Stimulus Spending on Art to Improve Outdoor Aesthitics in Clare Michigan

While I was in Clare Michigan a few weeks ago to haul steel for Alro Steel, I noticed a peculiar looking bicycle rack inside the plant of JD Metalworks (one of Alro's customers) where I was delivering a truckload of steel. upon closer inspection and some questioning, it was revealed to me that it was actually part of the economic stimulus money from the ARRA (American Recovery and Reinvestment Act). The project arrived there at their plant as a coil of tube steel and some flat peices. They worked the steel and welded it together according to the plans that came with it and then painted it to specifications.

The area around central lower Michigan, where Clare is located is fairly sparsely populated and remote. Sprinkled throughout the cornfields there rises an occasional corrugated steel building with lots of SUV's parked nearby. Some of these shops are just outbuildings close to a farmhouse itself! The predominate industry in the region is steel working and fabricating in support of building industrial grade wood chippers. Three world renowned brands are manufactured there; Woodsman, Morebark, and Bandit. These wood chippers are so big that semi-tractors must pull them! They can devour entire trees in seconds. They are used by developers who clear land for construction here and abroad. Nothing is wasted. The entire tree can be turned into mulch, packaged and sold in stores.

But this little curious project caught my eye as we were unloading the steel from the truck, and I inquired about it. I was told that it was an art project that was funded by the stimulus money of taxpayers.

As I said it looked like a bicycle rack at first, but upon closer inspection it turned out to just be a work of art. Notice the Obama Administration's "going green" theme is promoted here by the form and color. If you are ever in Clare Michigan I hope that you get the chance to see this in person, but if not, you can enjoy this cell phone photograph below!

 

Your tax dollars hard at work in Clare Michigan!