Clay, bamboo and horse hair.

With the right minds at work, this is art.

And the best place to display this type of project is at the 1999 Clay, Fiber, Paper, Glass, Metal and Wood Exhibition at the Octagon Center for the Arts.

“It’s an exhibition containing art both traditional and contemporary,” Patrice Beam, executive director at the Octagon, said. “It’s a very encompassing show with varied styles and mediums in representation.”

Seventy-one pieces of art have been on display since Mar. 7 and will be showcased until Apr. 11. Of the 71 works of art, 10 are by Ames artists.

“It’s definitely something people are interested in,” Beam said. “It is a good chance for people to get their work out into the public.”

An opening reception and awards ceremony was held Sunday, where seven awards were given to competing artists.

The awards were presented by Randall A. Hayes, executive director of the Durham Western Heritage Museum in Omaha.

“I saw a lot of originality,” Hayes said. “There was also an awful lot of whimsy, which I tend to enjoy.”

Although 44 artists from 10 different states competed in the contest, six of the seven awards went to Iowans, including local artist Jeanne Beaver, who received honorable mention honors.

“It’s a great opportunity for people to see what different artists from around the country are working on,” Beam said. “The biggest thing that attracts people is the variety of art.”

Variety is definitely a strong point.

Artists involved with the exhibit work with materials such as brass, silk, parafilm, shell and cotton tapestry. Clay, watercolors, paper, photography, pastels, bronze and sterling silver are among other materials that were used to create different works at the exhibit.

Diane Whisnant, an Ames artist, entered a piece titled “Butterfly Beads,” which was made with exactly that.

“It’s a photograph of a butterfly with beads glued on,” Whisnant said.

Lee Anne Willson, also from Ames, is proud of her “Garden Quilt” she entered. It is her eighth work made from folded paper, but her first in this exhibit.

“It’s made up of about 100 pieces of paper all folded together into sort of an origami quilt,” Willson said. “The overall shape is a simple diamond design because the paper is so complicated.”

Other Ames artists, like Ingrid Liligren, worked with different odd materials. Her piece, titled “Terry,” was made from clay, bamboo and horse hair.

“It’s a ceramic form made by throwing it on the wheel,” Liligren said. “It was then altered and custom underglazes were applied. I had people, other artists and friends, send me five colors that they love and five they [dislike] and I applied the colors in a pattern to the piece.”

Liligren, who has exhibited at the Octagon before but never in this particular exhibit, helped to increase the show’s variety by putting her own feelings and preferences into her art.

“I like to work with projects that are interactive and involve people,” Liligren said. “It is a very strong show and I encourage people to get out and see it before it ends in April.”

More creative art that helped enhance the show came from other Iowans such as Velga Easker of Cedar Rapids, who used canceled postage stamps in “Non-Profit Stamp Quilt.”

“Viewers will see the range of diversity of the arts in the area,” Hayes said.

Along with the thick Iowa influence this exhibit provides, it also features the work of artists from as far away as California.

“[The center] has done a good job of getting submissions from around the country,” Willson said.

The Octagon Center for the Arts is located at 427 Douglas Ave. in downtown Ames.

Gallery hours are Monday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday from 2 to 5 p.m. Admission is free.

For more information, call 232-5331.