"Lynn's DNA Portraits are a compelling way to showcase the diversity of UROC's community — and bridge science and art with a meaningful message."

— Dr. Irma McClaurin, anthropologist, founding exec director of UROC and former associate VP for System Academic Admin., University of Minnesota

The University of Minnesota commissioned DNA Portraits for their Urban Outreach and Engagement Center (UROC). The work has become the foundation of the art collection for the center.

The North Minneapolis community, where UROC is located, was the focus of the project. The portrait participants were selected by community leaders to represent their organizations.

The portraits combine population genetics in a visual narrative, showing how individuals in the community share pre-historic lineages with each other and all humanity. They are African American, European, Laotian, and Native American residents of the Minneapolis Northside community.

Each portrait is a combination of landscape (world map), migration route (genetic data in their DNA) and the individual’s likeness (a drawing of their face).

More than an art show, the exhibit included narrative and images across multiple media. In addition to the portraits, I developed:

• Web site. Titled "Deep Ancestry Portrait.com", the web site explained the process from sending DNA samples to the lab to creating all the art in the exhibit.
• Story boards. Each portrait had the participant's family, community organization and DNA data explained.
• Banners. I designed the graphics and wrote the text to explain the basic genetic concepts in the art. See examples of the banners in the book about the project.
• Display case. The process for the DNA data and creating a portrait explained and displayed with the portraits.
• Artist talks. Several public talks about the art, the process, and population genetics used in the portraits were presented.