By Dawn Lyons (for London Community News)

The second installment of artwork has arrived at the office of London Mayor Joe Fontana.

Continuing its participation with the London Arts Council’s VizBiz program, the walls of the Mayor’s office are currently exhibiting multiple works that together are called Epigenetic Art. The works are the result of collaboration between local artists and scientists.

Scientists Jennifer Devlin and Drs. Melissa Mann, Tom Drysdale, David Rodenhiser and Victor Han participated in the collaboration, explaining the term epigenetic to the artists, Valda-Christine Glennie, Ben Benedict, Charity Miskelly, Paul Walde, Nik Harron, Marijo Swick, Samantha Chilvers, Rob Murray and Ben Benedict.

Each artist then used their individual perception of the information to create their own piece to represent the term ‘epigenetic,’ which refers to the study of how an organism’s genes will behave (or ‘express themselves’) differently without the cause of the change coming from the DNA.

One of the artists, Charity Miskelly had many positive comments about being able to take part in the creation of a piece of Epigenetic Art, including the fact that there were no restrictions placed upon what the artists could create.

“My artwork looks at people and how we exist in the universe, so it was a perfect fit for me,” said Miskelly, whose piece entitled “Undergo” is one of the 10 pieces of the Epigenetic Art display.

“I was so happy to be part of something that was a public art project and without any restrictions, I was able to take part as a painter and stay true to my medium,” she said.

Miskelly attended the opening of the installation at City Hall and was pleased not only with how the works are displayed along the walls of the Mayor’s office, but also with how the Mayor himself expressed his welcome and appreciation of the arts in London.

“You could feel his warm, genuine care about art in the city,” Miskelly said. “It was great to hear how important he feels art and the support of the art community is in London.”

Mayor Fontana praised both the artists and their inspiration.

“London has a strong, active and talented arts community and we as their audience must embrace their work and be bolder and more vocal in our appreciation for what they create and how this improves our lives,” said Fontana. “They open doors with new vision and they challenge our stalled perceptions.”