Tulsan Turns Trash Into Robots

By Rick Wells, The News On 6

TULSA, OK -- It's been said that one man's trash is another man's treasure.  For one Tulsan, the old saying could be changed to one man's trash is another man's art supplies.

Up the driveway beyond a powder pink 1959 Buick Invicta is Chris Wollard's garage workshop.  He welds, bends and bolts together robots out of the oddest collection of metal pieces like a compressor tank.

"Someone was cleaning out their shop.  They were gonna toss it out," said Chris Wollard.

One day, it'll become a robot born in Chris Wollard's imagination, pieced together from scrap iron.

Inside his house is a nearly-finished what he calls a Robo Rocket Samurai.  It is kind of like a kid's bad dream come to life.

"I like to play with my sculptures," said Chris Wollard.

He's been at metal sculpting for about 10 years.  His yard is littered with metal parts and pieces.  He calls them art supplies.

He has a table full of little component robots.  They have different heads and bodies and arms and legs.  There are different characters like gunslingers, cowboys and punk rockers.

An upcoming event at Dwelling Spaces will give Tulsans the chance to build a bot and play a little.

"These may not be appropriate for kids, but kids already know how to play.  It's adults who have forgotten how to play," said Chris Wollard.

The Build-A-Bot event is Friday evening from five to nine at Dwelling Spaces at 119 South Detroit in downtown Tulsa.