After five days spent crafting his “Scrapdog Millionaire” persona, crawling through piles of metal debris at Old Town’s Friedland Industries and working most of the night on his sculpture, Lansing’s Tom Sheerin was just grabbing some shut eye when Capital Gains caught up with him.
He and 11 others, some in teams, had two days to go before presenting their scrap metal sculptures to judges in the Old Town Commercial Association’s (OTCA) first Scrapfest.
The fundraiser highlights Old Town’s artistic side and eco-friendly conscious, says Brittney Hoszkiw of the OTCA.
The competitors had one hour June 20 to scour the trash heaps.
“I found the best stuff in the last few minutes,” Sheerin says. His 350-pound pile included a mountain of silverware, mostly forks, and a motorcycle gas tank.
“When I heard about the contest, I knew it had me written all over it,” he says.
Long ago he committed himself to making art objects with recycled materials because it's inexpensive and he wants to showcase the "throw-away society" we live in.
He particularly likes working with metal for its flow and balance, and its polished look. He has gained some renown for his niche. Among other honors, he took first place in the City of Lansing’s Recycled Art and Fashion Show in April, and is working on a commissioned piece for the Holt Community Arts Council using recycled pieces from the area.
His finished Scrapfest piece would be six feet tall and six feet wide, he projected.
Source: Tom Sheerin
Gretchen Cochran, Innovation & Jobs editor, may be reached here.
All Photographs © Dave Trumpie
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