Arts Fest: State College Resident Uses Old Odds & Ends to Create Futuristic Models

For years, State College resident Dan Baxter walked past exhibits at the Central Pennsylvania Festival of Arts swearing he could be one of the artists proudly displaying their work.

Baxter finally stopped talking about it and decided to showcase his skills by building robots made out of of vintage items.

“I remember saying, “I could do that,’” the emerging artist says on the first day of Arts Fest. “I decided to stop thinking creatively and start acting creatively.” Festival-goers pack his Baxterbots tent to get a better look at the handmade robot models.

The idea to craft futuristic robots out of items from past decades grew out of Baxter’s love of science fiction. It also didn’t hurt that he had been collecting antiques for years. Baxter’s robots are made from items he found at yard sales and online from the 1930s, 40s, 50s and 60s.

“Kids love them because they look interesting and older generations will notice the vintage items and say, ‘Oh, I had one of those,’” he says about the robots’ appeal.

Baxter uses everything from rusty wrenches for arms to antique cameras for faces. One customer, Jen Finkle, buys a robot Baxter calls “Beach Bum” because she likes the contrast of the metal body with arms made of drift wood from the beach.

“They all have something different about them,” Finkle’s daughter Avery says.

Baxter’s bots have sold well at the other three festivals he’s been to since the beginning of his venture, and the Arts Fest is no exception – he ends up selling three robots during the first two hours of the festival at his tent near the intersection of South Allen Street and Fairmount Avenue.

“They’re hard to say goodbye to,” Baxter says about the robots. He forms an attachment with his work because some of the models take days to plan, assemble, create and modify. The 25 bots he’s selling at Arts Fest range in price from $180 to $550.

One customer points out how much personality each robot seems to have, which may explain why Baxter names each of his creations. There’s small bots like Lenny that have a light meter for a torso and typewriter keys for arms. Baxter even has a few robot dogs like Daryl that have a coal miner lunchbox body and a vintage roller skate for legs.

Kimberly Powell stops by Baxter’s tent because her friend who lives near Seattle collects robots. She snaps a picture of one of Baxter’s bots to see if her friend is interested in buying one.

“This is fun because they’re not quite toys, they’re collector items and they have a sense of humor about them,” Powell says.

“It’s nice when you find the right mix of quality and uniqueness at these festivals.”

Click HERE to learn more about Baxterbots and to see which bots are searching for a home.

For a complete event schedule and lots of other Arts Fest information click HERE

Related stories:

Off the Beaten Path at the Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts

Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts: Getting Around Guide

Young Artists Showcase Talents at Opening Day of the Arts Fest