The lobby of the new Biorenewables Research Laboratoryreceived a new art installation last week.

The exhibit is called "Floating World" and, according to artist Ralph Helmick, it is designed to portray the history of agriculture. It consists of 14 layers of aluminum & carbon suspended from the lobby ceiling, each depicting a stage of the progress of agriculture. These include plowing by hand and the advent of windmills and tractors.

Helmick is based out of Newton, Mass., near Boston. "I created a large atrium piece at the federal courthouse in Cedar Rapids about two years ago," Helmick said. "I've been spending time [in Iowa] the last few years."

Helmick cites three primary inspirations for the work: Japanese wood block prints, the work of Iowan artist Grant Wood and the type of screens used for scenery in live theater.

"I was impressed by the beauty of the campus," Helmick said regarding what drew him to Iowa State. "I was asked to write a letter of interest for this project, and they selected me to develop and design."

Lynette Pohlman, director of University Museums, said there are "many narratives and stories in the mural" and that it shows the farming heritage of many students.

"It's important that students come to an understanding of what each layer of that sculpture means," Pohlman said. Her hope for the piece is that "people will explore 150 years" of agricultural development.

The pieces that make up the final work were steel-laser cut by JunoWorks a company in Denver with owner Mike Mancarella acting as the project's overseer and "chief collaborator."

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Art installation shows history of agriculture

WARREN TWP. The tradition of church patronage of the arts may seem a nostalgic throwback, but this July, Trinity United Church (TUC) grabs hold of that past tradition and forges into the future by commissioning artist Eric Valosin to create a site-specific, interactive, new media installation.

There will be several special events accompanying the exhibition.

In his artwork, Valosin uses light and projection with drawing, painting, and new technologies to explore the potentials of contemporary mystical experience.

Im really interested in what happens to sacred space now that theres cyber space, says Valosin. How do we experience God differently ever since postmodernism? The way we see the world now is so vastly different than we did in, say, the Middle Ages. Valosins work at Trinity will reflect his desire to carve out new territories for contemplative, meditative experience in light of these shifting world-views.

The installation, titled As Above, So Below, is literally expected to shift the church onto its head; viewers will be integrated in real time into the projected imagery on the ceiling of the space. It will be on view by appointment through Sunday, July 27.

Accompanying the installation will be a reception and artist talk on Sunday, July 20, immediately following the 10:30 a.m. service; a Forum on Contemporary Issues of Art and Faith from 7 to 9 p.m. on Thursday, July 24, as well as a Contemplative Service propelled by the artwork from 6 to 7 p.m. on Saturday, July 26.

Known affectionately to parishioners as the arts church, Trinity has a history of supporting the arts through its ongoing Artist of the Month program and TUC Mini-Gallery, run by arts educator Kit Bebbington and artist Ellen Waldstein.

When it comes down to it, art is about changing the way we see the world, and religion is about changing the way we live in it, Valosin remarks. Both are in some ways inextricable from each other, and, I think, vital to our experience of the deeper parts of life.

Trinity Church is located at 118 King George Road.

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New media art installation at Trinity

What was once a dark, dated and dreary place to visit has been transformed into a well-lit, modern and inviting showcase of Jackson Countys history.

The renovation of the Jackson County Historical Society Museum in Lakefield began the last week in March. Through the cooperative efforts of local contractors and volunteers, the first phase of the project has been completed.

One of the first things we had done at the museum was the drop ceiling, said Mike Kirchmeier, society director.

Interestingly, a piece of Jackson County history was incorporated into the museums ceiling, that being lights salvaged from the recently demolished 1938 Jackson High School.

In the back rooms and ag room, all the light fixtures were replaced with new efficient fixtures and bulbs, Kirchmeier said. They are motion-activated and stay on for 30 minutes once activated, then automatically go out unless some motion occurs in the room.

All of that work was part of the plans for the original project. Some work was not.

In moving the exhibits around, we discovered some holes in the exterior walls that needed to be repaired, Kirchmeier said. Todd Post volunteered his time to do the work and gave us a very good job.

Once the drop ceiling and lights were installed and volunteers finished painting the walls, Kirchmeier said the museum had already taken on a much-improved appearance.

The ceiling looked good, the walls looked good, Kirchmeier said. So we had to do the floors.

The floors in the front room were done with carpet tile, which Kirchmeier noted allows the rollers on various pieces of equipment and storage cabinets to roll easily, but also makes replacement of a stained or otherwise damaged tile easily replaceable.

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Showcased in a new light

July 17, 2014 - Featuring triangular-shaped weight bar that forms solid bottom in closed position, Spirit Series gives ceiling clean appearance with no slot opening. Motor is mounted inside roller on vibration insulators for silent operation. Standard sizes include 92120 in. diagonal HDTV format (16:9/1.78:1) and 95123 in. diagonal Wide PC format (16:10/1.6:1). Available in matte white with 1.0 gain or matte grey with .8 gain, screen is flame retardant and mildew-resistant. Severtson Screens 216 S. Alma School Rd. Ste 3 Mesa, AZ, 85210 USA Press release date: July 15, 2014

Mesa, Ariz. Severtson Screens (www.severtsonscreens.com), a global leader in innovative and quality projection screens for the commercial, home theater, and pro AV markets, is pleased to announce that its acclaimed and popular Spirit Series motorized projection screen is now 4K ready and available for immediate shipping.

The enhanced 4K-ready Spirit Series electric screen is a motorized screen that is designed for use in commercial and residential environments where the screen is needed to disappear when not in use, explained Toby Severtson, president and CEO of Severtson Corp. Any installer will tell you that no two installations are alike, no matter if its in a home, church, boardroom, school, hospital, or any other setting. The Spirit Series gives the customer and the installer the flexibility of yet another option to hide the screen when desired. Thats great news because sometimes its just not aesthetically pleasing or functionally practical to always have the screen showing.

Designed to perform, the Spirit Series triangular-shaped weight bar forms a solid bottom in closed position giving the ceiling a clean appearance with no slot opening. Its high-end motor is mounted inside the roller on special vibration insulators for ultra-silent operation and, in addition, its white durable all-aluminum case meets UL plenum testing standards.

Another benefit is that its slender, seamless profile makes it easy to install above most ceilings, Severtson added. This high-quality screen is flame retardant, mildew resistant, and available in either matte white [1.0 Gain or matte grey [.8 Gain. Plus, all the mounting hardware is included. Its everything the installer needs.

Versatility is also key for the Spirit Series. Installation options include wall, ceiling, or cable suspended operation. 20-inch black drop for 16:9 models and 14-inch black for 16:10 models are available, as well. Standard sizes include 92-inch 120-inch (diagonal) HDTV format (16:9 / 1.78:1), and 95-inch 123-inch (diagonal) Wide PC format (16:10 / 1.6:1). Custom sizes are also available.

And, to complete the package, the Spirit Series also comes with: IR eye IR eye extension port and extension cable Wireless handheld IR remote control 12Volt trigger connection by 3.5mm jack Trigger cable RS232 control port Limit switch adjustment tool

Severtson asks that customers contact them directly for individual pricing for their specific needs. To register with Severtson Screens for pricing and other details, please visit http://www.severtsonscreens.com/register.

Approaching its 30th anniversary in 2016, Severtson Corporation continues to be a global leader in innovation and quality. The Severtson familys extensive experience in manufacturing small home theater screens and large cinema screens has given Severtson Corporation the expertise to meet the needs of the professional and consumer AV markets for both indoor applications as well as large outdoor venues.

With its three Arizona-based production facilities and its state-of-the-art robotic application system, Severtson has massive production capabilities and an unusually wide array of screens. The screens range in size from massive movie theaters, comfortable home theaters, and everything in between.

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In-Ceiling Motorized Projection Screen is 4K ready.

Published: Thursday, July 17, 2014 at 2:47 p.m. Last Modified: Thursday, July 17, 2014 at 2:47 p.m.

BELLEVIEW During this week's City Commission meeting, the panel entertained a citizen-led presentation on building the proposed splash park for less money and set the millage rate ceiling higher than last year's rate.

While the proposed splash park was not on the agenda, Gerri Gerthe of Kids Helping Kids approached the commission during a portion of the meeting open for public comment.

Gerthe, through Kids Helping Kids, has so far donated $3,833 to the city's splash park fund. Initial city estimates put the park cost at about $300,000. So far, the city has secured slightly more than $91,000.

But Gerthe questioned why the estimate is so high, and brought with her Jeff Hagwood, chief executive officer of SplashinPads, a Tampa-based company that manufactures, delivers and installs the pads, and provides additional services if there is a problem.

Hagwood showed the commission plans to make the pad happen for $90,000.

Hagwood said by phone Thursday that the proposal features a 45 foot by 45 foot pad with 30 geysers coming up from the surface and an additional 15 features including a large lady bug, crocodile, spray cans, dump buckets and a spray bench.

The original design used a recirculation system for the water but, looking further into the proposed space, Hagwood suggested using existing infrastructure instead.

Commissioner Robert Bo Smith, who has experience in construction, agreed with Hagwood that the $300,000 estimate seemed high.

I'm sure this can be made to happen for a lot less than was thrown out, Smith said.

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Belleview commission sets ceiling for millage rate higher than current taxes

Calcutta, July 15: The Ten Commandments were inscribed on two Tablets of Stone.

The Eighteen Commandments of Bengal run into three pages and carry the title Checklist for electrical installation in places of halt of VIPs/VVIPs.

Thou shalt check wiring

Thou shalt check the split pin of ceiling fan

Thou shalt ensure the hired generator set must be silent in nature and must be of reputed make

Thou shalt ensure the pump motor should be capable of discharging required quantity of water

The thou shalt prefix has not actually made it to the man-made document. But the rest of the commands and more have robbed several engineers of sleep in Bengal.

All for the worthy cause of ensuring sound sleep for VIPs and VVIPs who should thank one particular VVIP for the rare attention to the minutest detail.

The efficacy of the guidelines, issued by the chief engineer (electrical)-I, PWD, to all executive engineers, will be ground-tested tomorrow itself when chief minister Mamata Banerjee visits north Bengal.

Rarely before has such a detailed battle plan been issued to thwart such nefarious infiltrators called glitches that invade everyday appliances in countless homes in the country.

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Sleepless over VVIP's sound sleep

AURORA The city has condemned a unit in the Forest Ridge Apartments complex after a ceiling collapsed Sunday night.

Property Standards officials from the city determined the unit was uninhabitable Monday. The ceiling in the low-income unit on the third floor of 1215 Second Ave. in Aurora collapsed Sunday evening after prolonged leaking from a roof, according to tenant Peter Weber.

Weber said Monday that he has complained to the Forest Ridge property manager several times about water leaking into the apartment. The roof has leaked water into the apartment for about a year, Weber said.

Following rain, at about 6 p.m. Sunday, the ceiling collapsed, leaving chunks of drywall, installation and other materials scattered on furniture and the floor of the third floor unit.

Weber said that he is upset the roof wasnt repaired earlier. Forest Ridge Apartments is managed by Rockford-based Professional Property Management, LLC.

When somebodys got leaks, you patch their side of the roof first, Weber said.

The falling debris has aggravated Webers allergies and mental health issues, he said.

They need to fix that because Im living in danger, Weber said in a video a friend uploaded to Facebook.

Roofers and cleaners were on site at the Forest Ridge property Monday morning. The low-income apartment complex receives funding from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, according to an on-site representative with Professional Property Management, LLC, the group that manages Forest Ridge Apartments. The representative declined to give their name.

Forest Ridge Apartments receives funding from a division of HUD, not from the Aurora Housing Authority, AHA Executive Director Keith Gregory confirmed Monday.

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Aurora condemns Forest Ridge apartment after ceiling collapses

SO THIS IS a garage, as you can see, says Seattle architect Mark Thomson.

Thomsons not one for self-promotion. The large, white structure at the end of the driveway most certainly contains his car. It is also a studio (upstairs) with space for archival storage (downstairs). But all of that pales in comparison to how it does each of those things. With grace. With dignity. With the finest sense of design.

Im just kind of ripping off Philip Johnson. Theres this little studio Johnson did, Thomson says referring back to his own stark-white stacked boxes topped by a cone of skylight.

Its a wood structure. It shouldnt be a wood structure.

I have a good relationship with my contractor friends.

Everybody who worked on it put in extra effort. Youre only as good as the people who build it.

Thats really how the interview goes. From here. To there. And back. Thomson lives in his head, and the thoughts are flowing.

I think of them as two different things, he says of his chocolate-brown-cedar-sided chalet of a place across the yard (I ripped that off, too, I was in Europe and . . .). But theyre not really that different. The volume of spaces. If they come out of me theyre gonna kinda have my bias.

Again, not much for self-promotion.

Allow me. Yes, there is a relation to Johnsons Library/Study on the 47-acre New Canaan, Conn., property that is home to the Glass House. But Thompsons is a new interpretation for an entirely different landscape (even though he will argue its all derivative. Theres nothing original.). And that landscape is? Phinneys a little presumptuous, he says. Put Ballard. Im right in a kind of a sweet spot. Put Interbay. Oh, Phinneys fine. There. At the end of a nothing-unusual residential block, up against a steep hillside embedded with side streets.

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Clever design makes an enlightened studio mlange

Contributing to O'Hare International Airport's Terminal 5's world-class traveler experience, ROCKFON's team provided the open plenum metal ceiling system above the newly redesigned TSA Checkpoint, and a metal baffle ceiling system above the renovated and expanded Concessions Program.

O'Hare International Airport ranks as the world's second-busiest airport. Westfield oversees concession management at Terminal 5, and guided the terminal's transformation and expansion from 15,000 to 26,000 square feet. Westfield Concession Management and its tenant partners are investing more than $26 million into the terminal's redevelopment.

Westfield selected Epstein's interior design and structural engineering team for the project. "Terminal 5 was designed 21 years ago by Perkins+Will. Its Modern, clean design is recognized and appreciated. We did not want this to feel like a renovation that didn't consider the existing architecture. Instead, we wanted to adhere to it, but make it better. We wanted to take the vocabulary of the original building and continue it through the mezzanine renovation and expansion," explains John Kolb, Epstein's associate vice president, IIDA, LEED AP.

Epstein's scope of work included base building improvements and modifications required to prepare the new and reconfigured concession spaces, as well as redeveloped common areas and new TSA checkpoint. Other performance considerations for the terminal's ceilings included easy installation and maintenance; accessibility to lighting, HVAC and security systems; and compliance with the Chicago Department of Aviation's Sustainability Airport Manual.

"We're familiar with the airport's requirements and have done a lot of work at O'Hare throughout the years, and in other airports around the world. Transportation is one of our biggest market segments," says Suzanne Dissette, ROCKFON's architectural sales manager.

Dissette and the ROCKFON team began the Terminal 5 project early in the design process during the summer of 2012. Terminal 5 remained in operation throughout the construction. The joint venture general contracting team of James McHugh Construction Co. and Ornelas Construction Company minimized disruptions with a carefully choreographed building sequence. ROCKFON's distributor, Reinke Supply Companies supported this with phased material deliveries. The final details of the concession area's interior build-out were completed in the first quarter of 2014.

"O'Hare's original design palette is black and white, and grays of all different shades. On the interior, we wanted to warm it up a bit and give it a hospitality feel, especially in the concession area," says Kolb. "Westfield, our client, develops a lot of malls and wanted to keep that sense of warmth and hospitality."

With this goal in mind, a custom Oyster Metallic finish was selected for the ceiling baffles in the concession area. Kolb elaborates on the design: "We did not have much ceiling space to play with. The linear baffle ceiling hides the structure above and makes it feel like a higher ceiling. The above structure was painted black adding to this illusion of height."

Reinke Supply Companies provided more than 4,100 square feet of Rockfon Intaline Round-Base 6-inch-deep metal baffles. "It's one of the largest projects we've done with this product, by far," says Reinke's customer service manager Randy Van Meter. "It wasn't a real simple application. These weren't just straight runs. It was a specialty ceiling with odd shapes, curves and, of course, the custom color."

Kolb continues, "The ceiling's non-standard shapes take their cues from the floor pattern and the millwork. They all sort of mimic each other. Appearance and cost also were considered in the baffles' spacing. We've used the Intaline metal baffle system before with good success and believe it to be the right product, right design and right cost for this project."

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O'Hare International Airport's Terminal 5 Renovates with ROCKFON Ceiling Systems for Modern ...

How to Install Your 2xxxx Series Fan

This video will take you step-by-step through the installation process that is outlined in your Owners Manual. While each fan may have unique components specific to its installation, this video applies to most Hunter 2xxxx series model numbers.

This video will take you step-by-step through the installation process that is outlined in your Owners Manual. While each fan may have unique components specific to its installation, this video applies to most Hunter 5xxxx series model numbers.

This video will take you step-by-step through the installation process that is outlined in your Owners Manual. While each fan may have unique components specific to its installation, this video applies to most Hunter Low Profile 5xxxx series model numbers.

Fast and easy, the Five Minute Fan is perfect when you need to get the job donewithout sacrificing style or quality. Your fan comes 90% pre-assembled right out of the box so installation will take you five minutes or less. In these three simple steps, the versatile Five Minute Fan can be installed in flush, standard or angled mounting fashions with or without a light kit.

This video will take you step-by-step through the installation process that is outlined in your Owners Manual. While each fan may have unique components specific to its installation, this video applies to most Hunter Five Minute Fan 2xxxx series model numbers.

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Install a Ceiling Fan - Hunter Fan - How to guides for ...