2024 jurors Council Member Chi Ossé and Jenna Lyons with artist Josef Pinlac's sculpture
2024 jurors Council Member Chi Ossé and Jenna Lyons with artist Josef Pinlac's sculpture
Governors Island Ice Sculpture Show
Governors Island Arts
Feb 8, 2025
Governors Island Arts presents the fourth annual Governors Island Ice Sculpture Show on February 8, 2025. Ten artists will be paired with a professional ice carver from Okamoto Studio during the free public event, where visitors are invited to witness this real-time ice carving from 12 to 2 p.m. and enjoy an awards ceremony and ice sculpture installation from 2 to 3p.m. — including the audience-voted“People’s Choice” award. The event will include ice carving workshops from Okamoto Studio, crafts from Red Hook Art Project, live music from disco-infused Afrofuturist funk duo The Illustrious Blacks, and a special performance by NYC-based all-women, trans, and non-binary drumline Fogo Azul. Makina Café will be open in Colonels Row alongside additional food trucks Nao Caribbean Flavors, The Original Soupman, and Deploy Coffee, curated by Four Wheel Feasts.
The event is free and open to all, no registration or tickets required. Click here for ferry information.
2025 Ice Sculpture Show Artists:
- Ana Añu (@soopspoon) –“Bear Witness,” Añu’s ecopoetic sculpture that reflects the importance of animism in climate storytelling, will call for audience members to witness the quiet voices of the elemental.
- Elijah Chavez (@lijahchavez.art) –“Lo que pasará, pasará” will depict an anatomical human heart while serving as a community alter inspired by the Mexican customs of the Day of the Dead.
- Jake DeMartini (@thejakeweight) – A nod to 19th-century maritime history, DeMartini’s“Mooring Bollard” honors the titular object’s minimal design and engineering alongside Governors Island’s nautical history.
- Shawn Hill (@ublincd) – Selected in honor of Hill’s childhood creativity,“Tufted Titmouse” will depict this species of bird that is commonly seen on Governors Island.
- Aharon Levy – Levy’s“Governors Island: New York Oasis” will explore the tension between nature and urban environments, depicting a tree encased in ice and offering a reflection on impermanence, climate change, and nature’s resilience.
- Agustina Markez (@agustinamarkezstudio) – Markez will explore the star as a symbol both in the context of nature and pop culture through“Intertwined Stars,” which investigates identity and displacement in relation to American culture.
- Josef Pinlac (@istillheartnewyork) – Pinlac will celebrate pollinators in“Ice ice bay-bee,” incorporating honeycomb designs and honoring the Island’s bee population.
- Sonya Sobieski (@crookedsquare) –Sobieski’s“Looking Out” will depict an oversized pair of binoculars with birds commonly seen on Governors Island etched into the lenses, asking the viewer,“can we look out for nature?”.
- Katerina Sokolovskaya (@katerina.sokolovskaya.art) – In“Nature+,” Sokolovskaya will explore how people coexist with their surroundings, showing how bodies influence one another and interact with the environment.
- Mai Sone (@mai__sone) – In honor of the Island’s acorn-like shape, Sone will sculpt“A squirrel eating Governors Island.”
Rain date: February 9, 2025
Related
See below for past programs and events on Governors Island.