Keeping scrap beautiful

Every spring, Commercial Metals Co. (CMC) decorates its headquarters in Irving, Texas, with a variety of scrap metal sculptures made by high school students in the Dallas area. Each year, students from Booker T. Washington High School get creative, turning scrap metal CMC donates into bison, fish, birds, flowers and abstract art as part of CMC’s Scrap Can Be Beautiful program and contest.

CMC began the competition in partnership with the Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts in Dallas in 1978 to strengthen its relationship with the Dallas community. Once students craft sculptures out of the donated scrap, CMC says a panel of artists and individuals who have worked in the arts judge the entries.

“The program has students from 9th to 12th grade,” says Terri Stone (T.Stone), a metal sculptor with public art on display in Dallas and other Texas cities and a longtime judge for the competition. “Some kids we’ve seen all the way through their tenure at the school. It’s a really cool program.”

CMC says it donates between 5,000 and 10,000 pounds of scrap metal annually to students at Booker T. Washington for the contest, with the amount of scrap varying based on how many students are involved. The company then establishes a gallery to display the sculptures at its headquarters and organizes the judging.

“Every year, it’s amazing to see the diversity, the creativity and all of the works we see,” says Maria Teresa G. Pedroche, who has served as a judge for the contest for more than 20 years. “[Students’] work has to be done with scrap metal. For Commercial Metals to donate that [material] to the students is a big deal.”

T.Stone says the entries are judged based on creativity and their technical and safety components. “Safety is my hangup—you can’t have someone walk into [a sculpture] and get cut.”

CMC recognizes first, second and third places in two separate categories, as well as honorable mentions. The company says it also began presenting a Best in Show award in recent years to recognize students who went above and beyond for the competition, adding, “The [Best in Show] award typically goes to a student for [his or her] overall body of work.”

CMC sets up a virtual silent auction website with photos of the sculptures for its employees to bid on. Students also receive a complimentary luncheon off-site to celebrate their participation.

“This is a cool thing for the kids,” T.Stone says of the virtual silent auction. “They can sell their work, and those kids get money from the sale. They also get money if they get a Best in Show award, winning first, second or third place. That incentivizes their creativity, and if they pursue this as a career, it teaches them a lot—how you explain your piece, materials and process.”

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The contest is a multiweek event, which includes judging, photography, the virtual silent auction and student awards. This year, judging began April 13, and a ceremony  was April 27 at CMC’s headquarters. Barbara Smith, chairman and CEO of CMC, along with Peter Matt, president of CMC, presented the awards.

“[CMC’s] staff goes above and beyond to make sure this is a stellar exhibition,” Pedroche says.

According to CMC, the contest used to take place off-site in conjunction with CMC’s annual shareholders meeting. In more recent years, the contest has moved to its corporate office in Irving to ensure more of its employees can enjoy it. The contest also features a silent auction, which takes place on a virtual platform to extend the artwork to other CMC employees outside of the corporate office.

CMC says many of the judges have been participating in the contest for 10 to 20 years. In addition to T.Stone and Pedroche, 2023 judges included George Tobolowsky, a sculptural artist who made many sculptures in downtown Dallas; Cheryl Vogel, curator of Valley House Gallery and Sculpture Garden in Dallas; Jed Morse, chief curator of the Nasher Sculpture Center in Dallas; Gail Sachson, founder of Ask Me About Art, Inspire Art Dallas and former chair of the Dallas Cultural Affairs Commission; and Patricia Meadows, who has been in the Texas art community for more than 40 years.

CMC presented the following awards for the 2023 competition:

• 1st Place Floor - Big Horn by John Sanchez, 11th grade;
• 2^nd Place Floor – Robot by Juliet Pulis, 12^th grade;
• 3rd Place Floor – Shopping Cart by Bianca Barrera, 10th grade;
• Honorable Mention Floor – Flower by Aryanna Sotero, 10th grade;
• Honorable Mention Floor – Sea Lion by Carlos Ambriz, 12^th grade;
• 1^st Place Tabletop – Vikori by John Sanchez, 11^th grade;
• 2nd Place Tabletop – Hei Hei by Lucas Sanchez, 9th grade;  
• 3rd Place Tabletop – Blind Eye by Quinn Espinoza, 10th grade;
• Honorable Mention Tabletop – Orchid by Arielle Ramirez, 11th grade; and
• Best in Show – John Sanchez, 11th grade.

CMC tells Recycling Today programs such as its Scrap Can Be Beautiful contest bring awareness to the community about the value of scrap and recycling. The company says other recycling businesses interested in starting a similar program should look around their local communities for schools with welding or visual arts programs  to discuss partnership opportunities. CMC adds that teachers and students will need access to equipment for welding and cutting (such as a plasma cutter) and, most importantly, the proper safety gear and training to safely weld, cut and craft materials into works of art.

“[S]tudents are dying for materials,” Pedroche says. “In this day and age where everything costs more, it helps. You might not even think a student could use scrap, but you would be surprised at how students’ imaginations soar. Somebody’s scrap is somebody’s treasure.”

CMC says it’s proud of its ongoing support of the Booker T. Washington school and this annual program.

“CMC values its role in the communities where we live and work,” the company says. “We are very proud of this long-standing partnership with the school to host this annual contest and exhibit, which combines the arts, education and recycling.”