LARGER THAN LIFE – Lauren Surrette’s DIY sculpture Scrappy the Cat, along Los Gatos Boulevard, leans into traditional sculpture aesthetics while offering lessons about consumption and recycling processes. (Faizi Samadani / Los Gatan)
Scrappy the Los Gatos trash-gato is Lauren Surrette’s newest artwork, and it’s creating quite a stir. She started with a turkey for Thanksgiving, and a snowman for Christmas. And now, made from recyclables at home (where she lives with her family), Scrappy the Cat is Surrette’s newest addition to her upcycling collection.
Since it went on display in February, thousands of people have seen it—thanks to how visible it is, as they live along Blossom Hill Road. Surrette says, while there are always some naysayers, 90% of the feedback has been positive. She’s hoping Scrappy will stand for years to come.
Los Gatos is named after the cougars that famously roam the Santa Cruz Mountains. There are several monuments around town that embody the feline form. Though Scrappy is on the unofficial side, Surrette says she hopes her newest contribution to the community’s visual identity will not only speak to critics, but will also send a message of what residents can do with their recycling. “We found some old PVC from our yard that we broke in irrigation and made a little frame for Scrappy,” she said. “We saved old hard plastics like protein powder containers, clamshell containers and shampoo bottles.” Scrappy slowly emerged, one old item at a time. “I took chunks of plastic bags and (wound) them around and glued them to the PVC frame to get it into shape.”
UPCYCLING – Old items get a new life as a giant feline. (Submitted)
Once the frame was done, Scrappy was crocheted together in long chains, then glued. The next chapter of Scrappy’s origin story was to spray-paint him gray, giving him a statuesque look. He came to “life” on Valentine’s Day. Surrette has plans to dress eight-foot-tall Scrappy up for holidays like St. Patrick’s Day, Pride Month, Easter and Halloween. To her, it’s the community aspect of art that’s the most special thing.
Surrette’s husband Steve assisted with the installation. He sold his company, Inflection IT (a company of roughly 35 employees focused on IT services, software implementation and data integration) in August. He started it 11 years ago in Los Gatos. Steve’s been really impressed by how Scrappy came together.
They’re very proud to do a project like this with their children. They hope Scrappy brings joy to everyone who sees him. Scrappy is a helpful reminder about the waste we generate, they say. Last year, some schoolchildren were asking to be driven by their house so they could see what decorations they had up for different holidays. In recent days Scrappy has already begun to inspire the next generation to consider sustainability practices.
TAKING FORM – This large kitty-cat has already become iconic. (Submitted)
Neighbors contribute their recycling
Surrette does yard duty at her children’s school, where she would encourage her kids to pick up trash and help collect little pieces. The trash saving process began a few months back. But it took a month to crochet the chain, and then another month or so to put the form together.
Before being a full-time mother, Surrette was an elementary school teacher. She says she has no plans as of now to take this on as a new career. Rather, she sees it as a hobby. Once Surrette began posting about the process of making Scrappy via social media stories, her friends began reaching out, offering their trash to be a part of Scrappy’s existence.
MARRIED COUPLE – Steve and Lauren. (Faizi Samadani / Los Gatan)
Surrette says that some people are intrigued by the newer aluminum statues that were put up in the last several years. But there’s been some criticism, too. Late last year, the Los Gatan interviewed the artist who made those: Matt Babcock. Being aware of how those statues have been received, Surrette says that she understands people have very strong opinions and often prefer more traditional styles. As a newcomer to the public art world in town, Scrappy the Cat seems to fall somewhere in between. “It goes to show that it’s vulnerable to share art, but it’s also vulnerable to look at art and to receive that,” she said. “Somebody felt that it was a bit too much and thought he looked like an angry bunny.”
When driving by, Scrappy is almost indistinguishable from a regular cat statue. Pronouncing himself as a mock-cement animal allows him to blend in with fellow feline statues in town, while still hinting at his true identity (upon a closer viewing). “When we have an emotional reaction to art, what does that say? What’s going on inside of ourselves that we feel like that?” asks the creator. Scrappy the Cat speaks to the artistic eye in everyone, but also manages to comment on our society’s consumption and recycling processes.