There is growing evidence that integrating science and art supports science learning and identity development among learners. This may be particularly consequential for girls, as explicitly blurring disciplinary boundaries between science and art has the potential to disrupt narrow conceptualizations of science (e.g., Archer et al., 2013; Brotman & Moore, 2008; Warren et al., 2020). We draw on pre- and post-interview data and video analysis to investigate how an integrated science and art academy for upper elementary and middle school girls impacted their identification with science. Leveraging Nasir and Cooks’ (2009) work on identity resources as a framework, we illustrate that when girls used materials in practice across disciplines, it shifted their relationship to each discipline. We found that girls, who at first saw the material resources used in science as distinct from those used in art, saw connections between the materials that were used in art and science in ways that shifted their thinking about the nature of science and art. This impacted how they identified with science. Our work adds to the growing literature on ways that art and science integration supports science identity shifts and holds particular implications for how integrating science and art can disrupt tensions between traditional views of science and identities.
