{"id":168411,"date":"2026-02-25T11:02:56","date_gmt":"2026-02-25T11:02:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/168411\/"},"modified":"2026-02-25T11:02:56","modified_gmt":"2026-02-25T11:02:56","slug":"st-pete-woman-transforms-tropicana-fields-hurricane-roof-debris-into-art","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/168411\/","title":{"rendered":"St. Pete Woman Transforms Tropicana Field’s Hurricane Roof Debris Into Art"},"content":{"rendered":"

ST. PETERSBURG, FL \u2014 About four years, St. Petersburg veterinarian Dee Sheppard voiced her frustrations about the amount of garbage there is in the world and wastefulness during a conversation with her niece. <\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s so much trash and that disposable type of lifestyle, and it was like, you know what? Let\u2018s see if I can do something about it,\u201d she told Patch. <\/p>\n

So, she started turning trash into art, and now, she\u2019s focused on creating works from the roofing materials that were torn off Tropicana Field during Hurricane Milton in 2024. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt started with pallets and old furniture and evolved into anything I could come across that I might be able to make into something,\u201d Sheppard said. \u201cDuring storms, trees would fall and there was this unlimited wood, and I\u2019d think, \u2018Surely, I can make this into something.\u2019 Wall art, little animals, things like that, plates. A little bit of everything.\u201d<\/p>\n

Anything can be turned into art, she added. \u201cI feel like I look around and see art in just about everything, every dumpster I come across.\u201d<\/p>\n

Initially, Sheppard found a home for her pieces by gifting them to family and friends. <\/p>\n

\u201cThen, they hit the point where they couldn\u2019t take anymore,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n

She launched a business, Pelican Upcycle<\/a>, selling her art through an Etsy shop and at local markets, including Shopapalooza and Localtopia. <\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s when I evolved from wall art and got into cutting boards and picture frames, spatulas,\u201d she said. \u201cBut goofy, silly stuff.\u201d<\/p>\n

When Tropicana Field\u2019s roof was destroyed during Milton, the debris \u201cfell into place with what I do,\u201d Sheppard said. <\/p>\n

A friend who lived downtown collected pieces from the stadium immediately after the storm and offered them to her with the stipulation that any money she earns gets donated to charity. <\/p>\n

She agreed, choosing Girls on the Run Greater Tampa Bay,<\/a> where her niece, Lauren Leavine, serves as executive director. The organization hosts events and programming to inspire and empower girls. So far, she\u2019s raised about $6,000 for the nonprofit. <\/p>\n

The roofing debris is made mostly from fiberglass and teflon, Sheppard said. \u201cIt\u2019s difficult to work with. Nothing sticks to it. You can\u2019t glue it. You can\u2019t stick anything to it. But I\u2019ve tried different things to see what I can do with it.\u201d <\/p>\n

She landed on cutting out various designs that she turned into wall art and people can\u2019t get enough of them. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe Tropicana Field stuff has been incredible in terms of sales,\u201d she said. \u201cPeople might have gotten squares of the roof, but this is a piece of art, something you can hang up and have displayed, and that\u2019s what makes it special.\u201d<\/p>\n

She hopes the popularity of these works helps to elevate her mission. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe big thing is to cut down on waste,\u201d Sheppard said. \u201cI just feel like there\u2019s so many ways to do it. This is my way, but I know there are other ways.\u201d<\/p>\n

As she runs out of roofing material, she\u2019s already thinking about her next focus: plastics. <\/p>\n

\u201cThat might be my thing for next year,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ST. PETERSBURG, FL \u2014 About four years, St. Petersburg veterinarian Dee Sheppard voiced her frustrations about the amount…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":168412,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[202,204,203,199,201,200],"class_list":["post-168411","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-st-petersburg","tag-st-pete","tag-st-pete-headlines","tag-st-pete-news","tag-st-petersburg","tag-st-petersburg-headlines","tag-st-petersburg-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/168411","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=168411"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/168411\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/168412"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=168411"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=168411"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=168411"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}