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Gov­er­nors Island Arts & Times Square Arts Co-Host Gov­er­nors Island’s Third Annu­al Ice Sculp­ture Show, Open Call Now Available

Oct 26, 2023 4:13 pm

Gov­er­nors Island Arts and Times Square Arts are pleased to announce a new part­ner­ship and open call for Gov­er­nors Island’s third annu­al Ice Sculp­ture Show, tak­ing place on Sat­ur­day, Feb­ru­ary 3^rd. The fes­tive win­ter event will coin­cide with the annu­al Love in Times Square fête on Feb­ru­ary 14, 2024, which cel­e­brates Valentine’s Day with wed­dings, sur­prise pro­pos­als, and vow renewals in the square’s plazas.

The Ice Sculp­ture Show pro­vides New York­ers and vis­i­tors from around the world with the sin­gu­lar oppor­tu­ni­ty to expe­ri­ence live ice carv­ing, along­side all the open space, cul­tur­al, edu­ca­tion­al, and his­toric resources and attrac­tions that the Island offers year-round. Artists of all dis­ci­plines are invit­ed to sub­mit their pro­posed art­work online at gov​is​land​.org/​i​c​e​-show through Novem­ber 17, 2023.

Ten artists will be cho­sen and each select­ed final­ist will be paired with a pro­fes­sion­al ice carv­er from Okamo­to Stu­dio, where sculp­tures will be carved in a two-hour pub­lic event on Gov­er­nors Island on Sat­ur­day, Feb­ru­ary 3^rd, 2024. 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. A larg­er-scale ver­sion of the win­ning sculp­ture will then be carved and installed by Okamo­to Stu­dio in Times Square as a visu­al anchor for the district’s annu­al Valentine’s Day events, where New York­ers and vis­i­tors alike will cel­e­brate love through sur­prise pro­pos­als, wed­dings, and vow renew­al cer­e­monies on the Square’s icon­ic Red Steps.

“The annu­al ice sculp­ture show pro­vides direct sup­port for local artists and brings New York­ers an incred­i­ble 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, and we are thrilled to part­ner with Times Square Arts this year to pro­vide artists with a tru­ly one of a kind opportunity.”

The part­ner­ship between Gov­er­nors Island Arts and Times Square Arts under­scores both organization’s shared com­mit­ment to show­cas­ing cre­ative tal­ents and pro­vid­ing free, acces­si­ble pub­lic art expe­ri­ences. While ice sculp­ture com­pe­ti­tions and exhi­bi­tions have a rich glob­al his­to­ry, they are not typ­i­cal­ly show­cased on a grand scale in New York City — and are often lim­it­ed to artists who spe­cial­ize in ice carv­ing. The Ice Sculp­ture Show aims to democ­ra­tize this pop­u­lar activ­i­ty, mak­ing it acces­si­ble to artists of vary­ing expe­ri­ence and disciplines. 

“We are so excit­ed to bring the annu­al Ice Sculpt­ing Show from Gov­er­nors Island to the Island of Man­hat­tan, and have the win­ning design melt the hearts of the hun­dreds of thou­sands of vis­i­tors in Times Square this Feb­ru­ary,” said Times Square Arts Direc­tor Jean Cooney. 

Artists will be noti­fied by Decem­ber 22, 2023 and sub­mis­sions will be pub­lished online. An artist recep­tion will fol­low the show on Feb­ru­ary 3^rd and sculp­tures will remain on view on Gov­er­nors Island until they melt. A large-scale ver­sion of the win­ning art­work will be installed in Times Square on Feb­ru­ary 14^th. 

About Times Square Arts

Times Square Arts, the pub­lic art pro­gram of the Times Square Alliance, col­lab­o­rates with con­tem­po­rary artists and cul­tur­al insti­tu­tions to exper­i­ment and engage with one of the world’s most icon­ic urban places. Through the Square’s elec­tron­ic bill­boards, pub­lic plazas, vacant areas and pop­u­lar venues, and the Alliance’s own online land­scape, Times Square Arts invites lead­ing con­tem­po­rary cre­ators, such as Charles Gaines, Joan Jonas, Jef­frey Gib­son, Pamela Coun­cil, Mel Chin and Kehinde Wiley, to help the pub­lic see Times Square in new ways. Times Square has always been a cul­tur­al dis­trict and place of risk, inno­va­tion and cre­ativ­i­ty, and the arts pro­gram ensures these qual­i­ties remain cen­tral to the dis­tric­t’s unique identity.

About Gov­er­nors Island Arts

Gov­er­nors Island Arts, the pub­lic arts and cul­tur­al pro­gram pre­sent­ed by the Trust for Gov­er­nors Island, cre­ates trans­for­ma­tive encoun­ters with art for all New York­ers, invit­ing artists and researchers to engage with the issues of our time in the con­text of the Island’s lay­ered his­to­ries, envi­ron­ments, and archi­tec­ture. Gov­er­nors Island Arts achieves this mis­sion through tem­po­rary and long-term pub­lic art com­mis­sions, an annu­al Orga­ni­za­tion in Res­i­dence pro­gram in the Island’s his­toric hous­es, and free pub­lic pro­grams and events in part­ner­ship with a wide range of cross-dis­ci­pli­nary NYC cul­tur­al orga­ni­za­tions. For more infor­ma­tion, vis­it www​.gov​is​land​.org/​g​iarts

About the Trust for Gov­er­nors Island

The Trust for Gov­er­nors Island is the non­prof­it cor­po­ra­tion cre­at­ed by the City of New York that is respon­si­ble for the rede­vel­op­ment and oper­a­tion of 150 acres of Gov­er­nors Island. The Trust’s mis­sion is to real­ize the full poten­tial of Gov­er­nors Island for the inspi­ra­tion and enjoy­ment of all New York­ers, demon­strat­ing a bold vision for pub­lic space. For more infor­ma­tion, vis­it www​.gov​is​land​.org