The Octagon Center for the Arts is gearing up for fall with exhibits from two local artists and a lineup of classes and workshops. ISU Professor Barbara Walton and Des Moines designer David Dahlquist will both have work shown throughout the month. And new classes will be offered to the public this fall. On Sept. 1, Walton, an Ames artist and adjunct assistant professor in drawing and painting, opened her showing of works titled “Poetics of Space: A Collection of New and Old Works by Barbara J. Eckhardt Walton.” Walton’s showcased pieces include oil paintings and mixed media drawings dated from 1996 to present, and will be shown in the Main Gallery through Sept. 24. Letitia Hansen, curator and development assistant manager at the Octagon Center for the Arts describes Walton’s oil paintings as non-confrontational portraits, because the subjects seem to be lost in their own world and never look directly at the viewer. “It’s more about that particular moment in that person’s life,” Hansen explains. Walton’s newer works of mixed media drawings deal less with people and more with how objects fit in space Hansen says. “I am interested in pictorial space: mostly of the ambiguous type. I am interested in how forms occupy space. Not necessarily physical, but psychological,” Walton says in her artist statement. “I want these forms to exist within the whole of life; as if they may evoke birth, growth, aging and death with all that encompasses those various arrivals and passages.” In the Sweeney Gallery of The Octagon Center for the Arts, from now through September 24, a show called “The Dahlquist Project: Public Art in Downtown Ames,” will feature Dahlquist’s contributions in redesigning the downtown area. Dahlquist was selected by the Ames Public Art Commission to incorporate art into plans the design firm Engineering Plus had for renovating the downtown area. On display are computer-generated plans from Engineering Plus and original sketches from Dahlquist. The final project traces the significance of the railroad to early Ames and includes the colored paved design at the Kellogg and Main intersection, a tiled planter wall, light columns and historical tiles on 5th Street. Dahlquist’s idea for the light columns comes from all the vertical elements that run parallel to railroad tracks. “It was my hope that they would be a kind of beacon at both ends of the street and they would encourage you in a kind of containment way to walk inside that district,” Dahlquist says. New class schedules for the Octagon Center for the Arts start in November, and Hansen encourages ISU students to become involved. Adult classes range from drawing, painting, pottery and photography, to writing and dancing. There are also classes for elementary and preschoolers, and children ages 18 months to 2 1/2 years. For students who can’t commit to a 6 week class, Hansen says there are other opportunities at the Octagon Center. “Students can get opportunities for internships here, not only in the arts, but marketing, advertising and development,” Hansen says. Hansen also says it is a great place for students to go just to get off campus, and unlike classes, it is free. “We’re a nonprofit organization, so we’re here for the community,” Hansen explains. Gallery hours for the Octagon Center for the Arts are Tuesday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., and Sundays, 2 p.m. to 5 p.m.