By Rob South, WKAR News
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/wkar/local-wkar-975046.mp3
LANSING, MI –
When community planners talk about making neighborhoods that attract people and business, they usually toss around terms like "Walkable" or "Bikeable" or "Cool cities." Neighborhood-gardens and well-groomed parks rank up there with dependable alternative transportation.
Lansing's own urban renewal success story -- Old Town -- has all of those things. Over the last couple of years it's started to capitalize on another asset that most communities would rather not have a block from downtown -- a junk yard. WKAR's Rob South files this report about Old Town's latest attraction, Scrapfest. SKIP down to article
The race is on
On a warm, sunny Saturday afternoon, when most of us would rather be relaxing under a shady tree in one of those well groomed parks, a group of hardy souls has forgone sunglasses for safety-glasses. Hard-soled shoes, denim pants and leather work gloves are the outfit of choice for about a hundred artists and their dedicated helpers as they get ready to scramble to collect a lot of junk.
They have one hour to gather no more than 500 pounds of metal from the scrap yard at Freidland Industries. Their goal is to make an original work of art with nothing more than what they drag out. They have two weeks to make their art.
Team Readhead has decided to make a musical instrument so the team members have been gathering any number of potential noise makers: metal pipes, springs, bowls and even some shiny sheet metal plates that make a fun wobbly noise.
Working together
Scrapfest started in 2009, when local business owner David Such decided it would be a good idea to get Friedland Industries better connected to Old Town's arts community. He says it's a perfect marriage of commerce and culture and one that should ultimately draw more people in.
"I think anytime you can put art and have people come and look at it, that's good for the community," he says. "There's a lot of different art styles represented down here, so I think that brings a who different flavor of people that might not automatically come down to Old Town."
This is Scrapfest's third year and has grown to 18 artists. But Such sees much bigger things on the horizon for the festival.
"I don't see the limit," he says. "I don't see where it has to stop yet. It's ever changing and I don't think it's what it will be."
Don't call it junk
Team Readhead and named their piece Sound Junkie it took third place in this year's scrapfest. If you'd like to try your hand at playing Sound Junkie, you're in luck. It's been donated to the old Town Commercial Association which will install it in one of its parks later this summer.
reWorking Michigan
For more on economic evolution in the Great Lake State, visit WKAR.org/reworkingmichigan