Even for those on campus who don't consider themselves to be the "flowery type," the concept of an uninterrupted line of yellow daffodils running through a half mile of the Nichols Arboretum provides an interesting mental image.

That imagined visual will take on a tangible form this spring when Rackham student Susan Skarsgard exhibits her thesis project, titled Imagine-Align. Skarsgard, who also works as a product designer for General Motors Corp., and a team of volunteers will plant 20,000 daffodil bulbs during October to make her conceptual vision a reality when the bulbs bloom in the spring.

"It is, in some way, a reference to the walls and borders and fences that pop up in our civilization and then eventually disappear," Skarsgard said of the flowers, which will die by the end of summer 2004. "I realize how different people react to this idea and take their own spin on things - that's what I want."

While imagining such a concept may only take a few seconds, the planning, implementation and documentation of the project will continue for months and require the help of numerous organizations and volunteers, Skarsgard said. But University spokeswoman Joanne Nesbit said volunteers are still needed.

According to Skarsgard, it's the simplicity of the final concept that draws people to her project.

"It's sort of a huge effort, but on the other hand, I don't want it to get overwhelmingly huge," she said, adding that attracting volunteers hasn't been hard. "As soon as I explain the project to someone, it just seems to happen. It's so easy to visualize, people just get it."

One of those people who "just got it" was Arb Director Robert Grese who, according to Skarsgard, was excited and eager to cooperate once she posed the idea to him.

Catriona Mortell, Grese's assistant, said officials at the Arb were receptive to Skarsgard because of the well-organized and unobtrusive nature of her exhibition, among other factors. She said that project will not interfere with the natural environment of the Arb as the annual flowers will not return next year.

"She had a remarkably well-organized plan," Mortell said. "It's an interesting concept to have these boundaries - to consider what's real and what isn't."

In order to pay for the project, Skarsgard is planning several months of fundraising, but sponsorships are currently helping to cover the costs.

Skarsgard and other project planners have staked out the line that the snaking flowers will follow. Workers from Superior Brick Paving, which is sponsoring the project, will dig a six-inch trench along the line on Oct. 3, loosening the soil and making way for planting, which is scheduled for Oct. 4, 5 and 12.

Skarsgard said one of her favorite aspects of the projects so far has been the cooperation between various University institutions and the businesses and community members who will volunteer their time to help complete the exhibition.

"It's both community and University, and it's wonderful when that kind of thing comes together," she said.

Skarsgard is also involved in an exhibition opening on Friday at the Warren Robbins Gallery at the School of Art and Design. That exhibition, entitled "Memory Breeze," features work inspired by "funeral fans," - hand-held fans used in African-American churches in the South during the early 20th century and will run through Oct. 27.