At Stillwater snow sculpting championship, artists reflect a global moment
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Stillwater is once again hosting the World Snow Sculpting Championships, and this year is the largest competition yet, featuring 16 teams from around the world (compared to 12 teams in 2025).
Teams traveled to the city on the St. Croix from as nearby as St. Paul (Team USA), Mexico and Canada to as far as Mongolia, New Zealand and Ecuador.
The 16 teams started shaping their 10-foot cubes of packed snow Wednesday morning in Lowell Park and will continue through 2 p.m. Saturday. The winners will be announced at 6 p.m. Saturday.
Many participating artists say Team Calima of Mexico is the team to beat. They’re creating a sculpture of an astronaut — the size of an elephant — tripping, falling backwards and creating a splash.
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“It's about the feeling when you are doing something very hard in your life and you trip and you feel like you're not going to be able to continue,” says team leader Carlos Miguel Ramirez Pereyra.
Artists carve meaning into snow
Many artists say the makeshift international artist village in Lowell Park has been filled with discussion about coming to Minnesota amid ICE raids in the state and President Trump’s threat to invoke the Insurrection Act, both of which have made international headlines.
“It's a little scary, but we are surrounded with beautiful people,” Ramirez Pereyra says.
This is the third Stillwater championship for Team Fjordwitches of Canada, who is creating a sculpture of ravens, but the team members say they almost decided not to come.
“But we are very happy to be here finally and be with a lot of people from all around the world,” Joëlle Gagnon says. Artists and creativity have “no borders. So we’re here to show that.”
Artist Dusty Thune of St. Paul leads the U.S. House of Thune team. Their sculpture features a sphere of hands outstretched. It’s called “Call to Arms,” and Thune says it’s directly inspired by current events.
“It's a time to call to arms, to get people off their butts and doing what they can to make a difference and to save democracy,” Thune says.
The sphere will feature signs of resistance and peace. “The ball is our democracy, and everyone has to pull together and become part of the solution instead of part of the problem,” Thune says.
See the sculptures take shape in the slideshow below.
