After Friday night, Downtown La Porte will be decorated with ice sculptures placed on the sidewalks in front of local businesses on Lincolnway, and State and Clay Street.
These Ice Sculpture Demonstrations are the first installment in WinterFest, which was started by the La Porte Park and Recreation Department to bring winter fun to the area by providing winter events that allow the whole community to get involved. All of the events take place in La Porte, focusing on all the amenities in the city, including the Civic Auditorium, Kesling Park and Cummings Lodge.
The ice sculptures may be found in front of La Porte's local shops including: We-Pay-More, La Porte Savings Bank, Kessler's Lofts, Fenker's Furniture, Magic Sports, Etropal, Suds on State, Mucho Mas, and the Co-Op Shoppes.
Alfredo Arroyo and his team of sculptors for City Pure Ice in La Porte used ice as their raw material to make realistic and decorative objects, animals, and movie characters. The ice artists' patience, persistence and passion for ice sculpting were shown in the final stages of their artwork.
The team shared their time and talents with the town, making each cut of ice into quite the treasure. Among the masterpieces is a horse, a cornstalk, a football helmet, a chair, and Elsa, Sven and Olaf from Disney's movie, Frozen.
Ice sculptor Kevin Lutton is part of Michiana Ice Carver's Association, an association that attends different winter festivals and carves ice. Lutton's specialties are carving chairs and animals.
He has a true passion for carving ice - and so does his wife, who also took part in WinterFest.
"We love carving the ice because of the people who come out here and inspire us to do it. The children get into it, and when you reach that moment that a child knows what you are sculpting, it is awesome. We do it because of the warm welcoming from the crowds and the sponsors that allow us to do it," Lutton said.
These craftsmen and their artwork were sponsored by NIPSCO, Qubit Networks, Suds on State, Fenker's Furniture, Allstate Insurance, Anytime Fitness, Meridian Title, LaPorteCountyLife, Packaging Logic, Four Winds Casino and the La Porte Urban Enterprise Association.
"The Ice Sculpture Demonstrations have always been a great staple of La Porte's WinterFest activities. We want to send out a huge thank you to those sponsors for making it possible to host this event for our community," Recreation Director Alison Zoll said.
These realistic art pieces not only brighten up the downtown area, but also allow citizens to see talented artists' work.
"The Ice Sculptures are always a welcome feature, because we bring art to the streets of our historic downtown. Even though the art is temporary, the sculptures create visual interest and something fun to explore while walking through Downtown La Porte," Downtown Director Thaddeus Cutler said.
It is unknown how long the sculptures will last, for they have a limited lifetime that depends on weather conditions. Go view them before it is too late.
WinterFest activities continue through Saturday, January 31. If interested in taking part in any other WinterFest activities, go to www.cityoflaporte.com or call (219) 326-9600.