Sometimes art follows science, and sometimes science follows art. When NASA first started sending astronauts into space, they soon discovered that a ballpoint pen does not work in zero gravity. After millions of dollars and years of tests, scientists produced a pen that could write in the zero-gravity conditions of outer space. When confronted with the same problem, the Russians used a pencil instead. Inspired by their example, Loyola University's Collins C. Diboll art gallery curator Karoline Schleh invited artists to submit works of any sort provided that the medium was graphite on paper. The end result is this Pencil and Paper expo with a wide variety of styles and subjects by more than three-dozen artists from New Orleans and beyond, including Daniela Marx's Desiderata (pictured). — D. Eric Bookhardt

Through September 18

Collins C. Diboll Gallery, Loyola University, 861-456; www.loyno.edu/dibollgallery