After four years of hard work, graduating seniors in graphic design will display their portfolios and work samples at the Iowa State University Alumni Center before they move "Onward & Upward." Professionals and design firms are encouraged to visit from 6 to 7:30 p.m. and friends and family are invited to stop by between 7:30 and 9 p.m.

Students in the Core Design Program who wish to apply for admission to one or more of the College of Design's degree programs must fill out an online application form and submit portfolios and hard copies of your essay between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. Friday, May 4, or Monday, May 7, in 316 Design. Those who are in line by 3 p.m. either day will be allowed to complete your submission. The online application must be completed before you can submit your portfolio and essay.

Details on the portfolio preparation and submission procedures are on the Core Design Program website.

The College of Design's spring graduation convocation will begin with a reception for graduating students and their families in the King Pavilion at 9:30 a.m., followed by a recognition ceremony in the Lightfoot Forum at 10 a.m.

Students in the Core Design Program who wish to apply for admission to one or more of the College of Design's degree programs must fill out an online application form and submit portfolios and hard copies of your essay between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. Friday, May 4, or Monday, May 7, in 316 Design. Those who are in line by 3 p.m. either day will be allowed to complete your submission. The online application must be completed before you can submit your portfolio and essay.

Details on the portfolio preparation and submission procedures are on the Core Design Program website.

Alumni Days are May 10-12 on the Iowa State campus. The College of Design will host an open house from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. Friday, May 11, for alumni who attended or graduated from any of our programs (including prior to the college's founding). Enjoy refreshments and meet with faculty and other alumni.

View the complete ISU Alumni Days schedule of events

Robert Grese will discuss the impact of landscape and architectural innovators like Frederick Law Olmsted and Frank Lloyd Wright at the turn of the 20th century. Grese is a professor in the University of Michigan's School of Natural Resources and Environment and serves as director of the Matthaei Botanical Gardens and Nichols Arboretum. The author of Jens Jensen: Maker of Natural Parks and Gardens, Grese has written widely on the prairie style of landscape gardening.

This program, together with one on June 13, is presented in partnership with the Danish Immigrant Museum, which this year is exploring the life, career and ongoing legacy of landscape architect Jens Jensen (1860-1951). Beginning this spring, the Jens Jensen Prairie Landscape Parks is taking shape throughout the museum's 30-acre property. Inside the museum galleries, the exhibition Jens Jensen: Celebrating the Native Prairie will introduce Jensen as a pioneer of landscape design in America, an advocate for using native plants in parks and gardens, and a passionate believer in the power of nature to inspire human creativity.

The programs and exhibition are supported by a grant from Humanities Iowa and the National Endowment for the Humanities.

In this one-day, hands-on workshop, professional planners will learn to work with data from the 2010 U.S. Census, ACS, and a third party using geographic information systems (GIS). The course will be presented by Monica Haddad, associate professor of community and regional planning and ISU Extension GIS specialist. It is sponsored by the Iowa Chapter of the American Planning Association (Iowa APA).

Participants in this workshop will learn how to obtain data from American FactFinder; understand the 2010 Census and the American Community Survey (ACS); explore date from Woods & Poole Economics; join census data to GIS shapefiles; query data and analyze patterns; design effective maps; create graphs and compute statistics; and analyze census date across space and time.

Cost is $250 per person. To register or for more information, contact Monica Haddad, (515) 294-8979, haddad@iastate.edu . This course has been submitted to the national APA for 6.5 AICP Certification Maintenance (CM) credits.

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A formed-steel elk sculpture by Michael Stanley, lecturer in integrated studio arts, will be unveiled at the grand opening reception for the Jester Park Elk and Bison Educational Plaza at 10 a.m. Wednesday, May 23, at Shelter #6 in Polk County's Jester Park.

The sculpture, which is 6'4" tall, 6' long and 2'6" deep, is an abstract representation of a recumbent elk based on its original lines as well as the lines of the prairie that is the animal's home, Stanley said. "It is made out of metal to refer to the industrial age that made them leave their natural habitat here in Iowa," he said.

Jester Park can be reached from Ames by taking exit 127 off Interstate 35 and traveling 6.5 miles west on Highway 141.