Artists Turned Scrap Into Sculptures for Lansing’s ScrapFest

Around 12,000 people from around the world are expected to attend ScrapFest in Lansing’s Old Town neighborhood this weekend, according to festival co-director Mike Bass. 

On Friday and Saturday, the event will feature booth artists, live music and a fashion show showcasing garments made from scrap fabric. The main event is a series of contests featuring dozens of sculptures made of repurposed scrap metal. 

“Teams get an hour in early May to collect up to 500 pounds of scrap metal from Friedland Industries in Old Town Lansing,” Bass said. “Friedland Industries is my family’s company and we’re a scrap processing and scrap recycling company located right in Old Town.”

Artists take the scrap metal they collected and mold it into sculptures, which are now on display on Turner Road in Old Town.

“We line the street with sculptures, and the sculptures are juried, first, second and third place and then also there’s a people’s choice category,” Bass said. 

The sculptures range in size from huge figures made with up to 500 pounds of metal to sculptures made only from enough metal to fill a five-gallon bucket. They are categorized by size into large, small and extra small before voting begins. 

Bass said this is a little different from the festival’s humble beginning 16 years ago.

“It started as a simple competition and over the years, it’s developed into this big thing,” Bass said. 

The idea for ScrapFest came from David Such, who owned a videography business in Old Town at the time, according to Bass. 

“He came to my dad and said, ‘Hey, Larry, I have this idea for this scrap metal sculpture competition would Friedman Industries be interested in hosting it?’” Bass said. 

Bass was in Japan teaching English during the festival’s first year, but started helping to put on the event the following year and has been involved ever since, serving as ScrapFest’s co-director for the last several years. 

He said he enjoys seeing artists grow as they participate in the festival year after year. 

“Andrew Sandstedt is a perfect example,” Bass said. “He went from the first year, being a beginner in the metal art world, and then 10 years later, he won the festival.”

He also enjoys the sense of community. 

“The artists are always trying to lift each other up and help each other improve,” Bass said. 

Bass said 10% of the proceeds from the festival are donated to a local charity each year. This year, the team has chosen Mid-Michigan Recovery Services which helps mid-Michigan residents overcome addiction. 

Bass said this was chosen after the team began producing documentaries about some of the participating artists. 

“I had no idea the level to which some of these artists had experienced addiction and recovery,” Bass said. “Being a part of scrap has really helped some of them work through it as well.”

To view the dozens of sculptures that will be on display this weekend and find out more about the lineup of events, head to ScrapFest’s website.