Minnesota DNR Unveils Its Trash Sculpture
ST. PAUL, Minn. (WCCO) -- A 17-foot sculpture completely made of trash will stand at the Minnesota State Fair.
The piece is part of the Department of Natural Resources "Adopt-a-River" program. It's their 18th sculpture made up of found objects.
The 500-pound statue is of a white-tailed deer with two herons emerging from a nest on its antlers. The deer's body is made of abandoned car parts and other rusted metals. The birds are made of hundreds of plastic bottles and pieces rubber.
"Every scrap used has been taken out of river clean up," said Paul Nordell, Adopt-a-River project coordinator. "The message is let's take care of public waters."
The sculpture also recognizes the efforts of Adopt-a-River volunteers. Since 1989, there have been 85,000 volunteers and more than 3,000 clean-ups. They've collected more than six million pounds of trash from 10,000 miles of shoreline.
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"For about the last 18 months water has been above normal," said Nordell. "During that high water stage the water will pick up things many, many miles up stream and deposit it in the back waters. And we won't even see that until the water goes down."
The artist behind the sculpture is Raina Belleau, a graduate of the Minneapolis College of Art and Design. It took her 240 hours to piece together the deer and birds.
"On the fourth of July I was watching fireworks on the Stone Arch Bridge and someone dropped their reusable water bottle into the river," said Belleau. "I said to my friend I want that for the sculpture."
Belleau said most of the plastic she collected for the sculpture comes from the banks of the Mississippi River and almost all the metal comes from the Minnesota River.
"You have no idea how much trash is out there until you start picking it up your self," said Belleau. "It's insane. We found an electric tooth brush."
People who come to see the sculpture can participate in a scavenger hunt to find certain items hidden on the deer and birds.
After the State Fair the statue will be at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design in their sculpture garden.
