Preservation of beauty is not easy. Artist John Devraj knows this first hand.

Originally from Bangalore, India, Devraj will display his creations of “sustainable art” on the Iowa State campus this week. A self-taught artist, sculptor, singer and community activist, Devraj is a crusader for peace and harmony employing his art as a tool for learning.

“It’s very important to create these images of optimism, hope, of strength and beauty,” Devraj said. “This world is not what we inherit from our parents, but what we borrow from our children.”

Children are a common theme in many of Devraj’s pieces. Whether they are depicted in pastels, ceramics, bronze or fiber glass, the children in his artwork are symbols of hope for the future.

“I like to communicate or speak of different experiences,” he said, “not just make things out of abstract thinking. It is much more authentic.”

Sustainability has a larger and more encompassing meaning to Devraj than most are familiar with. To him, it includes community, culture and tradition as well as the built and natural environment.

Devraj has traveled the world over working with artists in different environments and participating in local activities that strongly project his vision of community development, both urban and rural, through art.

“The sense of beauty is linked with the question of preserving nature,” he explained. “It’s a great political act to preserve the beauty of nature. It becomes political because someone is always trying to destroy it.”

Because of the specific ordeals or political messages within his art, Devraj enjoys lecturing and explaining the origins or events by which they were inspired. He said that “political thinking has been destroyed” because many people have become desensitized. He hopes his works encourage people to question policies and engage in debate.

“By just showing this to people, it would be difficult to create critical thought,” he said of why he often lectures about the pieces. “We have to create a tradition where people can think.”

His most critical works are the monuments he constructs. Defying the norm of erecting monuments to political leaders, soldiers or royalty, Devraj devotes his monuments to “the ordinary people.”

“I believe art has to be socially appropriated, it can’t be privately appropriated,” he said. “The closest thing to that is the public monument. We create sculptures of ordinary people which has to [be] made by them, too.”

Often, the subjects of Devraj’s monuments are invited to participate in the creation of the art piece. An example is the “The Tree Of Life,” a monument to children in his home city. Children worked with the artist to make the sculpture which still stands.

You too are invited to work with the artist. You can see Devraj’s work firsthand in the atrium of the College of Design today from 3 to 6 p.m. A workshop where posters will be created precedes the exhibition from 12 to 3 p.m. in Room 246 Design College.