Civilian makes sculptures from recyclables

  • Published
  • By Margo Turner
  • 89th Airlift Wing Public Affairs
ANDREWS AIR FORCE BASE, Md. (AFPN) --  Turning discarded aluminum soda cans, fabric, cardboard, plastic, glass, newspaper and wood into environmental art is a labor of love for Helen Walker.

“Environmental art sculptures are very effective because they tell a story,” said the quality assurance evaluator for the 89th Civil Engineer Squadron’s maintenance flight. “Making the sculptures stimulates conversation and awareness. It brings communities together. I’ve met so many people from all walks of life.”

Walker displays some of her creations in her office. She made many of the items out of aluminum cans, such as a train engine, an airplane and a movie camera. There are also dolls wearing clothes made from recycled fabric.

Walker said her favorite craft is the 30-inch-tall silver colored tin man. She used tin cans, recycled lumber, recycled gloves and used bottle caps for the buttons.

“The tin man is something everyone can make,” she said. “I made the body … out of coffee cans, soup cans and juice cans. The tin man’s cap is an oil funnel.”

Before coming here in April, Walker was quality assurance evaluator for the 11th CES at Bolling Air Force Base, D.C., for 15 years. In 1990, she started Bolling’s recycling program, which was later expanded to include pollution awareness and other aspects of the environment.

To demonstrate the importance of recycling, Walker made a train engine from red aluminum cans.

“It took me five to six months to complete because I made it on my own time,” she said.

Walker said she wanted to acknowledge nonprofit organizations, businesses, schools and local, state and federal agencies that promote ways to protect the environment. She and co-worker, Angie Flores, design and make artwork professionally, to create quarterly awards for “Best Environmentalist” and “Best Environmental Achievement.” They also created the “Lumber Jack Award,” which is given to people who do not recycle but have the potential to do it.

“Angie and I’d go to the recycling center (at) Bolling or to the recycling bins in our building and pick out the colored cans we needed for our art projects,” she said. “We also selected paper, cloth and wood.”

Besides the sculptures, Walker and Flores repaired old toys and old clothes they found and sent them to nonprofit organizations for distribution to the needy.

Walker’s work in environmental education has not gone unnoticed. In 2002, she received the Air Force Association’s Gen. Edwin W. Rawlings Award for Environmental Excellence. She was cited for her dedication in building community-wide awareness to protect and preserve the environment around Bolling.

Walker said she relied on her creative talents when she first started making sculptures. She later came across kits for creating various items, such as biplanes, angels, snowmen and Christmas ornaments, all out of recyclables.

She said she enjoys working on sculptures with everyone who volunteers to help, especially children in preschool and elementary school because of their imagination.

“Have you ever seen a child’s eyes light up with a sense of pride? I have,” Walker said. “Children have (an) ‘I can do it myself’ attitude after making an environmental art sculpture for themselves or for a loved one. Their little minds go nonstop. They always ask the question: ‘What can we do next?’ They are saving our earth and having fun in the process.”

Walker said she hopes one day she can make a model of Air Force One out of aluminum cans. She has already collected a box full of empty aluminum cans, each with the appropriate shade of blue.