Students from the School of Art & Art history developed two public art pieces. The first project emblematizes the Decorah eagles in a sculpture that celebrates the natural assets of Winneshiek County. The second playfully acknowledges the mythical gnome-like “nisse” of Norwegian culture through several small ceramic doors and windows that will be displayed in local parks for the mischievous “nisse” to use.

MFA students in the School of Art and Art History created 10 small statues of Nisse, gnome-like figures from Scandinavian folklore, for the 2015 Nordic Fest Celebration.

Following the success of the "Gnomes on the Trail" event during the 2013 Nordic Fest celebration, the Winneshiek County Conservation Board aimed to create new gnome statues along the trail for trail users to interact with.

UI ceramics artists Andrew Haley and Keva Hawkes created 18 Nisse scultures for the trail.  

Researchers from the GEEMaP program, College of Engineering, and Department of Earth & Environmental Sciences collaborated to predict and map where frac sand mines may be most likely to occur in Winneshiek County if the industry enters the area.

Students in the School of Library and Information Science partnered with Sioux City Public Library Director Betsy Thompson to identify potential community partners who had a stake in and wanted to develop community partnerships in support of early childhood literacy. 

Students from the college of Social Work conducted a project that was focused on several programs within the Sioux City area that were seeking to improve their services for and communications with members of the population that are from traditionally disadvantaged and oppressed groups.

Mass communication students enrolled in "Philanthropy Communication in a Digital World" worked with Brucemore Historic Estate in Cedar Rapids to develop and implement a marketing plan, including research, event planning, and use of technology to produce promotional messages and a social media campaign. The students focused on volunteer recruitment and retention.

In collaboration with Arts Share, graduate students in the School of Art & Art History worked with local businesses in the Czech Village/New Bohemia Main Street District to design window displays for the holiday season.

In collaboration with Iowa Digital Engagement and Learning (IDEAL), honors rhetoric students created podcasts in sping 2014 through IDEAL's Digital Narratives project. Podcasts focused on IISC's partner community of Muscatine, particularly on the growth and development of Muscatine.

Here are the five stories told through podcasts:

Graduate students in Organization and Community Practice worked in groups to put their social work training into practice. Students identified a social justice community issue to investigate and conducted a needs and strengths assessment using data on the community, key informant interviews of different stakeholders, and other sources as necessary.

The IISC and Arts Share developed a low-cost public art project for a student in the MFA program. The project used recycled materials to create a sculpture that pays homage to an important member of the Mississippi River Valley's ecosystem, the bald eagle.

Honors rhetoric students collaborated with two groups in the School of Urban & Regional Planning, and the Iowa Digital Engagement and Learning (IDEAL) program, to develop digital texts that will help tell the story and effectively message the Mississippi riverfront redevelopment project and Connectivity master plan project to citizens of Muscatine.

Journalism students in the Strategic Communications Writing course researched and produced marketing materials for use by the Washington Chamber of Commerce for promotion of the hotel/motel tax.

Washington, Iowa is currently one of the only communities in Iowa without a hotel/motel tax. Funds generated by the tax will help put the community on the map, making it more competitive Iowa destination.