Governors Island Ice Sculpture Show to Help Celebrate Final Winter Village Weekend
Feb 23, 2022 9:09 am
Photo courtesy of Okamoto Studio
The Trust for Governors Island and the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council (LMCC) will host the Island’s inaugural Ice Sculpture Show on Saturday, February 26, 2022, from 2 – 5pm at the Governors Island Winter Village. A lively afternoon featuring live ice carving, ice dance performances from Ice Theatre of New York, ice skating and more will celebrate the final weekend of the Island’s inaugural Winter Village, which opened in December 2021.
The show will see a host of unique designs from New York City-based artists and artist groups brought to life in real time through an exciting live ice carving session, assisted by professional ice carvers from Okamoto Studio. In January 2022, the Trust and LMCC invited New York City-based artists to submit designs, ten of which were selected by an esteemed panel of NYC cultural luminaries to be carved live. The jury panel that selected entrants includes Amy Andrieux — Executive Director + Chief Curator at MoCADA, Jean Cooney — Director of Times Square Arts, Shaun Leonardo — a multidisciplinary artist, and Shintaro Okamoto — Founder/Creative Director of Okamoto Studio.
Artists and artist teams whose designs were selected include:
- Dennis RedMoon Darkeem
- MingLiang Lu
- Elizabeth Meggs
- Shay Salehi/Rengu Zhang
- Hannah Schulman
- Jessica Segall
- Chad Stayrook
- Yuliya Tsukerman
- Bruce Williams
- Yin Mei
The event will also feature pop-up performances by the acclaimed Ice Theatre of New York, which presents accessible ice dance that celebrates joy and collaboration in venues throughout the five boroughs, starting at 1:30pm.
“We are beyond excited to partner with LMCC to host the Island’s inaugural Ice Sculpture Show. Live ice sculpting is a wonderful addition to the engaging activities and experiences that the Island has to offer our visitors during our first winter season,” said Clare Newman, President and CEO of The Trust for Governors Island. “We encourage visitors to carve out some time to experience the Island during the winter months, and what better way to do that than to watch the modern-day Michelangelo’s of ice from Okamoto Studio fashion ice to life.”
“Arts and cultural exploration is at the core of Governors Island’s identity, and we couldn’t be more excited to present the Island’s first ever Winter Ice Sculpture Show with the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council,” said Meredith Johnson, Vice President of Arts and Culture and Head Curator at the Trust for Governors Island. “Island visitors of all ages will get a one-of-a-kind experience when they witness ice sculptures being carved in real time, bringing the visions of an extraordinary group of New York City artists to life.”
“Sharing Governors Island with our artists-in-residence in the winter months has been a unique privilege over the last decade. Now, we are thrilled to partner with the Trust for Governors Island to present fun and unexpected ways to experience the Island throughout all of the seasons,” said Ana Fiore, Director of Artist Services at LMCC. “The inaugural Ice Sculpture Show is an exciting opportunity for the public to see new artistic collaborations take shape and inventive visions come to life over the course of a wintery afternoon.”
The Governors Island Ice Sculpture Open Call and Show is supported in part by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the New York City Council.
Governors Island is celebrating its inaugural winter season with a roster of cold-weather activities for the whole family — including the Winter Village through February 27, sledding, the Winter Dog Days pilot program and the Winter Ice Sculpture Show. The rain date for the event is Sunday, February 27. Click here to view ferry schedules and plan your visit.