Thunder Bay is looking for some artists for a few snow sculpture competitions running at SnowDay on the Waterfront.
The event is taking place on Family Day 2025, at Prince Arthur’s Landing in Marina Park.
There are two snow sculpture competitions, geared towards the general community and professional artists.
“We offer our medium and large block opportunities for professional artists and artists-led teams as a means to have a great large sculpture opportunity,” explained Cultural Development and Public Art Coordinator, Laurie Abthorpe. “The reason that we added a community group and organization level which used a smaller block, is an opportunity to engage, to come out and give it a try, they don’t have to be professional artists to do this, it could be a team building experience, an opportunity to learn a new skill, and an opportunity to just enjoy something together as a team through the winter.”
Ahead of SnowDay there are multiple carving days scheduled so artists and groups will have time to create their pieces.
New this year is an additional competition that does not include snow.
“We are going beyond snow, we’ve come up with an additional element to entice artists to participate, and it is actually called, No Snow, No Problem Sculptures,” explained Abthorpe. “This is open to professional artists and professional artists-led teams, and so these installations are crafted from weather-resistant materials rather than snow, which will introduce a unique art element to the event this year.”
This change ensures that regardless of weather a sculpture competition can take place.
“We are looking to kind of create climate resistance within our events,” said Abthorpe. “Last year, it was unfortunate that the snow sculpture competition did not take place because we did not have the snow that we are usually used to receiving here in Thunder Bay, so this opportunity was kind of developed to address that because we really want people to still come out and enjoy SnowDay.”
Snow sculptures will remain on display for as long as possible while the snowless sculptures will be taken down after the event.
The deadline to apply is January 10, 2025, at 11:59 p.m.
For more information and to view the application packages click here.
