Our Downtown Manchester Scarecrows
Downtown Manchester has played host to a yearly scarecrow festival. The following scarecrows are our music-themed designs over the years.
2010
The Mad Conductor
The Mad Conductor was created using a cello body, a violin body, two flute lyres for arms, marching band gloves, saxophone pad eyes, guitar string hair, a violin shoulder pad mouth, and a conductor's baton.
2011
Beethoven with Head of Mad Conductor
A play on Cellini's Perseus with the Head of Medusa, this scarecrow was constructed with a cello body, cello necks for arms, burlap-covered Styrofoam head, and re-used the previous year's scarecrow head.
2012
Grim Rocker
The Grim Rocker was constructed with a PAR can light reflector head, a broken strap display for a torso, practice pad stands for arms and fingers; a music stand, guitar pickup, spare tuning machines, and a scrap of cymbal comprise the Grim Rocker's "guitar".
2013
Alby Bach
Alby Bach combined the arms of "The Grim Rocker" and "Beethoven", a cello torso and guitar amplifier jewel eye.
2014
The Smashing Pumpkin
Our lightest-weight scarecrow, comprised mostly of music stands, also featured drum sticks and a broken planter (converted to a drum).
2015
Boris the Spider
With a nod to the band The Who, Boris the Spider was made with pipe insulation legs, film canister (what's a film canister?) eyes and leftover amplifier cloth and packing for the body.
2016
The Composerator
The Composerator told you, "Alby Bach"... with some minor instrument "upgrades."
2017
That's A Wrap
Our wrapped rapping mummy was constructed with blinds as wrapping, headphone ears, painted chainsaw chains, and an ancient microphone.
2018
Mr. Bow Jangles
With a tambourine head, violin and viola bow arms and legs, Mr. Bow Jangles was created to honor Bill Robinson's dancing and the countless covers of the famous Jerry Jeff Walker tune.
2019
The Screeching Cello
The Screeching Cello was constructed with a cello body head, fluorescent light diffuser for the cutouts on the face, a solar-powered light to illuminate the cutouts at night, and a host of spiders.
2020
Rock 'n Troll
Rock 'n Troll pays homage to the great Eddie Van Halen. Constructed of scrap fabric and instrument packing material, guitar strings, and a thrift-store rocking chair. This Troll ROCKS!
2021
Willie Nelson - Farm-Aid Hero
This legendary musician was our choice for the 2021 scarecrow theme of "Heroes". Willie has been instrumental in raising awareness about family farmers, good food, soil and water, and strong communities. This scarecrow was a departure from our normal "instrument-centric" designs, but features a re-used instrument as "Trigger," Willie's trusty guitar sidekick.
2022
Music Man Chester
For the 2022 theme of "all things Manchester," we created Music Man Chester. With a violin head, guitar string hair, saxophone pad eyes, violin bridge eyebrows, viola tailpiece nose, harmonica mouth, trombone arms and legs, a cello body, a tambourine, and a conductor's baton; this scarecrow highlights local arts groups, locations, and events on a piano-themed wardrobe.
2023
Wonderful World
This aspiring trumpeter dreams of becoming the next Louis Armstrong. We hope all music students will think to themselves: "What a wonderful world!" Obviously, this piece uses a trumpet, but the structure is also comprised of lots of instrument packing, guitar strings, and miscellaneous brass bits and pieces.
2024
"Jump In!"
For 2024, the trumpet tree's "leaves" have fallen, inviting this bony character to do what all kids love to do - JUMP IN!
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Numerous trumpet-shaped objects were used in the creation of this scarecrow - no legitimate instruments were harmed.