Home » News » Waupaca News » Dumpster art

Dumpster art

Ally Carlovsky’s talent as an artist landed her a job turning dumpsters into works of art.

Last summer, she transformed three of Faulks Bros. Construction’s newest dumpsters into just that when she painted them.

“They brought them to my house, so it was easy for me to get up in the morning and paint,” said Carlovsky, who is a junior at Waupaca High School.

She painted music notes on one, the Faulks Bros. mascot Freddie on another and “Faulks” in a graffiti style on the other one.

“I started in late July and ended the end of August,” she said.

Carlovsky was recommended for the job by Lee Schultz, who teaches art at WHS.

Last spring, Faulks Bros. Construction used social media to put the word out that it was looking for an artist to paint their newest dumpsters, said Dena DiVincenzo, the company’s business development director.

The company started its painted dumpster program about 10 years ago.

It was the idea of Bob Faulks, one of the owners.

After decades of seeing ugly, beat up dumpsters throughout the community, he recognized they did not have to be ugly – they could be canvases of art, DiVencenzo said.

They imagined different designs and found painters.

“We have about a dozen painted ones, all different designs,” she said.

Most of them were painted 10 years ago, when they started the program.

“This year, because there is such a demand of people renting dumpsters from us, we had to purchase more,” DiVencenzo said.

After Schultz recommended Carlovsky, Faulks Bros. contacted the student.

“They wanted me to send in sketches, so I did,” Carlovsky said.

First, Faulks Bros. gave her ideas of what they wanted, including music, urban art and their slogan, “Call Freddie first.”

“When we put out the call, I think Ally was the first one back with sketches and interpretations of our ideas,” DiVencenzo said.

Her eagerness and the quality of her sketches meant she was their only serious candidate for the job, she said.

Carlovsky refined her sketches, with Alyce Lees, of The Paint Store, then helping her choose the colors and paint.

“Then, I started painting,” Carlovsky said.

First, she painted music notes on one of the dumpsters.

Because that was the first one, she found that one to be the most difficult for her.

Next, she worked on the one featuring Freddie.

“I felt it went better,” Carlovsky said. “That was more my style.”

Finally, she painted the one which says, “Faulks.”

By then, she had more confidence and did that one more free handed.

Carlovsky lives by Spencer Lake, and some neighbors and campers wondered what was going on at her family’s home.

“A few people stopped and asked about it,” she said.

Some thought her parents, Mark and Jami Carlovsky, were remodeling the house.

“A lot (of people) didn’t know I was into art. It brought it out a little more,” Carlovsky said.

As a student at Immanuel Lutheran School, she did art projects every few weeks at school.

“My mom always drew when I was little. It was always really cool to see her do that,” she said.

Carlovsky’s older brother, Elliot, also did well in art.

Carlovsky took an art class during her freshman year at WHS, joined the Art Club last year and has Advanced Drawing this semester.

In addition, she is one of three students being featured in a student art show opening Thursday, Oct. 17, at the Waupaca Community Arts Center.

The show also includes the art of WHS students Amanda Durfee and Taran Walkush.

Carlovsky said art will always be her life, and next summer, Faulks Bros. wants her to redo a couple of their older dumpsters, as well as a couple new ones.

“Our goal is to have art on all the dumpsters that we lease out to commercial and residential,” said DiVencenzo.

The other designs on their dumpsters include wildlife, flowers, dogs and cats, a golf theme and one which says, “Go Comets!”

Teri Sullivan, a dispatcher at Faulks Bros., says the dumpster rental program is very popular, especially during the summer and into the fall when construction and clean outs are taking place.

“We get lots of demand for the Comets in the Waupaca area, and you get people in Iola who say, ‘I do not want the Comets box.’” she said. “We definitely have the rivalry going on. It’s always cute when you get calls from people in Clintonville, Iola.”

Those callers do not want a dumpster which says “Comets” on their property, Sullivan said.

“I think it’s funny that they know it’s here,” she said.

From a marketing aspect, “Any company wants to be recognized in their community, especially a community the size of Waupaca. We want people to notice our trucks, our dumpsters. Our marketing goal is to be the company people think of first,” DiVencenzo said.

Maybe one of the painted designs catches the eye of someone, and five years later, that same person needs a dumpster, remembers it and calls Faulks Bros., she said.

“Faulks Bros. is all about land improvement and improving people’s property,” she said, adding that it may seem like a small thing – improving how a dumpster looks – but it is about improving the community.

“It’s a fun project to work on, coming up with the designs. And, if people enjoy it, all the better,” DiVencenzo said.

Sullivan said the Packers, Badgers and Comets dumpsters are the most popular and most requested, with people who have property on the Chain O’ Lakes often requesting the dumpsters which have a sports theme.

“We put out a lot of boxes,” Sullivan said. “We had to order more, because we had a waiting list. We’ve done very well.”

Since completing the project, Carlovsky has already seen two of the dumpsters she painted.

“I went to my friend’s house, and there was one right next to her house,” she said.

That was the one with the music notes on it.

During a visit to the home of another friend, Carlovsky spotted the dumpster with Freddie on nearby.

She is excited about doing more work for Faulks Bros. and appreciates that Schultz recommended her for the job.

“It’s a really neat fit,” DiVencenzo said. “You don’t think of a high school girl spending her summer vacation painting dumpsters.”

Carlovsky can put that on her resume.

Scroll to Top