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Woodland ecosystem covers nature center wall
Southeast Iowa Union offers audio versions of articles using Instaread. Some words may be mispronounced.
LADORA — On the east wall of the Lake Iowa Nature Center, under the vaulted ceiling, an acrylic bur oak grows. It’s branches are filled with birds, animals and insects.
The tree is the work of visiting artists Anna Segner, of Ames, and Naomi Friend, of Story City.
“I teach at Iowa State,” said Segner. Friends is an artist with a flower farm business called Friends Flowers.
“We both went to grad school at Iowa State,” said Friend, but not at the same time. They met through the Ames art community.
Artists in Ames know each other, said Segner. They met at Octagon Center for the Arts, remembered Friend.
“People had recommended us to each other because our work is similar,” said Friend.
They both create nature-related art, said Segner. Art through an environmental lens. Their personalities mesh, too, said Segner.
“Both of us have done murals on our own,” said Segner, and they collaborated on a mural in Sac County, west of Des Moines.
The pair of painters came to Iowa County after Friend met Iowa County Conservation Naturalist Mary Blair at a conference of the Iowa Association of Naturalists where Friend was selling Iowa State Park stickers she had created.
“They contacted me this summer about the mural here,” said Friend before starting work on the mural Wednesday.
The Nature Center, located at 2550 G Ave. south of Ladora, is in the process of covering its walls with murals that represent three native ecosystems, said Blair.
Murals of the prairie were completed in 2019, and floor exhibits were finished in 2021.
The second habitat, which Segner and Friend created a mural for this month, is the woodland ecosystem. A mural of wetlands, which will be commissioned later, will cover the west wall, said Blair.
All the murals and displays are funded primarily through Friends of Iowa County Conservation Foundation, said Bair. The local donations come from everyday people, she said.
The Foundation started in 2002, collecting money to build the nature center. The organization continues to fund the Nature Center and also gives money for other nature projects in the county, such giving trees to the county’s fifth graders and stocking the lake at Gateway Park in Marengo.
The making of a mural
“I came down and visited and took measurements,” said Friend. She listened as Blair and with Friends of Iowa County Conservation Foundation described what they were looking for.
Blair gave the artists a list of 22 animals to include in the mural. Friend drafted a design using Photoshop.
“We planned out our strategy as to how we’re going to make it all happen,” Friend said.
The mural is full of wildlife and plant life, showing life cycles of each, said Friend. Moths, the red oak borer and the downy woodpecker which eats the red oak borer have found homes in the mural.
On the wall of the loft is a large nest showing the stages of the red-tailed hawk, said Segner. The eyases in the nest and a fledgling ready to fly come alive in acrylics.
The mural on the second floor includes a night scene with nocturnal animals, such as the opossum and owls.
“We did get a projector for the mural,” said Friend. Projecting the image on the large wall helped the artists create correct perspectives.
The space was conducive to the use of the projector because the room is long and the projector could sit on the ledge of the open loft area, said Friend. “You need a lot of distance to make it big enough.”
Friend drew the bur oak freehand, but the projector was really helpful for making the leaves, she said.
“We did start with sort of a limited palette,” said Segner, such as burnt umber, red, and the color of the wall. “Now we’re sort of going in and adding color.”
The women started the project Jan. 3 and stayed in a cabin at the lake through the duration of the project. They worked about 12 hours a day.
By the weekend of Jan. 11-12, Segner and Friend were ready to add color. The screech owls on a low branch were the same color before the final week of painting, said Friend.
Segner added blue to the jay Wednesday morning.
“Now we’re working on final details,” said Friend.
They expected to add a UV coat Friday, Jan. 17 to finish the project.
While working together the women learned that they have preferences. “I like doing the landscapes the most,” said Friend. Segner likes painting the animals.
“That is something we discovered along the way,” said Friend.
Nature education
As a naturalist, Blair teaches environmental education at the nature center and, this time of year, in classrooms at schools in the area.
In summer and fall, Blair she conducts field trips at the nature center and at Gateway park, she said.
The Nature Center features displays and children’s activities. It’s open Monday through Friday 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m. During the off season, the nature center is open one Saturday a month when it hosts programs.
During the summer, it’s open every Saturday.
“I work with all the Iowa County Schools,” said Blair, “But we do adult programming as well.”
Anyone interested in knowing what’s going on at the Nature Center can check the website iowacountyconservation.org/ or the Lake Iowa Park and Iowa County Conservation Facebook page and the events column in the Hometown Current.
The nature center will host an unveiling for the mural in the near future, Blair said.
Ice fishing
The next big event for the winter at Lake Iowa is the ice fishing derby Saturday, Jan. 25 from 5-11 a.m. The ice is between five and eight inches thick on the Lake, said Conservation Director Jacob Slings.
Prizes will be awarded for the longest bass, bluegill, catfish, crappie, perch and walleye and for the top 10-panfish stringer for a two-person team.
A chili and hot dog lunch will be served following the tournament and raffle prizes will be awarded.
The cost is $20 per person for individual or two-person teams. Children 16 and younger fish free.
