The Beard exhibit opened Jan. 22, and will be on display through noon Feb. 14.

The theme, “Keeping my head above water,” stems from Beard’s loss of his father, Robert, in the summer of 2016.

“He was a huge influence on my drawing and style. I didn’t even know I had a style until I saw some of his artwork from when he was younger. It’s almost identical to mine so it shows our minds are alike,” Beard said.

“These are a few things that I have done in the past two or three years and things that I found in the back shed that I wanted to give life to,” he said. “In my last show I did a lot of intricate work and in this show I wanted to show some of my minimal artwork as well as some of the rock stacks. Doing them in real life is very therapeutic and drawing them is also therapeutic.”

This is Beard’s second exhibit at MCC; his first showing was in 2015.

He described his style as detailed pen and ink and dividing space up until there is no space left.

His love of art started early when he attended Rogers Elementary in Marshalltown.

“I had a great relationship with my art teacher, Mr. Santema,” Beard said.

His art education extended into high school, where the majority of his senior year was spent in the art room. After a short break from education, Beard registered at Marshalltown Community College under the instruction of Madelyn Mayberry in his art classes.

After earning his AA Degree from MCC, Beard transferred to the University of Northern Iowa to finish a degree in education and continue taking as many art classes as he could. He then got a job as the East Marshall K-8th grade art teacher and is in his sixteenth year teaching in the elementary and middle schools.

“I am very blessed and humbled to have Tim Castle, the MCC art instructor, and the other people that I have in my life, and to have the people come to see the exhibit,” Nick concluded.

The Ray Frederick Gallery is open weekdays from 9 am to 5 pm.

For more information contact MCC Art Professor Tim Castle at 641-844-5776 or Tim.Castle@iavalley.edu.