Fairbanks is home to the Ice Art Championships, one of the largest ice sculpture competitions and exhibitions in the world. Since its beginnings in 1990, the World Ice Art Championships has offered one month of events each year with more than 70 teams from around the world. Despite COVID, about 45,000 visitors are expected to make the pilgrimage to Fairbanks again this year to see the masterpieces artistically carved into the ice.
The twenty-seven acre park is centrally located in the city of Fairbanks and contains a large pond that provides the exceptionally clear “Arctic Diamond” ice for the artwork.
“The ice is so clear you can read newsprint through a 30-inch thick block of ice,” says Heather Brice, a local ice sculptor and multiple world champion. “It’s not unusual for us to work 15 to 18 hours a day to get a play done,” Brice said when asked. “We start planning our designs a year in advance. A lot of our ideas are conceptual and after they are worked out, paper templates are created. We like to be prepared and have our proportions before we start carving.”
The “Ice Art Championships”, kicked off on February 15 and the exhibition will be open daily from 10am to 10pm until the end of March 2021 (weather permitting).
Website: www.icealaska.org
Heiner Kubny, PolarJournal
