CONTRIBUTED PHOTO — "It's Why You're Here" is a new metal art piece at MCC created by K'Paw Law Moo with help from students in various departments. Pictured, from left to right, are Tim Castle, Nancy Adams, Noah Gallentine, Carter Wagner, artist K'Paw Law Moo, Hector Torres, Alvaro Castro Sical and Dalton Black.

Artwork can be impactful: touching the lives of those who experience it daily and the generations to come. Such was the mindset when professors at Marshalltown Community College collaborated with their students to create public art installations on campus. The latest work is entitled “It’s Why You’re Here,” a metal art piece made by K’Paw Law Moo. Also fairly new are two metal panels (not joined together) near the campus pond called “Abundance,” made by Elliot Renaud.

Art professor Tim Castle, whose students worked on the pieces, said it was now-retired psychology professor Nancy Adams who got the ball rolling on the concept. About two years ago, she reached out to Al Parks, the lead instructor for the machine tool technology and advanced manufacturing programs at MCC, to see if the trades department could create three pieces of artwork for placement on her property.

“After (my husband) Jeff and I collaborated with Al, it seemed a natural fit to try to incorporate student-made artwork on campus,” Adams said.

Castle said artwork fit nicely on open spaces of the grounds.

“Typically, when colleges do this, they hire professional artists, very well-known, famous artists, usually to make the work,” he said. “Of course, that’s very expensive. So we came up with the idea of having my students in the art department come up with designs, then a panel selected a design, several designs, for the locations that we had picked out, and then we handed the designs over to our trades division, and in the machine tool technologies lab, they fabricated the panels, and then it went to welding, and they created the frames around the panels. After that, the construction technologies division created the bases, because these are very heavy pieces.”

He added that the plant services division on campus ensured the ground was ready to receive the art installations. The biology department was consulted because “Abundance” features organic forms that tie into the rural landscape of the area.

“So it truly was collaborative across a number of areas of the college,” he said.

The design and creation of the artwork all took place during class time.

“It’s part of their coursework,” Castle said. “My students have to take what they’ve learned in my 2D and 3D design class and incorporate those concepts into the designing of the works themselves…It’s all part of the learning, and at the same time, it’s also something new and different.”

Jake Bennett, who teaches hands-on carpentry, woodworking and construction trades, had his students participate as well. David Winkleblack, faculty in the welding department, said the goal was to ensure the student-designed pieces were unique.

“We didn’t want to end up with 10 of the same things all around,” Winkleblack said. “I think maybe next year we’re going to try some different designs, and be maybe a little bit more interactive. The science department is creating a little outdoor zen garden area. I made what is like an infinity cube or a trefoil cube. It’s like an optical illusion, and that’s actually going to go out in the middle with rock and benches around it.”

He added that beautifying the grounds and providing an outlet for students to unleash their creativity has been a success.

“The collaboration between the departments is wonderful, and really getting that connection between the students that otherwise probably wouldn’t have any interactions, is really awesome,” he noted.

Adams said she is pleased that there have been four outdoor permanent sculptures installed at MCC in the past year. Prior pieces include contributions from student artists Debra Shore (North Campus Sculpture) and Jorge Rodriguez (South Campus Sculpture), with the works having been unveiled in May 2025.