Art and science came together when 16 painters and photographers visited a research lab at the Centre for Environmental Management on CQUniversity Gladstone Campus recently (June 23).

The visit was part of a ‘magical mystery tour' to encourage participation by local artists in the forthcoming Sea Dreams Festival. 

"We wanted to stimulate the artists' visual imaginations and have them thinking about new ways of approaching the sea as a subject," said Sea Dreams coordinator Dr Andrew Wallace.

"The artists examined the archive of specimen sea creatures at the Centre and looked through microscopes at unusual colours and patterns. They were then given an expert introduction to a nearby mangrove habitat by the Centre's Shona Hocknull."

Other stages of the afternoon involved a talk on 'getting ideas' by Education lecturer Dr Ali Black (herself a painter), a guided tour of the Gladstone Maritime Museum and a visit to a lookout to discuss port industry as a potential subject for art.