\n
Subramanian, who is credited with discovering the first new inorganic blue pigment since the creation of Prussian blue (ferrocyanide) in the early 1700s, is the Milton Harris Professor of Materials in the Department of Chemistry. The exhibition features blue-colored artifacts from the collections of Oregon State University Horner Museum and Benton County Historical Society.<\/p>\n
The year-long exhibition, curated by Mark Tolonen of Benton County Museum, opened November 14 and juxtaposes a vast array of colorful blue objects from different historical periods and arranged in multiple categories of new blue, old blue, arts, fashion, household, community and nature.<\/p>\n
\u201cBenton County Historical Society is the steward of over 1000,000 objects. Looking at the collection, we saw many objects that are colored blue.\u201d Tolonen said in an email. \u201cSome things didn\u2019t easily fit into a theme that would normally be one of our exhibitions, so we decided to have a blue-themed exhibition that allows more of these objects to be shared with the public.\u201d<\/p>\n
Subramanian helped Tolonen to create an exhibit that would tell the story of his discovery of the blue pigment and its historical import. For his exhibit, which is labeled \u201cSomething New,\u201d Subramanian and OSU\u2019s Chemistry Department contributed samples of the new pigment and a large Lapis Lazuli stone from Afghanistan. The semi-precious Lapis Lazuli, which dates back to antiquity, was used to produce the first blue pigment, a color that often appears in the Renaissance paintings of the robes of Virgin Mary.<\/p>\n
![\"Chromophore\"](\"http:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/impact\/files\/2015\/03\/Chromophore.jpg\")
Mn3+<\/sup> in Trigonal Bipyramidal Coordination: A New Blue Chromophore<\/p><\/div>\n Near Subramanian\u2019s blue pigment, visitors can see the oldest artifact of the exhibition\u2014an over 6000 years old greenish blue clay brick from Samarra, Iraq. The exhibit also features a framed National Geographic<\/em> article featuring the blue pigment discovery and an image of the \u201ctrigonal bipyramidical\u201d crystalline structure that produced the new blue color.<\/p>\n In 2009, Subramanian and his team accidentally discovered the blue pigment while attempting to make new materials for computer hard drives in an OSU Chemistry lab.<\/p>\n Tolonen approached Subramanian about representing his work in the blue exhibition after several people showed him news articles that described the OSU scientist\u2019s unprecedented and stunning discovery.<\/p>\n \u201cCoincidentally, Dr. Subramanian\u2019s work at OSU has been in the news a lot lately, and we were thrilled that he was supportive of including his success story with a \u2018something new\u2019 addition to the exhibition,\u201d Tolonen said. \u201cThe Department of Chemistry loaned us some objects for the exhibition and now the exhibition includes something old, something new, something borrowed and lots of something blue!\u201d he added.<\/p>\n Subramanian, who has often referred to the vibrant and striking blue pigment as an \u201caccidental discovery,\u201d has received wide media coverage not just on account of his history-making find, but also for the pigment\u2019s virtues. It is highly durable and damage-resistant, cheap to produce and doesn\u2019t harm the environment.<\/p>\n Since writing about the new compound in a 2009 article in the Journal of the American Chemical Society<\/em>, Subramanian has gone on to work with artists, paint manufacturers, energy conservation companies and the German chemical firm Merck KGaA, which makes paint for automobiles, aircraft, plastics and ink. Subramanian and his research team also found that the same crystalline structure, that gave rise to the blue pigment, can be used with different elements to create other colors.<\/p>\n The Benton County Museum exhibition, which also displays OSU alumnus and baseball player Don Johnson\u2019s blue Nike running shoes, is scheduled to end on October 15, 2015.<\/p>\n Also see:<\/strong><\/p>\n Corvallis Gazette Times The exhibition features blue-colored artifacts from the collections of Oregon State University Horner Museum and Benton County Historical Society.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6216,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[640793,1507,97217],"tags":[712361,653942],"class_list":["post-883","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ch","category-faculty-and-staff","category-materials-science","tag-arts-science","tag-awards-and-recognition"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6vHeb-ef","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":4365,"url":"https:\/\/dev.blogs.oregonstate.edu\/impact\/2016\/07\/yinmn-blue\/","url_meta":{"origin":883,"position":0},"title":"YInMn Blue captures the world’s attention: From teens, architects, artists, industry and beyond","author":"nayaks","date":"July 13, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"YinMn, the blue pigment discovered by Chemistry Professor Mas Subramanian in 2009, generates a new wave of worldwide media attention and interest.","rel":"","context":"In "Alumni and Friends"","block_context":{"text":"Alumni and Friends","link":"https:\/\/dev.blogs.oregonstate.edu\/impact\/category\/people\/alumni-and-friends\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Mas Subramanian, materials chemist","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/impact\/files\/2016\/07\/Mas_Portrait_web.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":9165,"url":"https:\/\/dev.blogs.oregonstate.edu\/impact\/2018\/04\/quest-next-billion-dollar-color\/","url_meta":{"origin":883,"position":1},"title":"The quest for the next billion-dollar color","author":"farrisd","date":"April 18, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Photography credit: Ian Allen for Bloomberg Businessweek From plastics to cosmetics, the impact of our YInMn blue discovery that started\u00a0with science but goes beyond the color and pigment industry. But materials chemist Mas Subramanian and his team of researchers\u00a0are not done yet. They continue to pursue more pigments and make\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Chemistry"","block_context":{"text":"Chemistry","link":"https:\/\/dev.blogs.oregonstate.edu\/impact\/category\/departments\/ch\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":10452,"url":"https:\/\/dev.blogs.oregonstate.edu\/impact\/2018\/12\/chemist-who-discovered-yinmn-blue-named-aaas-fellow\/","url_meta":{"origin":883,"position":2},"title":"Chemist who discovered YInMn blue named AAAS Fellow","author":"nayaks","date":"December 4, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Mas Subramanian, Milton Harris Chair Professor of Chemistry, has become a new Fellow of The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS).","rel":"","context":"In "Breaking News"","block_context":{"text":"Breaking News","link":"https:\/\/dev.blogs.oregonstate.edu\/impact\/category\/news\/breaking-news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2278,"url":"https:\/\/dev.blogs.oregonstate.edu\/impact\/2015\/10\/materials-chemist-awarded-nearly-800k-in-nsf-grants\/","url_meta":{"origin":883,"position":3},"title":"Materials chemist awarded nearly $800K in NSF grants","author":"farrisd","date":"October 1, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Chemistry professor Mas Subramanian and his team will embark on highly significant scientific research and discovery after receiving two prestigious NSF grants totalling nearly $800K.","rel":"","context":"In "Chemistry"","block_context":{"text":"Chemistry","link":"https:\/\/dev.blogs.oregonstate.edu\/impact\/category\/departments\/ch\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2862,"url":"https:\/\/dev.blogs.oregonstate.edu\/impact\/2016\/02\/the-blending-of-art-and-science\/","url_meta":{"origin":883,"position":4},"title":"The blending of art and science","author":"farrisd","date":"February 11, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Art meets science: Applied Visual Arts major Madeline Corbin uses a brilliant new blue pigment from chemist Mas Subramanian during her work internship in his lab, her first foray into the world of chemistry.","rel":"","context":"In "Chemistry"","block_context":{"text":"Chemistry","link":"https:\/\/dev.blogs.oregonstate.edu\/impact\/category\/departments\/ch\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"OSU Memorial Union painting, by art student Maddy Corbin","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/impact\/files\/2016\/02\/MU-Painting_web.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":6668,"url":"https:\/\/dev.blogs.oregonstate.edu\/impact\/2017\/04\/colorful-world-pigments-celebrating-blue-never-fades\/","url_meta":{"origin":883,"position":5},"title":"The Colorful World of Pigments: Celebrating the blue that never fades","author":"farrisd","date":"April 26, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"\u201cThe Colorful World of Pigments\u201d celebrated the intersection of science, industry, art, color and culture spurred by OSU's YInMn blue pigment discovery with a celebrity panel of experts.","rel":"","context":"In "Chemistry"","block_context":{"text":"Chemistry","link":"https:\/\/dev.blogs.oregonstate.edu\/impact\/category\/departments\/ch\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dev.blogs.oregonstate.edu\/impact\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/883","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dev.blogs.oregonstate.edu\/impact\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dev.blogs.oregonstate.edu\/impact\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dev.blogs.oregonstate.edu\/impact\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6216"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dev.blogs.oregonstate.edu\/impact\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=883"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dev.blogs.oregonstate.edu\/impact\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/883\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":887,"href":"https:\/\/dev.blogs.oregonstate.edu\/impact\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/883\/revisions\/887"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dev.blogs.oregonstate.edu\/impact\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=883"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dev.blogs.oregonstate.edu\/impact\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=883"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dev.blogs.oregonstate.edu\/impact\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=883"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n
\n<\/em><\/a>Department of Chemistry blog<\/a>
\n<\/a>New York Times<\/em><\/a>, 2009<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"