that month, we’ll vote on local favorites and celebrate with SoundBio Lab prizes and website & newsletter spotlights!

You can submit the photo and description of your art to ASM through their submission portal by October 21 at 8:59 pm PT. See the complete contest rules here. ASM submissions are often featured in media, websites, and ASM newsletters, whether or not they win, so we encourage everyone to enter!