Cold cuts: Snow sculpture contest comes to Mt. Prospect

For the past three weeks, Arlington Heights business owner Rob Brooke has been carving a polar bear and cub with Italian sculpting clay in preparation for the fourth annual Chicago Snow Sculpting Competition this week in Mount Prospect.

The roughly 1-foot high clay model will serve as the blueprint for the larger snow sculpture that he'll attempt at the competition near the Randhurst Shopping Center.

"My experience has only been on a very small scale, so the concept of working with a 6 foot by 6 foot by 10 foot block of snow will be not only thrilling but also a daunting task," said Brooke, who runs Tribal Expressions, an American Indian art gallery.

Although it's his first crack at such a competition, he's still hoping to place. The contest offers money prizes for first, second and third place -- $1,500, $1,000 and $500 respectively.

More Coverage Links High school sculptors put skills to the test [02/06/08]

This year, 15 teams will be competing with one exhibition team, said Fran Volz, president of Snow Visions, Inc., which is heading up the contest.

Over the weekend, Volz's group turned the shopping center along Elmhurst Road into "Stonehenge" by setting up the rectangular boxes that the artists will begin sculpting as early as today.

Brooke will have a lot of competition. Teams from as far as way as Europe are competing, Volz said.

Also, the reigning champions from Wisconsin, headed by David Andrews, will be back, hoping to claim another victory.

Andrews, who lives in Wauwatosa, a Milwaukee suburb, started carving in high school in 1987 when he was a senior. Last year, his team won for the sculpture of a gigantic hand picking mushrooms.

He joins many other carvers in the competition from Wisconsin.

"I think we just have better weather for it," Andrews said, explaining why his fellow Wisconsinites dominate the contest. "The (Wisconsin) state (snow sculpting) tournament always has a lot of entries."

This year, his team will be attempting a dangling jelly fish.

Andrews, an artist by profession, works at an art restoration company. He mainly does mural work with very little sculpting involved, he said.

While he's competed in a number of snow carving competitions, he's partial to this one, he said.

"This one is a newer one, but (the organizers) have done a good job of getting some of the best carvers there."

Snow Sculpting Competition

The fourth annual Snow Sculpting Contest by Snow Visions begins today at Randhurst Shopping Center along Elmhurst Road in Mount Prospect. For more details, see www.snowvisions.com. Admission is free; donation boxes on site.

TODAY

9 a.m. Sculpting begins; high school teams carve after school

THURSDAY

8 a.m. Sculpting resumes; continues through 10 p.m.

FRIDAY

8 a.m. Sculpting resumes; many adult teams stay out all night carving

SATURDAY

8 a.m.-2 p.m. Full day of events

10 a.m. Sculpting stops and voting begins. Professional teams judge high school competition; public picks their favorite professional entry.

1 p.m. Public voting ends

3-4 p.m. Awards ceremony inside mall, next to Steve and Barry's

4-10 p.m. Sculptures on display

SUNDAY

8 a.m. Open to public viewing

9 a.m. St. Bernard dogs stroll grounds

11 a.m.-4 p.m. Siberian Huskies

10 p.m. Site closes