Snow Blast
CREATE Portage County creates public sculpting venues
By Taylor Hale
STEVENS POINT – CREATE Portage County is working with the city’s parks, recreation, and forestry department to offer residents a chance to try their hand at snow sculpting.
“If you head past Atwell, Koziczkowski, Morton, Parkwood, and Pfiffner Parks, you’ll notice extra piles of snow next to open fields. Take a trip to one of these parks and let your creativity shine – use snow piles and fresh snow however you can,” a CREATE statement read.
Participants are encouraged to take photos of their cold creations and share them on social media.
Mayor Mike Wiza said that city plows have been mounding up snow piles at participating parks, offering a large “snow canvas” for guests. He sees the project as another means to get residents out of the house and into the city.
“People are really needing some reasons to get outside,” Wiza said. “For those that need a small push to get out of the house, this is going to do it. You’re going to want to take a ride once all these snow sculptures are in place.”
CREATE Project Activator Chris Klesmith agrees with Wiza, and feels the event offers the community an artistic outlet during the icy winter months.
“Wintry conditions do not need to stand in the way of creativity, in fact, winter gives us a resource to promote creativity. The only thing missing is an invitation, and we wanted to invite the community to connect outdoors during a time when we most need connections,” Klesmith explained.
The project will run as long as the winter weather lasts. CREATE staff said if the community uses the existing snow mounds, they will look into making more.
“Public art is a way for our community members to connect and build social capital,” Klesmith said. “If it is inaccessible, we leave some of our neighbors behind.”
Snow mounds are currently up and available for public use.
Share your photos on the Portage County Gazette Facebook page and through CREATE’s social media outlets.