Integration of art with science: College agriculture students practice science communication by writing art museum labels

Abstract Museums, long considered institutions of learning, offer a platform for the integration of art with science. In our work shared here, an introductory college‐level agriculture science class collaborated with a university art museum. Our goal was to use art objects as a launching point for dialogue within our class, as well as a way that students could practice science and agricultural communication with a broad audience—any visitors to the art museum. These art objects, selected by the course instructor in collaboration with the university art museum's curator of academic engagement, aligned with course content. A series of guided class activities culminated in publicly displayed, student‐written extended labels that placed art objects into the scientific context of our agroecology course. Extended labels are concise, informative, and written for general audiences who are not subject matter experts. Across all labels ( n = 7) created by the class, students touched on concepts related to all of the grand challenges of our course: agricultural production, conservation, pest management, and climate change. Extended labels are a unique pathway for students to practice public‐facing science communication in any type of museum willing to collaborate. Such collaboration with museums, and extended label production in particular, can be structured by instructors to meet a variety of communication, critical thinking, and creative thinking student learning outcomes.