Photo courtesy of Midwest Flying Services, Inc., and Judy Hemphill Photography © All rights reserved

More than 100 volunteers braved subzero temperatures on Jan. 24 to raise environmental awareness by creating the image of a dragonfly on the lake ice of Little Miler's Boy on West Ojobji in northwestern Iowa.

This event known as the Peoples' Art Project was part of the 29th Annual University of Okoboji Winter Game, and is a collaboration between ArtsLIVE, Iowa Lakeside Lab and the Friends of Lakeside Lab. The Hygienic Laboratory and Lakeside Lab are partners in improving water quality in the northwestern part of the state.

This is the second year of the project that in 2008 project created a giant turtle.

"Last year's event was such a success that it was a major reason why the Winter Games was awarded the 2008 Event of the Year Award by the Iowa Travel Council and the Iowa Department of Economic Development," said Tom Kulhman of the Iowa Great Lakes Chamber of Commerce.

Prior to the project, Lakeside Laboratory hosted a Water Quality Open House, which included demonstrations of water quality monitoring methods.

The People's Art Project began as an inspiration of ArtsLIVE, which teamed with Iowa Lakeside Laboratory.

"We wanted to create a giant work of art on the ice, but we did not want to use any materials that would pollute the lake," explained ArtsLIVE project co-chair Deidre Rosenboom of Rosenboom Design. "So we contacted the folks at Iowa Lakeside Laboratory to see what they recommended, and that is how we came up with the idea of using people to create the image."

The 2008 turtle puzzle was formed with 173 volunteers.

"This project is a perfect match with Lakeside's educational mission to teach about nature and environmental stewardship," said Peter van der Linden, Lakeside Laboratory executive director.

For the 2008 People's Project, 173 volunteers formed the shape of a turtle to raise environmental awareness.

Project planning begins with selecting an image that expresses a watershed ethic. "That means an awareness of the interrelationships between land, water and living things; that what happens on land affects the quality of our waters" explained Lakeside Education Coordinator Jane Shuttleworth, one of the project founders.

To symbolize this relationship, the planning team chooses a creature that needs both land and water to complete its life cycle. "Because people have the potential to either destroy or sustain our natural resources," Shuttleworth said, "it is symbolic that we come together to create this giant piece of environmental art and raise environmental awareness, leaving only our footsteps behind."

The local residents Chad and Marta Branham of Willow River Arts directed the event, using their backgrounds in film and set design, and directing and choreography, respectively.

Once the image was formed, award-winning photographer Judy Hemphill of Spencer, Iowa, documented the project with an aerial photograph taken from a plane that flies over the human puzzle.