Graham Schardt from Prairie Ridge Church in Ankeny, IA, brings a creative urban stage design to life, using a mix of chain link, corrugated metal, pipes, barrels, and ductwork.
The team kicked off their design with what they call “urban junk”—a collection of discarded materials like chain link, scrap wood, pipes, barrels, and corrugated metal they found on the curb. These items were the perfect starting point for a raw, industrial aesthetic.
A few years prior, the church had received a neon cross, which had only served as a humorous backstage light for their worship team before services. With this set design, it found its true purpose, becoming the focal point of the stage. They also created a backlit “LOVE” sign using light boxes that had been thrown out by a volunteer’s workplace, along with some black gaffer’s tape.
For the lighting, they kept it simple with a focus on blues and yellows to capture the vibe of a city street at night. LED lights and a few old PAR lights helped set the mood.
Almost all the materials used were either salvaged from church members or spotted by volunteers with a keen eye for treasure in what others might consider trash.
To assemble the set, they mounted various materials onto wall flats they had created for earlier sets. Some items were built on pallets for easy transport. Since the series ran for several months, they designed everything to be easily deconstructed or moved for weddings and other community events scheduled at the church.
I LOVE PRC and totally miss the worship and messages and people from this church! Looks great Graham and Derek!
Way to go! Thanks for sharing this!!
Cool Graham! Very impressive.
Really creative work, Graham. Fun to see your work after seeing you so recently.