Sandy Dyas wants people to leave her exhibit feeling the same way they would feel after they leave a smorgasbord in Las Vegas: full.

“The title ‘All You Can Eat’ encapsulates much more than going to a restaurant; it’s about filling yourself to the brim,” Dyas says. “These collages fill you up with images.”

It’s not about food, though. The images Dyas used were part of an initiative by the Des Moines Public Art Commission.

Dyas was one of 10 artists chosen this spring to make public art for display in vacant and used storefronts in Des Moines for the “Storefront Project.”

The artists created and displayed their art this summer in the part of downtown Des Moines that has become known as the East Village — the area that is quickly being modernized with chic restaurants, stores and new apartment buildings. It was an effort to create a gallery without walls that showed the character of East Village. “All You Can Eat” is Dyas’ work from that project.

“They are trying to get people to come there, and one of the ideas was to promote public art in the area,” she says.

For six weeks, the Iowa City resident drove to and from Des Moines, often staying the night to capture what East Village was like at all times. She made the photos into a series of collages, allowing the viewer to recreate the feeling of the area.

“There’s a lot in the East Village to taste and to sample, but you have to dig into it,” Dyas says. “You can’t just drive through the area and get the same feel.”

Her inspiration for this exhibit came from an art philosophy of a German filmmaker and director, Wim Wenders, who is most famous for the film “Wings of Desire.” Dyas says it is based in “walking around and finding a moment.”

“A place actually has stories embedded in its history,” Dyas says. “All you have to do is take the time to listen.”