Permanently Displyed Winner of the Lansing Old Towne "Scrap Fest."
Lansing Michigan Ole Towne "Scrap Fest!"
The city I live in, Lansing, has a part of town called "Old Towne," ok, so maybe the "e" isn't really there, but I like it, so it stays! Anyway, this part of town used to have quite a ways between it and downtown, so it was essentially a "suburb" at one time. Because of that, outside of Old Towne, but now deeply embedded in the City of Lansing, is a scrapyard, called "Friedland Industries." Over the years, the city has went back and forth with them over zoning, after the scrapyard was swallowed by the city's sprawl. Eventually, the city and Friedland came to an uneasy truce, and the company agreed to sponsor various things the city was doing to promote tourism. One of them was to donate materials to the Old Towne "Scrapfest," which was more or less founded to support Friedland in its ongoing war with the City Council by the Old Towne Commercial Association.
Likely saved Friedland from demise by the City...
Fesitval!
The Old Towne "Scrap Fest" has been going on now for quite a few years. The rules for the contest are simple, an Artist submits an application for materials from Friedland industries, and they are in turn provided with a set amount of "scrap" to create a sculpture. As you can see the "scrap" is all metal, as Freidland is a metal salvage yard...
The front door of Friedland Industries, proudly displaying a former winner of the "Scarap Fest."
Making the Most of Things!
As you can see, the "Scrap Fest" has become a staple of life in Lansing, and something actually looked forward to by most residents. Freidland is a great example of a business that may not be wanted, but is needed, so they make a point to be a part of the community, instead of a pariah!
Artwork made of hubcaps surrounding Friedlands "yard."
As you can see, they even try to hide the "ugliness" of their operations for the City so as to make things "touristy."
This is the Old Towne section of Lansing...
Did I mention it is kind of a big deal here?
As you can see, the city supports the festival as well!
Now we will start to see some of the entries for the years contest. These are from 2019.
"Number Six"
Better view of the festival...
Dobie needs some clothes!
This one was interactive and had a crank that caused it to move! How cool is that?
It's the Mothman!
Imagine how long each of them took to fabricate!
Someone built a "Selfie Station" as an entry to the contest! This made it interactive as well! Very cool!
Just....Wow!
Again, this level of creativity is absolutely amazing to me. To think that someone can weld like this just blows my mind!
I feel like this thing is chasing me when I try to trade crypto...
Feed them to the Lions!
Of course, no festival would be a festival without Music!
And the Winner Is...
This "Captain America" sheild was the winner during this "Scrap Fest." Now, enjoy a few sculptures from past years that are now on display across the city.
Not sure if this is a Roach, or a Shrimp...either way...ewe...
Here we have a Dinosaur prowling the City!
And this...thing...
It's Not Easy Being Green!
Here we have a representation of the famous Battle of the Millenium Falcon and the Bi-Planes...
