Several NDSU faculty and students traveled to Winnipeg, Canada, in February to "play" in the snow.
For the second year in a row, Stevie Famulari, assistant professor of landscape architecture, David Swenson, associate professor of visual arts, and artists Kris Mills and Chris Reisz from New Mexico participated as Team USA in the annual International Snow Sculpting Symposium from Feb. 9-13. The artists carved 12-foot square blocks of snow into a design titled “Time Arches On” for the event, which is part of the Festival du Voyageur, western Canada's largest winter festival.
Last semester, 97 students from visual arts, landscape architecture and architecture formed 27 interdisciplinary teams, each developing a design to enter in competition for a spot in the snow symposium alongside Team USA.
"Vitality," a project by landscape architecture student Ryan Hullested and architecture students Alisha Osten and Michael Dawson, was named the winner by the judges from Canada and each participating NDSU department.
“The students did a great job in Canada, working along professionals of their field. We could not be more proud of them," Famulari said. "They worked on a great design and carried themselves with respect for their school.”
Second and third place teams also were invited to compete in a separate snow sculpting competition from Feb. 9-13 in Winnipeg. Competitors carved smaller eight-foot square blocks, and the first place award would be a guaranteed spot in the 2011 Festival Du Voyageur's Snow Symposium.
Robert Arlt, visual arts and architecture student; Joshua Zeis, visual arts student; Zach Johnson, landscape architecture student; and Daniel Davey, architecture student, created “On and Thru.” Landscape architecture student Ashley Kaisershot and architecture students John Huebsch, Nick Lippert and Kirsten Staloch created "Changing Perceptions."
The 2009-10 Instructional Grant for Interdisciplinary Work received by Famulari, Swenson and David Crutchfield, assistant professor of architecture, provided funding for this project. NDSU students and faculty have already begun plans for the 2011 competition. “We look forward to a continued relationship with the Festival Du Voyageur and know the experience has been positive for all students across the fields," Famulari said. "One student said to me that it has been the best week of his life and everyone has been great. Moments like those make the success of the projects clear.”
Students and faculty will show documentary films, presentations and photographs of their projects at a reception open to the public on Wednesday, April 21, from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. at Renaissance Hall on the fifth floor gallery.