Recycled Spirits of IronDan Klennert , Jason Bechtold

Born in Crookston, Minnesota in 1950, Dan Klennert always had a big imagination. As a young kid, Dan would spend time at his grandparents where he would flip endlessly through magazines, until one day he found a connect-the-dot exercise inside. This sparked Dan to start tracing pictures in his coloring book with typing paper, and one time when the typing paper was too thick, he laid the paper beside his book and began copying the picture. 

His love for art grew when his father began working as a garbage truck driver. On days he would drive the truck home for lunch, there would be broken toys and random things hanging from the mirrors and bumpers, and it felt like Christmas! Dan would continually come back to these memories as he collected items for his art in the future. After graduating from high school, he would work as a mechanic, where he fell in love with the worn-out gears and sprockets he was replacing. He began welding them in different art forms and looking toward twisted metal and driftwood as further formal inspiration. He purchased himself a second-hand Montgomery Ward hand welder and started crafting his work on larger scales. What originated as goods for local craft fairs soon outgrew their stand and Dan needed a larger space to display his work.

He thought, instead of hauling the art to people, he could have a place where people gather to view all his work together. In 1998, he bought a four acre piece of land where his imagination and creativity could now run wild. Recycled Spirits of Iron, also called Ex-Nihilo Sculpture Park, has sculptures ranging from miniature to monumental that depict objects natural to mystical. Visitors will be greeted by a 40-ft seahorse, colossal spider, oversized high wheel, rusty train, and more as the current artist on site, Jason Bechtold is still creating works and caring for his old cars.

A few years ago Dan decided to retire and focus on his health, and when looking for an artist he admired, his son-in-law Jason came forward with the promise to continue his vision. Jason and his wife Kelly are the current stewards of the site and while Jason cares for the art, Kelly tends to the landscape and regularly plants flowers. While Dan lives in Arizona now, he still owns the home and has expressed an interest for the park to become an artist retreat in the future. 

– Narrative by Leah Zuberer (SPACES Intern), 2025

Sources:

• Interview with artist via email, September 2025

• https://visitrainier.com/ex-nihilo-sculpture-park/
• https://www.visitpiercecounty.com/listing/recycled-spirits-of-iron-sculpture-garden/3108/ 
• https://www.king5.com/article/entertainment/television/programs/evening/this-amazing-roadside-attraction-in-ashford-has-become-a-family-affair/281-23547bff-6469-4f9e-beb7-074616bda348 
• https://www.mnmuseumofthems.org/Envr/Iron.html

Found industrial metal parts, found objects, drift wood

22410 WA-706
Elbe, Washington, 98330 us
Latitude/Longitude: 46.7561621 / -122.1370323

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