Colorado artist Doris Laughton created the orange and yellow steel sculpture that's seen in front of the CSU Center for the Arts, which is located on Remington Street in Fort Collins. Entitled Steel Splat and installed in November 2007, the sculpture is part of the university's permanent collection, which is administered by the University Art Museum.

Laughton works in many media, as documented at her website (www.dorislaughton.com), yet she returns repeatedly to the "splat" shape – which is a seven-armed amoeba that simultaneously suggests biomorphic and liquid properties. The shape reminds us of something we might see drawn in the Sunday comics, and like the comics, it can evoke an immediate and amused reaction from us.

Laughton constructed Steel Splat from four interlocking steel plates. The relationships among the plates draw our attention away from the spontaneity of the arms and towards the center of the splat, from where the arms arise.

Laughton surprises us. But, this particular sculpture isn't as punchy in its fun as some of Laughton's pieces. Which is why it looks so good after a fresh snow.

The next time snow blankets Fort Collins and homogenizes the distinctions between the plant material and built environment, go look at Steel Splat. See if it doesn't communicate a bit better with you, when the expansive properties of everything around it become frozen in place.