About Scrap Metal Sculptures

It's a challenge to turn a bunch of unrelated---often rusty and old---elements into a masterpiece. The secret of making a scrap art piece lies in infusing the work with so much integrity, viewers forget that they're looking at nuts, bolts, sprockets and used battery wires. If you're a fan of scrap metal art and you want to know more, visit found art exhibits, shows and parks around the country to see for yourself what this art form is about.

To say that one man's garbage is another man's design material perfectly describes the art genre known as scrap metal sculpture or found art. Everything is fodder for the artisan; spaghetti sauce cans, metal rivets and bent-up spoons and forks wind up as unique artworks under the hand of the sculptor. Using materials found in scrap yards, garbage dumps, thrift shops and yard sales, crafters use welding equipment to synthesize their visions, and the result can be spectacular.

Scrap metal design specialists face dangers not experienced by traditional artists. Working with welding equipment requires training and practice. Protective gear is costly but essential to protect eyes and extremities from sparks and flying materials. Germs and bacteria on the material could present additional risk. Updated tetanus shots are recommended, as is thorough washing of materials.

Dr. Evermore's Scrap Metal Park near Saulk City, Wisconsin, may be the world's most unusual scrap metal sculpture park. Visitors from around the globe come to see the centerpiece of the collection: the Forevertron. The monumental sculpture by park owner Tom Every shows what someone with a great imagination can do with 320 tons of scrap metal.

For 31 years, youngsters from the Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts in Dallas, Texas, have been used scrap material donated by the Commercial Metals Co. to design entries for an annual "Scrap Can be Beautiful" contest. This competition encourages budding artists while promoting a message of ecological renewability. The installation in a prominent Dallas office building teaches visitors that even waste has the potential to become dramatic art.

From larger-than-life lawn sculptures with copper tubing to allow water flow to birds and animals, trash is experiencing an artistic renaissance. With material ranging from oversized scrap like car hoods, piping and sheets of metal to small car parts, bottles, cans and hardware, artists are forging new frontiers by crafting useful items as well as formal works of art (see Resources section).