Junkyard Social Club Giraffe
Giraffe for Junkyard Social Club
Boulder, CO
Completed 2020
about this project
Mitch received a grant from Apogaea, the local regional Burning Man event, to build a life-sized giraffe out of scrap metal, but when Covid lockdown hit and Apogaea was canceled, Mitch continued building the giraffe to stay busy. Made from over 1,500 unique pieces of scrap metal, the 18-foot-tall giraffe was completed in July 2020 and, after being displayed on Tennyson Street in Denver, found a permanent home at the Junkyard Social Club in Boulder, CO, where it stands as a testament to upcycling and creativity.
In early 2020, Mitch received a grant from Apogaea, the local regional Burning Man event, to build a life-sized giraffe out of scrap metal. Soon into construction, Covid lockdown hit and everything, including Apogaea, was canceled. In an attempt to keep himself busy and distracted, Mitch spent the first few months of lockdown building the giraffe anyway.
Collected from over 1,500 unique pieces of scrap metal, bicycle parts, tools, and assorted junk, the 18 foot tall, 2000 pound giraffe was completed in July of 2020. It spent 6 months displayed at a pop-up art space on Tennyson Street in Denver, then went looking for a permanent home. Mitch reached out to a friend, Jill Katzenburger, who at the time was working on opening a creative space for kids and adults in Boulder CO, the Junkyard Social Club.
Junkyard Social Club is an intergenerational community space; where ideas and friends run wild.
- We are an ever-evolving, climbable discovery museum.
- We are a rebel art venue, maker studio, and adventure playground.
- We are a coffee house with craft beer and cocktails, where communities come together to unwind, to celebrate, and to hatch big plans.
- We are a low-or no-cost venue for artists, culture-keepers, changemakers, and educators who use our space to wreak positive havoc on the system.
Together, we build from nothing, reuse everything, and achieve great things from humble beginnings. We’re pro kids, pro adults, pro play. Our offerings are guided by the development of skills in divergent thinking: creative problem-solving and expression, curiosity, critical thinking, and open conversation. We want to connect new people, spark new ideas, and give our community the tools to create the world around them.
The Junkyard is fully non-profit and committed to putting quality of life above the bottom line.
The Giraffe stands tall as a permanent testament to upcycling, creativity, and perseverance in the face of adversity. See it on Pearl Pkwy in Boulder, peeking over the fence! The Junkyard staff has been growing plants up the legs over the last few years, so eventually the sculpture will be fully enveloped in greenery.
