Art & Sculpture #3: International Snow Sculpture Championship (Lake Geneva, WI)

What kid doesn't like to play with snow?  When kids go to the beach, they can't wait to sculpt the sand.  Why not try sculpting snow?  You can do more than build a snowman.  If you want to see the professional art, inspire your kids at the International Snow Sculpture Championship in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin.  Lake Geneva has hosted the event for 26 years.

Winterfest in Wisconsin, Photo by Krenda

Sculptors tend to dream a theme, draw it, and begin with a blank 8 feet or 12 feet blocks of snow.  It takes days to create the sculpture.  If you go to the competition early in the festival, you can see their drawings and watch them work with shovels, hand saws, and wooden spoons.  I like to return to see their finished art.  I timed it right to stay for the award ceremony and cheering.

Sculptors hope for quality snow block and the right temperature.  They wish for snow without dirt, ice, or rocks.  They hope for Goldilocks weather, not too frigid and not too warm.  Too cold makes it hard to carve and melting, slushy snow makes it difficult to keep the details crisp.

Some sculptures look so smooth.  Other sculptures so intricate.  Some had humor.  Others tried to convey deep meaning.  With approximately 15 teams and 15 sculptures, everyone strolls along the pathways finding their favorite. 

If you go to Lake Geneva, just pay for parking.  One year people decided to park on the lake, but the lake didn't totally freeze and cars and trucks sank.  With a free event, paid parking doesn't seem too much.

What if you don't live close to Lake Geneva?  Find earlier events, ones that may decide which sculptors participate in the National competition or just bring joy at winter festivals.  Here's seven other snow sculpting events:

1.  Illinois Snow Sculpting Competition - Rockford, IL, Sinnissippi Park, 10 sculptures

2.  Minnesota State Snow Sculpting Competition - St. Paul, Vulcan Snow Park

3.  Wisconsin Snow Sculpting Competition - Fond du Lac, WI, compete and possibly win a trip to the U.S. Championship

4.  Ely's Snow Sculpting Symposium - Ely, MN, Ely's winter Festival at Whiteside Park, lit by candles at nigh

5.  Zehnder's Snowfest - Frankenmuth, Michigan, fireworks every night

6.  Woodstock Flurry - Vermont, state contest, free

7.  Winter Arts Snow Sculpting Festival - Dubuque, Iowa, Washington Park

If you want to go beyond U.S. competitions, consider a trip to Breckenridge, Colorado for the International Snow Sculpture Championships.  Often combined with the Viking inspired week of winter games called Ullr Fest, you can see approximately 16 teams hand-carve 20-ton bricks.

Art Lesson #13: Six Giant Troll Statues at Morton Arboretum

 Joe the Guardian, trail up the hill and overlooking the highway

The Six Forgotten Giants in Copenhagen, Denmark, designed by artist Thomas Dambo, is celebrated art in Europe.  Travel is restricted to Europe, but you can find the artist's work in the United States.  The Morton Arboretum in Lisle, Illinois is home to Thomas Dambo's first large-scale exhibit in the United States.  Since Thomas is known for using recycled materials and promoting sustainability, it's fitting that an arboretum combines such art with nature.

I've visited the Morton Arboretum before the pandemic.  My friend had a membership and invited me to Passport Europe Festival one September afternoon.  The festival is so big that the event holds multiple stages simultaneously.  You have to choose between dancing and musical performances.  Often lots of audience interaction, joy, and laughter.  My friend certainly giggled when successfully volunteering me to learn Polish dancing in front of an audience.  I was so impressed with the park.  It's much larger than I expected.  I later learned it covers 1,700 acres and has 222,000 live plants combined with scientific research, making it internationally known.

During the pandemic, it's still a great place to visit.  The crowd is limited by timed-entry with non-refundable tickets.  With such wide, open spaces, social distancing feels so easy.  While more expensive than local or state parks ($15 per adult, $10 child ages 2-17), you also contribute to a great cause.  Joy Morton, son of the founder of Arbor Day and founder of Morton Salt Company, created the arboretum after studying botanical gardens in Europe.  The non-profit organization collects and studies plants from around the world.  From your ride through the forest, you can visit the East Loop and West Loop and see distinct outdoor exhibits of Asian, European, and North American Collections.

Tip #1:  Use the App to Help Find the Six Giant Trolls

Without the map, it could be a challenge to find all six trolls, some hidden in the woods after a trail.  Even with the map and signs with arrows, it still feels like a hunt.

Tip #2:  Drive the Troll Hunt

If you don't drive, finding the trolls would take a six to seven mile hike.  From a parking lot, the hike does not feel strenuous.  It takes a two feet to three-quarters of a mile hike from the nearest parking lot.  You'll still get your family moving.  One hike took you up a hill and you could look over both the arboretum and the highway, along with the super tall troll.  Rocky Bardur:  visible from road, easy walk from parking lot #1

Tip #3:  Plan for a Couple Hours

Once we started the hunt, my daughter insisted we find all six sculptures.  Kids enjoy finding the cute trolls and parents admire the details of reclaimed wood with different natural colors, twigs, and pincones combining for character.  Due to the pandemic, trolls are now fenced off.  You can still get great photos of Rocky Bardur, Sneaky Socks Alexa, Joe the Guardian, Furry Ema, Niels Bragger, and Little Arturs.  I've placed Destination Asia Festival my wish list for post-pandemic entertainment in August.  Culture, nature, and art come together at the Morton Arboretum.

Art & Sculpture #4: International Sculpture Park and 4 More Sculpture Parks in IL

Smithsonian Magazine lists "Six of the World's Most Spectacular Sculpture Parks...from New York to Norway". (Jennifeer Nalewicki, May, 6, 2019) and I've only been to one of them, twice (Olympic Sculpture Park, Seattle, Washington).

Even with travel restrictions, if you live in Illinois, you can share the joy of sculpture art with your kids.  For our staycation, we planned visits to places that felt connected to other countries.  We chose the International Sculpture Park in Schaumburg, IL.  A partnership between The Chicago Anthenaeum Museum of Architecture and Design and the Village of Schumburg turned this 20 acres of meadow, forest, and prairies into a park for art lovers.  Then we connect to Greece.  Ioannis Karalias, a Greek architect, planned the garden.

Here's good news for moms - no admission fee, no parking fee, open from sunset to sunrise, and the open space makes it easy to socially distance.

You'll enter the grounds of the Robert O. Atcher Municipal Center with free parking at the Prairie Center for the Arts.  You likely won't see the sculpture garden entry sign from the lot.  Take the prairie trail back towards the entrance.  You will see the entrance sign and "Together", an 18 foot sculpture by Jerry S. Kenar.

You can connect back to Greece with "Chairs" sculpture by Argyro Konstantinidou showcasing Greek themes and images from the history of Mexico, Egypt, and Greece.  "Athys" by Charles de Montaigu provides another connection to Europe since it represents contemporary art in Switzerland.  "Touch Heaven" connects you to Israel designed by Oded Italahmy and inspired by Judaic culture and iconography.  "Vinland" intrigued us so much that we looked up more about the sculpture by Jarle Rosseland of Oslo, Norway.  The sculpture commemorates the 1,000 year anniversary of the Viking explorer, Leif Eriksson and his discoveries of the Americas.  With that background, we could see the ship form.  Another favorite was "Thought Rise in Vacuum" by Hans-Christian Berg, combining the numbers "zero" and "ones" in a cloud-like pattern.

Fortunately we researched the park ahead.  My daughter knew we missed sculptures, even though the path seemed to end near a road.  Trace back to the parking lot and walk across the street for other sculptures.  We had a picnic lunch near the prairie and now we found lots of other picnics near the small lake.

My daughter particularly wanted to see "Awaking Muse" by Don Lawler.  It takes a lot of horizontal space at 40 feet across.  The female figure inspired by Greek mythology appears to awaken from her sleep.  Keep walking and you'll find the colorful "Ecceltora" meaning "Behold the Hour".  May you enjoy your hour at the sculpture park.

Here's four additional sculpture parks to consider visiting in Illinois:

1) West Street Sculpture Park, Galena, IL, 2 acres

2) Goldman-Kuenz Sculpture Park at Cedarhurst in Mount Vernon, IL (Southern IL)

3) Scovill Sculpture Park in Decatur, IL near zoo and museum

4) Koehnline Sculpture Park, part of Koehnline Museum of Art on Oakton Community College campus- Des Plaines, IL (north of O'Hare airport), 25 sculptures

For more sculpture parks in the Midwest, visit my article "Pyramid Hill and 4 More Sculpture Parks in the Midwest".

Art Lesson #10: The Getty Museum - Los Angeles, California

The Getty, Photo by Krenda

When you combine stunning art, architecture, and gardens, the beauty amazes the senses.  I recommend you visit The Getty Center in Los Angeles, California.  Patricia Schultz, author of travel book 1,000 Places to See Before You Die, also recommends the site.  She describes the museum as a "futuristic shrine to the art of the past" and describes the buildings "the hilltop citadel is a work of art itself, done in gleaming off-white travertine marble and glass.

You could spend the day just exploring outdoors because of the multiple gardens and beautiful views of the Santa Gabriel mountains, Pacific Ocean, and Los Angeles city.  Everything has a grand scale.  The Central Garden uses 134,000 square-feet to house over 500 varieties of plants.  My photograph shows the Cactus Garden which has quite the view.  Also walk through two sculpture gardens - Lower Terrace Sculpture Garden and The Fran and Ray Stark Sculpture Terrace.

 The buildings within the $1.3 billion Center have such striking, modern lines and curves.  The building itself is art.  From a distance you can tell it has grand scale.  When you take the tram up the hill and immerse yourself in the campus, it is even more impressive.  Architect Richard Meier designed the campus to encompass nature and culture, using 16,000 tons of travertine stone from Tivoli, Italy.  He designed the rooms to let natural light show off the paintings.  You can see it from my photo.  Sunshine outdoors and bright, light rooms make you feel sunny.

Exploring inside could take many visits including four pavilions:

1) North Pavilion - paintings up to 1600, Medieval and Renaissance, sculptures

2) East Pavilion - 17th century Baroque art, including Dutch, French, Flemish, and Spanish

3) South Pavilion - decorative arts and furnished rooms

4) West Pavilion - sculpture and Italian decorative arts and Center for photographs

If you feel pressed for time, don't miss the famous Vincent Van Gogh painting "Irises".  I stayed until the last minute, also providing time to watch the sunset over the city and the campus to light up in the night sky.

Free admission, but you need to consider parking and whether you need to purchase food.  If I visited again, I'd take advantage of their parking special - one fee ($20) for both Getty Center and Getty Villa when visited same day (except Mon. or Tue.) and confirmed at information desk.  I'd begin at the Villa to admire ancient world art, drive to a restaurant for lunch, and drive the 20-45 minutes to Getty Center.   Besides saving on the parking, the timing could save me from expensive museum meals.  Other Getty Center parking deals include $15 after 3PM or $10 after 6PM on Saturday.

Art & Sculpture #2: 7 Ice Sculpture Festivals in the US

Ice Sculpture Festival, Photo by Krenda

When you grow up in Northern Wisconsin, you have a choice to complain about the bitter cold or embrace the winter scene's beauty.  I remember as a child enjoying a winter festival in Feb. which included horse drawn carriage rides and cherries jubilee.  What caught my eye and attention were the ice sculptures, impressive pieces of art suddenly appearing on the square.

Exposure early in my life intrigued me to learn more about this art.  I continued to be captivated by ice sculptures.  I intently watched contests on cruise ships, amazed by such skill with a powerful chainsaw.  I even drove up to the largest and oldest ice festival in the United States, the Plymouth Ice Festival, in January.  We took our kids to the local ice festival in the "city of sculptures" - Hamilton, OH.  Another winter, we took them to an ice festival in Kentucky which included the artists demonstrating how to create the art from a block to the finished product, while listening to live music - so cool!

Lesson Idea

Art:  Before attending a sculpture festival, teach children that art can be made with lots of different medium - even ice!  It's also a science project as you teach children about solids transforming to liquids.

1.  Fill half gallon cardboard milk carton with water and freeze overnight

2.  Remove ice from container and stand block up in a pan
3.  Sprinkle rock salt on top
4.  Squirt colored water with eye droppers, watch the color run through the cracks

Here's 7 Ice Sculpture Festivals you and your kids could attend:

1.  Plymouth Ice Festival - Plymouth, Michigan (MI) pictured above
          http://www.plymouthicefestival.org/
2.  Stowe Winter Carnival - Stowe, Vermont
3.  Fire and Ice Festival - Mount Holly, New Jersey (NJ)
4.  The Greenbrier Festival - White Sulphur Springs, WV
5.  The Green River Crystal Classic Winter Festival - Green River, WY
6.  Ithaca Ice Wars - Ithaca, New York (NY)
7.  Titanic's Ice Sculpture Competiton - Pigeon Forge, TN

If you are making a road trip to the festival in Pigeon Forge and need to rent a cabin, check out my other blogs
 http://www.lightningbuglodge.blogspot.com/
http://www.indigomoonlodge.blogspot.com/

Art & Sculpture #1: Pyramid Hill Sculpture Park Plus 4 More Midwest Sculpture Parks

Exposing children to art can be so much more than giving them a box of crayons and paper.  Why not immerse them in art such as taking them to a play, concert, or sculpture park?

Pyramid Hill Sculpture Park, Photo by Krenda

I count my children fortunate to have lived near Hamilton, Ohio - (a small town north of Cincinnati).  In 2000 the Ohio govenor declared Hamilton "The City of Sculpture".  You'll find sculptures throughout the city.  My kids and I especially enjoyed "Lentil" in the downtown.  It's a sculpture of a boy marching through town with his harmonica and dog created by Nancy Schon.  It's extra special because it has a local connection - it's based upon a 1940's children's book by Hamilton native Robert McCloskey.  To see other sculptures around town, check out the Hamilton city website:

http://cityofsculpture.org/Sculptures.aspx

I counted Pyramid Hill Sculpture Park, a 265 acre park filled with trees and sculptures, as Hamilton's hidden treasure.  It's up a hill right off State Route 128, don't give up on finding the entrance.  Check out the website for address & contact info I especially enjoyed the large sculpture "Cincinnati Story" by George Sugarman.  Not only is it beautiful art, it is also located in a beautiful spot at the top of the hill with a view.  George Sugarman's first sculpture was considered radical because each form was painted a different color.  The sculpture in Hamilton was built later in his life in the 80's.  I think it's inspirational with it's cheerful multi-colors.  

 

Lesson Idea

Find a sculpture park near you and discuss the artist and their inspiration to make the sculpture.  You don't need to live near Hamilton to immerse your kids in sculpture.  Here's five Sculpture Parks in the Midwest:

1.  Pyramid Hill Sculpture Park - Hamilton, OH (pictured above)

http://www.pyramidhill.org/aboutthepark.php?pid=1

$8 adults, $2 children age 5-12

2.  Laumeier Sculpture Park - St. Louis, MO, one of the first and largest in the U.S. with 60 sculptures on 105 acres, free and open daily

3.  John and Mary Pappajohn Sculpture Park - Des Moines, IA

4.  Martin H. Bush Outdoor Sculpture Collection - Wichita, Kansas

5.  Georgia and David K. Welles Sculpture Garden - Toledo, OH

For sculpture parks in Illinois, see my article about The Sculpture Park Schaumburg.