The city of Lansing’s Arts Impact Project for 2025 is an outdoor installation in Old Town celebrating the community’s manufacturing history.
The piece is adjacent to Friedland Industries, a scrapyard known for recycling metal while also supporting the arts.
Jen Estill is the creative director at Redhead Creative Consultancy in Lansing, and she’s had this art project in her head for more than a decade.
Redhead is a former neighbor of Friedland Industries in Old Town. She describes Friedland’s metal scrapyard as a mystery.
The top of a scrap metal heap protected by fencing is all most people see from Cedar Street.
“I always thought it would be fun to explain it, and Friedland is such a great neighbor when it comes to supporting the arts and being creative, and that story is so fun!" she explained. "I want more people to know about it and celebrate all the little nuances.”
With the help of a $75,000 Arts Impact Project grant from the city, Estill’s vision has become a reality.
Artists come to Friedland for metal they turn into works of art every year at ScrapFest, and metal is the main component of the artwork that now adorns that fence.
That also includes a sculpture by David Such. He’s had a long association with Friedland, including ScrapFest projects.
"They sell scrap. They have piles of stuff there. They buy and sell, and they don’t have to mess around with arts, but they do. They’ve jumped in with both feet, and they’ve stayed there, so I think that’s fabulous," Such said.
At first glance, Such’s piece might look like a palm tree at the corner of the installation, but he's made the piece angular in a way that makes it more closely resemble a giant spark.
"A part of that spark comes down and touches the fence, which is the very start of all the panels that go all the way along there," he said. "So, they’re connected, and it’s, for me, it’s kind of like the spark is the pop, the big bang, so to speak.”
The panels dotted with text were designed by Moe Ferland, a digital media specialist at Redhead. She says her goal is to educate viewers about Lansing’s manufacturing legacy, the history of Old Town and the importance of recycling.
Her work was done in collaboration with Friedland.
“They were out there picking the scrap for the accessory pieces with me. They cut the metal for me, but they’re also explaining,” she recalled.
“Like, 'Oh yeah, this piece came from, like, Detroit,' or like, 'Oh, that piece is probably going to be recycled into an airplane at some point.' It’s been a really educational process for me, but it’s also kind of putting a little bit of pride into a corner that would otherwise be kind of just walked right past.”
While David Such’s sculpture required the purchase of suitable metal, much of the rest of the display uses materials that came from Friedland’s recycling center.
Two large pieces of text are also part of the piece. They say: “Our Potential is Etched in Metal” and “Our Potential is Written in Stone”.
The words come from a poem written by Rose Jangmi Cooper. The full poem, titled "Potential," can be read on one of the panels.
All of that can be seen from your car as you drive by on Cedar Street but to fully absorb the installation, Estill advises parking on Maple Street to take a walk around the block.
"There are a few pieces that you get a visual pop: the headlines, the sculpture that David made as you’re driving by, to know something interesting is there, and then there are the pieces that you can really interact with and spend some time reading or understanding,” Estill said.
“It’s just another place to make a little moment walkable.”
A walk around the area will also give viewers a chance to see other metal creations from past ScrapFests.
The Arts Council of Greater Lansing is still taking applications for the city of Lansing’s Arts Impact Project for 2026.
