PICK OF THE WEEK: Sedalia artist finds beauty in the discards of industry

For years, Sedalia artist Scott Linsenbardt collected rusty metal scraps from along railroad tracks and at salvage yards, not entirely knowing why.

A few years ago, he took a metal sculpture class at State Fair Community College and it clicked.

“Just walking the railroad tracks, I found a piece like that and thought, ‘Wow, that little element has so much personality to it,’ ” the 1978 Sacred Heart graduate said, gesturing to a rusty faucet dial on one of his sculptures at SFCC’s Proctor Library. “It really stands by itself, but it could also be part of another piece.”

Linsenbardt, 50, will be showing off his metal sculptures at a reception from 6:30 to 8 p.m. Feb. 10 (rescheduled from Feb. 3 due to the blizzard) at the Proctor Library. But metal sculpture is just the latest phase in the artist’s creative life.

Even as a 14-year-old at Sacred Heart, he found a teacher’s artistic trash to be his treasure.

“There was a little closet off to the side, and one day I snuck in and started digging and found some old cardboard canvases and acrylic paints,” he said. “I dug them out and the art teacher
didn’t seem to mind, so I just started going for it and started putting out these flat, colorful, non-objective works. That kind of got me started in the painting world. Then I came (to SFCC) and Doug Freed was the teacher, and he got me started in oils.”

Next, Linsenbardt tried photography, stained glass and ceramics, before film captured his fancy for more than a decade. He earned his film degree in 1987 from the University of Central Missouri and his graduate degree three years later from Regent University in Virginia Beach, Va. He worked in the Virginia and North Carolina film scene until 2002. Looking back, he cherishes and shudders at those long, creative days on the set.

“I took one film class and fell in love with it,” Linsenbardt said. “I was a cinematographer, but also other things — a grip, a gaffer. I can’t think of anything I didn’t do in film. Maybe wardrobe.”

When his parents were injured in a car accident, he came back to Sedalia in 2002 to help in their recovery, and he moved into his next career — home improvement. He owns Scott’s Carpentry, which he said is doing well despite the recession.

“I had been away for so many years, and I wanted to get back to my family,” Linsenbardt said. “I have eight (siblings) and we are an easygoing and close family, so something in me wanted to get back. I never thought I’d come back to Sedalia, but maybe I came full circle. Maybe you’re born in a certain place because it’s part of your destiny.”

Linsenbardt isn’t done transitioning, though. In fact, the 14 pieces in the SFCC exhibit, “Transitions,” have changed since they went on display in August.

“I started off with a metal work show, but then as I started getting into the polyurethanes, I decided to put the two together,” he said, referring to the white or colored glazes that look like doughnut frosting. “So every couple weeks I’ll take a piece home with me, pour polyurethane over it and bring it back. Maybe they’ll all have polyurethane all over them — who knows? I’m really happy with it. Even ‘Bud,’ one of the first pieces I did, I like how it turned out.”

Linsenbardt refers to his pieces as “him” or “her” instead of “it,” and many have human names such as “Bud,” “Buffy,” “Buzz,” “Horace” and “Hal.”

“They each have their own persona,” he said. “I just can’t give them away; there’s too much heart put into them. So, yeah, they’re like my kids.”

Linsenbardt doesn’t approach a project with a plan, preferring trial-and-error. His works are made up of rusty old parts from air compressors, mowers, meat grinders and other machines. He often buys 70 pounds of metal for $5 from the A.K. Schultz salvage company in Sedalia, then plays around with the scraps in his shop. A typical sculpture will include around seven pieces welded together.

His most recent sculpture, though, is rather simple: “Don’t” is a mousetrap with a mint placed in the middle. Linsenbardt said he wouldn’t have made a funny piece like that before he discovered metal sculpting.

“No, that’s too much fun,” he said. “It’s got humor in it, and I had never found a place to stick humor in my art. But there was something about metal sculpture, a lightness and a fullness. It was just ‘Have fun.’ If it comes together, it comes together; if it doesn’t, tear it apart and try again.”