A new interactive display -- with a focus on STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, the Arts, and Mathematics) -- is featured in an Iowa City Update video, produced by the City of Iowa City.  To view the video, go to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=01zQrMsmqgc&feature=youtu.be.

The display resides in the lobby area of Mercer Park Aquatic Center on the east side of Iowa City. Its whimsical images show a colorful Iowa City, and anyone, including adults, can play with the moveable parts. The installation is designed for young children, complete with knobs to manipulate moveable parts in the wall.

The mural was commissioned and funded by the Iowa City Parks and Recreation Department, and the Iowa City Public Art Program. The NEXUS of Engineering and the Arts partnered in the project with funding and assistance.  The NEXUS initiative, headed by Deanne Wortman, program manager of NEXUS is a creative challenge for art and engineering students and faculty to achieve great outcomes collaborating with one another.

Whitney Ryan, a junior in biomedical engineering and a NEXUS student assistant, worked with local artist Jo Walker Myers and John Kostman, a member of the College of Engineering's Electronics Shop, to design and install components of the display.  The NEXUS office was used for meetings and design space.  The display's fabrication, made of LEXAN and backlit with an LED light system which Ryan helped design, was completed in Myer's studio space at the Newman Center in Iowa City.