No matter how you cut it or apply it, and no matter how large an ego the installer might have, most tile jobs are not a piece of art.

That's not the case on a wall along the main entrance walkway to the Environmental Interpretive Center under construction on the University of Michigan-Dearborn campus.

There, employees of Rustin Tile and Marble Inc. and members of Tile, Marble and Terrazzo Workers Local 32 have completed a 70-foot-long tile wall that depicts close-up scenes from a nature preserve located on the campus behind the building.

Students in grades 3-11 from schools around Southeast Michigan who took field trips to the campus' natural area on various days last year were asked to draw on ceramic tiles and make close-up drawings of flora, fauna and natural objects that can be seen at the site.

The images won't fade quickly because they were set into the tile during the glazing process. The young amateur artists who drew birds, leaves and flowers on 2,000 tiles were given a further measure of posterity earlier this month by having their tiles set into the curved cinder block wall that acts as a backdrop. A roof over the walkway keeps the tiles out of the sun and gives the tiles some protection from the weather.

"It turned out really well; there's so much color," said Mike Perrin, the University of Michigan-Dearborn's coordinator for natural areas. "When the kids went to tour the natural area and make the tiles, we encouraged them to look at the details, and there are a lot of details in what you see here. I think it serves a purpose."

Ford Motor Co. paid for the wall, which is modeled after a similar set up at a zoo in Kansas City. The tiles are flanked at either end by professionally created depictions of herons set in the center. The tile project, which was conceived more than two years ago, was handled by Rustin Tile and Marble.

"It's been two years in waiting, but it's beautiful," said the project's artist, Susan Miller. "The tiles depict scenes from the four seasons, spring, winter, summer and fall, and that really brings it all together."

Local 32 journeyman Shawn Kearney said it took a week for he and fellow journeyman Tony Romero, as well as Tom and Seamus Rustin, to put up the wall. Kearney said all the tiles are numbered so students will be able to find their tile, and so the installers can figure out where they go.

"It was a little bit of work to follow the pattern and get the four seasons correct," he said. "It was interesting, it definitely is not your average job. I enjoyed the work."

"This really livened up a concrete block wall," said Sheila Rustin, owner/vice president of Rustin Tile and Marble, second from left. She stands in front of the colorful tile wall with Local 32 Business Manager Robert Wilson, artist Susan Miller and the University of Michigan's Mike Perrin.