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Gov­er­nors Island Arts and Low­er Man­hat­tan Cul­tur­al Coun­cil to Co-Host Sec­ond Annu­al Ice Sculp­ture Show

Feb 3, 2023 2:06 pm

Gov­er­nors Island Arts and Low­er Man­hat­tan Cul­tur­al Coun­cil (LMCC) announced today they will co-host Gov­er­nors Island’s sec­ond annu­al Win­ter Ice Sculp­ture Show. This one-of-a-kind event will take place on Sat­ur­day, Feb­ru­ary 18, 2023, from 12 to 5p.m. at the Gov­er­nors Island Win­ter Vil­lage. The fes­tive event pro­vides New York­ers and vis­i­tors from around the world with the sin­gu­lar oppor­tu­ni­ty to expe­ri­ence live ice carv­ing, along­side all of the open space, cul­tur­al, edu­ca­tion­al, and his­toric resources and attrac­tions that the Island offers year-round.

“The annu­al ice sculp­ture show pro­vides direct sup­port for local artists and brings New York­ers anoth­er joy­ful, ephemer­al pub­lic art expe­ri­ence on Gov­er­nors Island in the win­ter months,” said Clare New­man, Pres­i­dent and CEO of the Trust for Gov­er­nors Island. ​“This unique event is one of many rea­sons to vis­it the Island dur­ing the win­ter sea­son. We can’t wait to once again wel­come vis­i­tors of all ages to come and enjoy music and warm drinks, expe­ri­ence the thrill of live ice sculpt­ing, and vote on their favorite works.” 

“Gov­er­nors Island is known as a major hub for the arts and cre­ativ­i­ty in New York City, the region and beyond, and this ice sculp­ture com­pe­ti­tion high­lights that syn­er­gy and the won­der­ful pro­gram­ming that has made the Island its home,” said Mered­ith John­son, VP of Arts & Cul­ture and Head Cura­tor for the Trust. ​“We look for­ward to wel­com­ing our artists and a curi­ous pub­lic to wit­ness the spec­ta­cle of carv­ing ice with a chain­saw, a thrill that has few rivals.” 

“We are delight­ed to part­ner with Gov­er­nors Island Arts for a sec­ond year of win­ter­time fun and com­mu­ni­ty-build­ing at the 2023 Ice Sculp­ture Event,” said Craig T. Peter­son, Pres­i­dent of LMCC. ​“Through our Open Call, we look for­ward to wel­com­ing artists from all dis­ci­plines to design one-of-a-kind sculp­tures, and con­nect­ing the pub­lic with the won­der­ful vari­eties of artis­tic expres­sion in New York City found all year long at Gov­er­nors Island.”

In late 2022, Gov­er­nors Island Arts and LMCC invit­ed New York City-based artists to sub­mit designs through an open call. Ten designs were select­ed by an esteemed pan­el of New York City cul­tur­al lumi­nar­ies and will be brought to life by the artists dur­ing this live, marathon ice sculpt­ing ses­sion. Each select­ed artist will be paired with pro­fes­sion­al ice carvers from Okamo­to Stu­dio on the day of the event. Vis­i­tors are invit­ed to wit­ness this real-time ice carv­ing and vote on their favorite sculp­ture for the ​“People’s Choice Award” at the end of the event. 

This year’s show will also fea­ture DJ sets from Red Corvette and DJ Sav­age curat­ed by Half Moon, an inde­pen­dent music and media com­pa­ny that cov­ers and rein­forces emerg­ing cul­ture around the world through radio, events, edi­to­r­i­al, and edu­ca­tion­al work­shops with head­quar­ters in New York City and Los Ange­les. In addi­tion to food and drink avail­able from year-round Gov­er­nors Island ven­dor Lit­tle Eva’s, food trucks oper­at­ed by Black-owned busi­ness­es Ms. Spudz and GG’s Fish & Chips will be fea­tured dur­ing the event in hon­or of Black His­to­ry Month. The Gov­er­nors Island Win­ter Vil­lage, includ­ing the 7,000-square foot ice skat­ing rink, sea­son­al food options, lawn games, fire pits, and more, will be open to the pub­lic through­out the day.

The esteemed jury pan­el that select­ed entrants and will select win­ners includes: Jonathan Gar­den­hire, Assis­tant Direc­tor of Indi­vid­ual Giv­ing at MoMA PS1; Natasha Logan, Deputy Direc­tor of Cre­ative Time; Shin­taro Okamo­to, Founder/​Creative Direc­tor of Okamo­to Stu­dio, artist José Par­lá, and artist Duke Riley. 

Dur­ing the win­ter months, Gov­er­nors Island is open to the pub­lic dai­ly from 7am to 6pm. Trust for Gov­er­nors Island-oper­at­ed fer­ries run dai­ly between the Bat­tery Mar­itime Build­ing at 10 South Street in Low­er Man­hat­tan and Sois­sons Land­ing on the Island. For sched­ules and tick­et­ing infor­ma­tion, vis­it www​.gov​is​land​.org. Trust-oper­at­ed sea­son­al week­end Brook­lyn fer­ry ser­vice will return in Spring 2023.

Round-trip fer­ry tick­ets cost $4 for adults. Gov­er­nors Island fer­ries are always free for chil­dren 12 and under, old­er adults ages 65 and up, res­i­dents of NYCHA, IDNYC hold­ers, cur­rent and for­mer mil­i­tary ser­vice mem­bers, and Gov­er­nors Island mem­bers. Fer­ries before noon on Sat­ur­days and Sun­days are free for all. There is no sur­charge for bicy­cles or strollers at any time.

NYC Ferry’s South Brook­lyn route is tem­porar­i­ly bypass­ing Gov­er­nors Island through mid-Feb­ru­ary due to planned main­te­nance. Dur­ing this time, Trust ‑oper­at­ed fer­ries con­tin­ue to run dai­ly every half hour from the Bat­tery Mar­itime Build­ing. NYC Fer­ry rid­ers trav­el­ing to Gov­er­nors Island from Brook­lyn can take the fer­ry to Wall Street/​Pier 11 and trans­fer to Trust-oper­at­ed fer­ries at 10 South Street. For more infor­ma­tion on NYC Fer­ry, vis­it www.ferry.nyc.