Applications Are Still Open!
Hey ScrapFest Community! Reminder that the ScrapFest 16 Sculpture competition and eco-booth applications are still open!
Sculpture Competition Applications are due at 11:59PM on Saturday March 14, 2026. Notifications of acceptance or decline will be emailed about one week after the application closes.
Eco-Art Booth Applications are due by 11:59PM on Saturday March 28, 2026 or until filled. Notifications of acceptance or decline will be emailed on a rolling basis. Maximum of 30 booths.
ScrapFest 16 Sculpture Competition & Booth Applications!
Important Dates
Here are the ScrapFest 16 dates!
FESTIVAL DATES
Friday July 10, 2026 5 - 9pm ET
Saturday July 11, 2026 11am - 7pm ET
Located on Turner Rd in Old Town Lansing, Michigan
COLLECTION DAY (important for participating artists, but the public is welcome)
Saturday May 2, 2026
Sign-In: 9:30 - 10:30am ET
Collection: 10 - 11am ET
Weigh-Out: 11am - 12pm ET
Located at Friedland Industries, Inc.
DROP-OFF DAY (only for participating artists and sponsors)
Saturday May 30, 2026
Drop-off: 9am - 12pm ET
Located at Struk Studio
And here’s the Facebook event. Please engage with it and share it!
What is ScrapFest?
In case this is your first time here, welcome! Here’s how ScrapFest works. Teams get 1 hour to pick up to 500 lbs of scrap metal for the Large category, 250 lbs for the Small category, and now a 5-gallon bucket for the Extra Small category from Friedland Industries in Old Town Lansing, Michigan in early May. They then get 1 month to make a sculpture using the scrap material they picked up from Friedland.
In mid-July, we line Turner Rd in Old Town Lansing, Michigan with all of the sculptures for the ScrapFest festival (it’s free to enter). The sculptures are juried (1st, 2nd, 3rd, and People’s Choice) for the Large and Small categories, and we’ll have a People’s Choice award for the Extra Small category. All of the sculptures are sold via silent auction.
There’s also incredible booth artists, who have a scrap material/repurpose focus to their artwork, live music, the ReFashion Show (a showcase of garments made from scrap fabric), family activities, a new welding demonstration area, food trucks, and more!
ScrapFest started as a simple sculpture competition, and has grown into a full festival that people come from all over the world to see. We hope you can join us!
This Year’s Design
While we have our main ScrapFest logo, we’ve also had a separate logo/design that we use for every new ScrapFest. Carrying on with a tradition we started in recent years, we used one of the sculptures from last year as the inspiration for this year’s design.
For ScrapFest 16, we used “Scraptus” by Bob Welton from last year as the inspiration for this year!
Bob Welton is a phenomenal artist and nuclear certified welder who has participated in ScrapFest since the beginning. Bob worked at Michigan State University’s Cyclotron for around 40 years, along MSU’s Facility for Rare Isotope Beams prior to its opening.
His work as a scrap metal sculptor ranges from whimsical to abstract to functional, the entire range being breathtaking. Here is some of his work:
Thank you, Bob, for allowing us to be inspired by your work!
If you’d like to commission Bob for a project, send him an email!
ScrapFest Documentary Season 3 Recap!
Thank you to everyone who joined us in person and online for the ScrapFest Documentary Season 3 premiere! And major shoutout to Struk Studio for hosting the in-person premiere. The documentary now lives on our YouTube channel, and is already over 1,500 views! Be sure to check it out if you haven’t yet, and please share it with family, friends, and whoever else you can think of!
In case you missed it, this season features artist Theresa Guenther. Learn about the personal obstacles Theresa has overcome, and how those obstacles have influenced her art (particularly with ScrapFest) while following along as she builds her sculpture for ScrapFest 15.
ScrapFest Documentary Season 3 on YouTube
Special thanks to Theresa’s mom, Gwen Guenther, who is also interviewed.
And big love to Render Studios for producing the documentary.
Many thanks to our sponsors of the ScrapFest Documentary Season 3, we couldn’t have done this without them!
Titanium Sponsors: Friedland Industries, Lincoln Electric, and Render Studios
Copper Sponsors: Rathbun Insurance / Auto-Owners Insurance, The Lenick Company & Atwater Steel Trading Company, and Benchmark Abrasives
Special Thanks to Struk Studio for providing the space.
After you watch Season 3…
After you watch Season 3, make sure to also watch Seasons 1 & 2 if you haven’t yet! (Or watch them again. 
)
We’re thrilled with the organic growth we’re seeing on both Seasons 1 & 2 of the documentary. Season 1 is now over 28,000 views, and Season 2 is now over 9,800 views! And both have been selected/awarded in various film festivals!
ScrapFest Documentary Season 1 on YouTube
ScrapFest Documentary Season 2 on YouTube
Coming up!
- Applications for both the ScrapFest 16 sculpture competition and eco-art booths will go live week.
ScrapFest 16 Sponsorship
Already know you want to partner with us for ScrapFest 16? Check out our sponsorship packet for next year, and if you’d like to participate but don’t see a level that fits you, please reach out to us!
ScrapFest 16 Sponsorship Packet
Have a great weekend!
Much Love,
The ScrapFest Team
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