Public Art Finalist: University of Northern Iowa
April 2004

Finalist (1 of 3), Public Art Project, University of Northern Iowa, Dining Hall Panels. Traveled to Iowa to shoot custom imagery for this project (agricultural themes). Proposed 8 dining hall panels, 10’x3′ digital C-prints (framed in custom heavy metal frames). April 2004. Budget: $40,000.

Presentation Board

From the Proposal

Enclosed is my proposal as a finalist for the Towers Dining Center project. I am presenting eight photographic pieces 3’ x 10’ in size, to be mounted above the indicated dining booths. They will be archivally mounted and framed with a dark bronze-colored heavy metal framing and UV plexiglas. Details on the printing and framing follow.

I made a 4-day trip to Iowa last month to shoot and came back with a lot of material (drove 1,000 miles, shot 37 rolls of film). I was also fortunate that when I was visiting Houston that same month I was able to photograph a livestock show and carnival (as pseudo Iowa State Fair images). Though I would still be interested in attending and photographing the real Iowa State Fair in August, the amount of material I already have makes such a trip not absolutely necessary and ultimately outside the allotted budget.

I have selected eight images and have presented them displayed within elevation drawings of the booth panels. The ones I selected are the more graphic of the choices, which I think will hold up better when viewed from across the big space of the dining hall. I’ve also included a selection of other images, grouped by topic. As you can see, what interested me the most were the various types of grain elevators and equipment used in farming. It was luck that during the time period I was in Iowa, I had a friend there visiting her mother, and she facilitating me visiting some farms in Baxter, a small town near Des Moines.