Data in a computer is simply patterns of bits, often represented as ‘1’s and ‘0’s. But what that data represents ranges from complex text (poetry, dialog, exposition, debate) to rich graphics in 2 or 3 dimensions, either still or animated, and increasingly as physical sculpture, robot choreography, mixed media, and augmented reality. Data visualization is the study of how to provide avenues through which that data becomes meaningful to the observer, and how the observer can interact with the data visualization. It is also a critical component of creative computation and generative art. This introductory computer science course uses visualization to introduce data structures, both traditional (arrays, lists, dictionaries, trees) and modern (object classes, data serialization, audio/video streaming). It also addresses the problems of data integrity, security, and encryption. Examples are drawn from biology, physics, graphic art, animation, storytelling and poetry. Open to students without prior programming experience. Each student completes a set of self-paced tutorials, and then defines a personal project that explores an aspect of visualization related to their own plan of study.