I am involved in a number of projects that combine Art and Science research to engage with the general public on meteorite studies and Solar System formation.
Collaborative Arts Research Initiative
I was awarded with a CARI fellowship in Fall 2019, and from there was able to explore artistic possibilities! Running until the end of Fall 2022, the fellowship provided me with seed funding with which to pursue artistic research, and to obtain external funding for that research.
Collaboration with Visual Artist Rebecca Rutstein
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I have been working with celebrated visual artist Rebecca Rutstein in research to investigate extra-terrestrial materials at different scales. We are working to enhance examination and understandings of meteorites through the use of different media to enhance understanding and educate the public about planetary and space sciences.
A collaboration that started in Spring 2020 (and continued to grow during the pandemic!), we have been meeting regularly to examine meteorite thin sections, characterise textures that we are observed, discussing how these materials formed, and considering major Solar System processes! We had our first Public Seminar in September 2021, in which Rebecca discussed her work, with support from CARI and the Department of Geological Sciences. In Spring 2022, we were approved for an exhibition in the Sarah Moody Gallery (SMG), and our research intensified in the run-up to produce 16 pieces for the gallery! 
Julia showing Rebecca a newly acquired sample - "Look! A meteorite!"
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Julia driving the Zeiss Axio Imager microscope in the Cosmochemistry Lab to examine a meteorite thin section, with Rebecca joining the lab-session remotely.
Julia and Rebecca discussing the textures present within a meteorite thin section (dominantly intergrowths of feldspar and pyroxene).
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Rebecca Rutstein
Out of Thin Air: Microscopic Journeys through Cosmic Landscapes
Sarah Moody Gallery, UA - September 8th - October 14th 2022.
Press releases: CARI release & SMG release
Press releases: CARI release & SMG release
Space Gallery, Denver Colorado - November 18th - December 31st 2022.
Press Release: Space Gallery release
Press Release: Space Gallery release
The sylacauga meteorite
Falling in the small township of Sylacauga, AL in the early afternoon of the 30th November 1954, the main mass of the Sylacauga meteorite plummeted through the roof of a house rented by Mrs. Ann Hodges and her husband, striking their stand-up radio console in their living room, before ricocheting across the room toward Mrs. Hodges, who was napping on the sofa. The resulting blow to her abdomen became headlines across the region, nation, and internationally, securing this infamous rock (known affectionately as "the Hodges meteorite")as an important artifact in the history of impacts on the Earth.
Importantly, this is the only documented meteorite in known history to have hit someone.
This event had another facet: it catapulted Mrs. Hodges into a media spotlight, as a symbol of humanities' interaction with the extra-terrestrial.
You can watch a video of me describing the Sylacauga meteorite here.
I was featured on the Zeiss Microscopy Blog, in an interview about my research on howardites and also Sylacauga, which you can view here.
Importantly, this is the only documented meteorite in known history to have hit someone.
This event had another facet: it catapulted Mrs. Hodges into a media spotlight, as a symbol of humanities' interaction with the extra-terrestrial.
You can watch a video of me describing the Sylacauga meteorite here.
I was featured on the Zeiss Microscopy Blog, in an interview about my research on howardites and also Sylacauga, which you can view here.
The Sylacauga meteorite, with a clear fusion crust and regmalypts on the surface.
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Standup radio owned by Mrs. Hodges. Clear indentation on the front shows the impact site!
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Julia holding the Sylacauga meteorite.
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COLLABORATION WITH SEAN MILLER, SEAN TAYLOR, CONNIE HWANG
The hodges Effect
The Hodges Effect can be described as an existential crisis of being that may occur after a sudden collision between a homosapien subject and extra-terrestrial materials. The hodges effect is an emerging creative concept in the domain of Homosapien encounters and current responses to environmental change. (Sean miller/Sean taylor, 2021)
I have been working in a team that includes artists Sean Miller, Sean Taylor and Connie Hwang to research the Sylacauga meteorite, and to raise awareness of this infamous meteorite!
This has involved panel discussions and seminars, including one in celebration of Space Week in 2021 that was broadcast internationally, and involved collaborators from the National Sculpture Factory (Cork, Ireland), University of Alabama (Tuscaloosa USA), Limerick School of Art & Design (Limerick, Ireland), Bob Rauschenberg Gallery (Florida, USA), San Jose State University (California, USA), University of Florida (Florida, USA) and Munster Technological University Blackrock Castle Observatory (Cork, Ireland).
You can see the recording of this seminar here. For more information, you can visit the website here.
This has involved panel discussions and seminars, including one in celebration of Space Week in 2021 that was broadcast internationally, and involved collaborators from the National Sculpture Factory (Cork, Ireland), University of Alabama (Tuscaloosa USA), Limerick School of Art & Design (Limerick, Ireland), Bob Rauschenberg Gallery (Florida, USA), San Jose State University (California, USA), University of Florida (Florida, USA) and Munster Technological University Blackrock Castle Observatory (Cork, Ireland).
You can see the recording of this seminar here. For more information, you can visit the website here.
As part of this research, the team have been promoting a petition to advocate for making the 30th November International Meteorite Awareness Day for Ann Hodges.
If you're interested in supporting this, please sign the petition here.
For more information about this work, please visit Sean Miller's website here.
If you're interested in supporting this, please sign the petition here.
For more information about this work, please visit Sean Miller's website here.
