Portraits from the Lab centers the often-invisible psychological and emotional experiences of people who work with animals in research laboratories.

 

The project invited current and former lab workers to write a reflective piece about an animal they worked with, focusing not only on the individual animal and the relationship that formed, but also on the psychological harm and moral distress they experienced as a result of their work in the lab environment.

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The written pieces were shared with ten professional artists who will create visual portraits that integrate both the portrayal of the animal and the worker’s internal experience. The resulting artworks reflect not only the animal as an individual, but also the emotional weight, tension, or harm carried by the human who cared for them.

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The online exhibition will be published here beginning Monday, July 27, 2026.