The Charitable Power Of Snow Sculptures
By: Hope Wilkos, Writer
The snow continues to fall in New Brighton, Minnesota, blanketing the ground with its winter white spell. In one particular neighborhood in this extreme northern city, the snow takes on a magical power, thanks to the creativity and skill of three brothers who have become better known to the nation each year. The brothers continue to open their hearts for the holidays, and, for a second year, they are also using their snow sculpture as a means to collect funds for a worthwhile charity.
Austin Bartz (22 years old), Trevor Bartz (21 years old) and Connor Bartz (18 years old) have made building enormous snow sculptures a welcome tradition as the winter weather sets in. This year, 2016, marks the sixth year they are diligently working to build an ocean-themed masterpiece on their front yard for those on foot and in cars to admire and marvel at. The brothers have used their talent and the power of social media to spread the word. Sometimes they begin as early as November and gather snow from the entire neighborhood as it continues to build on lawns and in driveways. They haul the snow into their garage to warm it a bit so it will develop a somewhat stickier consistency, thus making it easier to work with. The building then begins as three brothers with that artistic flair and plenty of brotherly collaboration come together for some very long days in order to produce a final project.
Last year, one of the brothers spoke about the joy that this project brings to the Bartz family.
“It’s cool that so many people can come out and enjoy it,” Austin explained. “We love to see the joy it brings to the neighborhood. We are going to keep going as best we can. I graduate from college in a few years, though, so that might change things,” he continued. So far they have constructed Puffie the Pufferfish, a walrus, a shark, a sea turtle and one of the most loved sculptures of all, Octavius the Octopus, who turned out to be 18 feet tall and 35 feet wide. Each year the brothers try to make their sculptures even more challenging than the last. This year, the fish with lifelike scales is what they have set their hearts on finishing by New Year’s. Every piece of each unique creature is all handmade from the complexity of the scales to the overpowering fin that rises up many feet off the ground. This year the brothers did a live Facebook streaming session where they explained the process of snow sculpturing and answered the many questions that viewers were dying to ask. With the goal of completing their snow sculpture by New Year’s, once the fish is complete, it usually keeps its form through February, showing signs of melting in March as the weather begins to warm. There is plenty of time to come out and not only take a look at what the artists have produced, but, also contribute to a particular charity, bringing to light its importance for the cause. With the last sculpture, the brothers collected over $8,000 to support ‘Clean Water For Haiti’ simply by putting a bucket right in front of the sculpture. The brothers chose this particular charity because the cause is related to their sculptures. “Each sculpture we’ve made has been sea life themed and clean snow is our trademark. You could drink our whole sculpture if you wanted to,” Trevor said.
We are awaiting information on what the charity of choice will be this winter which the Bartz brothers are going to be revealing to us soon. Each year this normal neighborhood block in New Brighton, Minnesota comes alive to attract between 4,000 and 5,000 visitors.
The community’s appreciation for the finished product each year keeps the Bartz brothers going at it. To keep updated on the progress of this fish snow sculpture and the charity of choice for this winter, go to Bartz Snow Sculpture Facebook Page. Happy Holidays!
Photo Credit: Bartz Brothers Snow Sculpture Facebook Page
