The power of art can be boundless, but even the most ambitious artist might balk at the idea that artwork can literally save lives. Fortunately for people in Latin America, Kansas City artist Jarret Mellenbruch not only believes in the power of his art but also in the force of experimental collaboration.

He calls himself a “paleosculptor.” Gary Staab brings the wow factor to natural history and science museums, recreating ancient fossils and skeletal remains in mesmerizing detail and at mammoth scale. Staab spends his days (and sometimes nights) engrossed in his work in his Kearney, Mo. barn-studio.

Mary Wessel knows how to wrest magic from photography.