Omaha-based artist Zhu hopes

That’s how curator Teliza Rodriguez describes the work of Omaha-based artist Ying Zhu, whose installation, “Watch Your Steps,” continues on display through April 7 at the Museum of Nebraska Art. The piece, located in Skylight Gallery on the second floor of the museum, includes a floor constructed of uneven tiles and a wad of polyester batting shaped like a cloud and suspended at eye level in the middle of the room.

“It’s deceptively simple, even in concept,” Rodriguez said while standing in the exhibit. “The thing I love about it is that she had to think architecturally and spatially about this. It wasn’t just the concept. She had to think about how it’s going to ‘read’ in this specific room with the skylight always changing.”

Rodriguez also believes the exhibit is user friendly by allowing — and in some ways, forcing — the viewers to walk on the uneven tiles.

Zhu, 33, wants viewers to share her excitement about life and experiencing art. Originally from China, she studied photography at Communication University of China followed by studies in management information systems at University of Nebraska – Omaha. Zhu finished her M.F.A. in studio art at University of Nebraska.

The installation is part of the Nebraska Now series in Skylight Gallery, a space dedicated to artwork created within two years from exhibiting, by emerging artists living in Nebraska.

“Sometimes we put traditional artwork in there,” Rodriguez said, “meaning painting, sculpture or those types of things. Sometimes we exhibit non-traditional art. The hope is that it presses your idea of what you think art is, or what it isn’t.”

Many of Zhu’s art pieces come from distilling her life through an artistic lens. Both of her parents still live in China. Her mother came to visit Zhu for six months in Nebraska. That visit became the basis for a piece of art.

During the legal process that resulted in the 16-year-old's being sent to the Delaware County school for court-adjudicated youth, Pierce had been portrayed as angry, undisciplined, disruptive. But that day, in that gloomy place, he was just a scared kid.

Pierce was there because he'd been involved in a brawl at Lower Merion High, where the football  prodigy had encountered frequent trouble. One of the youngsters he hit had to be hospitalized.

"That was the big issue with him," said Rick Badanjek, the Glen Mills running backs coach. "He was very immature. As time went on, he blossomed. But it wasn't an easy road for him."

Somehow that road led the Ardmore native to all the right places. In 2009, Temple made the freshman its featured back. This season, despite being Ray Rice's backup, the Ravens' third-round pick has become one of the NFL's most accomplished rookies.

Next Sunday, of course, the road will land the 22-year-old in Super Bowl  XLVII as Baltimore opposes the San Francisco 49ers on sports' ultimate stage.

"Bernard grew into a man here," said Kevin Owens, Glen Mills' coach. "By the time he left we all believed he could do something special. But the Super Bowl? As a rookie? I don't know if we thought that big."

Pierce's initial reaction to Glen Mills - a "Why-am-I-here-and-when-can-I-go?" attitude - wasn't unusual. Most of the teenagers who politely greet visitors to the sprawling rural campus were just as scared and disoriented.

"It's no easy adjustment," said Owens, a 29-year school employee. "They feel like, 'I'm coming to a school for juvenile delinquents. I've got to be a tough guy.' We don't allow that here. We create a culture where everyone can feel comfortable and learn to be a normal kid."

Before they helped mold his speed and muscle into rare football talent, Owens, Badanjek, and the Glen Mills staff had to rework his attitude.

Raised by his mother and grandmother in a working-class island on the Main Line - his estranged father died in a 2008 auto accident - Pierce exhibited a rebelliousness that was exacerbated by a group of friends he now calls "knuckleheads."

"I can't talk specifically about why he was here, but there are kids here who are worse and better than Bernard," Owens said. "He wasn't hard-core. He was a likable kid who made bad decisions.

"We're not a prep school. We're a school for juvenile delinquents. I always tell these kids, 'You've got to be willing to let the streets go.' With the help of everyone here, Bernard did."

Both coaches said Pierce's turning point came after his junior year. At that point, his sentence completed, he could have returned to Lower Merion. Instead, he asked to stay. And because his GPA and credit total met the school's standards, he was allowed to do so.