Well, I'll pray for your school situation some more. And.....hey! An idea just hit me! My niece Elizabeth has chemistry knowledge; maybe she could answer questions for you, and she certainly would NOT demand money from you!
It's a matter of avoiding anything that seems like making an idol to be worshipped. Christians are free from this legalism. That is, actual idol worship is as forbidden as ever; but we are not required to assume that all portrait art IS idolatry.