They say a penny saved is a penny earned. If that’s true, an aspiring Michigan artist has certainly earned a place at Ripley’s Believe It or Not! for using individual pennies to create a giant replica of a Lincoln penny.
Matrich, now a housekeeper, was going through a tough stretch in 2006. She had gotten divorced, was unemployed, lost her home to foreclosure and was a single mom to two daughters, 6 and 9. Matrich was literally saving money one penny at a time.
Knowing that times were tough, Matrich’s daughters offered up the contents of their piggy bank to help with expenses. The pennies went into a plastic water jug. When Matrich found a job, she took $20 from every paycheck, turned it into pennies and kept filling the jug. She eventually switched to a regular savings account, but the pennies remained as a reminder of how her fortune had turned around.
In 2010 Matrich decided to use her plethora of pennies to create something for the ArtPrize competition in Grand Rapids.
“Art was the only way I could tell a mass of people my story,” Matrich told Ripley’s. “I wanted to share the message that anyone can do this, you just have to start somewhere. What matters isn’t how much you make, but how much you save.”
Just as she turned her life around one penny at a time, she created her masterpiece one penny at a time. Each penny was glued onto a wooden frame. Matrich was picky about her pennies – she’s no penny pincher. She picked through thousands of pennies and eliminated ones with scratches, marks or paint on them. Canadian coins were also given the boot.
She got help from a local bank to get pennies directly from the U.S. Mint. “I needed very shiny pennies to create the highlights,” she said. “I wanted to use the different natural shades of pennies to create the image.
She worked on the sculpture for 10-14 hours a day for three months. Her hard work paid off, as she placed sixth out of hundreds of ArtPrize entries – an amazing accomplishment for a self-taught artist. She called her sculpture “Helping Mom One Penny at a Time.”
Her priceless penny will go on display at one of Ripley’s Odditoriums and her inspiring message will be delivered to millions of visitors. “It’s awesome!” she said. “I think Ripley’s is the best place for it to go.”
“Matrich’s giant penny was the very first piece I saw at ArtPrize 2010 out of over 1600 entries,” said Edward Meyer, Ripley’s VP of Exhibits and Archives. “I saw it in the distance and drove right up to it with my jaw on the ground and spent the next half hour just awestruck at the magnitude of the piece and the story of its creation. I knew instantly I wanted to add it to the Ripley collection.”
Penny sculpture by the numbers:
Michigan woman uses common cents to create enormous penny replicaWander Matrich of Grand Rapids used 84,000 pennies in her creation, which has been acquired by Ripley’s Believe It or Not!
The artist and her creation.
Knowing that times were tough, Matrich’s daughters offered up the contents of their piggy bank to help with expenses. The pennies went into a plastic water jug. When Matrich found a job, she took $20 from every paycheck, turned it into pennies and kept filling the jug. She eventually switched to a regular savings account, but the pennies remained as a reminder of how her fortune had turned around.
In 2010 Matrich decided to use her plethora of pennies to create something for the ArtPrize competition in Grand Rapids.
“Art was the only way I could tell a mass of people my story,” Matrich told Ripley’s. “I wanted to share the message that anyone can do this, you just have to start somewhere. What matters isn’t how much you make, but how much you save.”
Just as she turned her life around one penny at a time, she created her masterpiece one penny at a time. Each penny was glued onto a wooden frame. Matrich was picky about her pennies – she’s no penny pincher. She picked through thousands of pennies and eliminated ones with scratches, marks or paint on them. Canadian coins were also given the boot.
She got help from a local bank to get pennies directly from the U.S. Mint. “I needed very shiny pennies to create the highlights,” she said. “I wanted to use the different natural shades of pennies to create the image.
The artist, her family and Abe.
Her priceless penny will go on display at one of Ripley’s Odditoriums and her inspiring message will be delivered to millions of visitors. “It’s awesome!” she said. “I think Ripley’s is the best place for it to go.”
“Matrich’s giant penny was the very first piece I saw at ArtPrize 2010 out of over 1600 entries,” said Edward Meyer, Ripley’s VP of Exhibits and Archives. “I saw it in the distance and drove right up to it with my jaw on the ground and spent the next half hour just awestruck at the magnitude of the piece and the story of its creation. I knew instantly I wanted to add it to the Ripley collection.”Penny sculpture by the numbers:
- 84,000 pennies were used
- It took 22 tubes of construction adhesive to attach the pennies
- It measures 8 feet in diameter
- It stands nearly 10 feet tall
- It weighs an estimated 1200 pounds
- 84,000 pennies = $840
Creating the giant penny
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