At long last... The Multi-Block Winners!

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 7, 2009

The 2009 BP World Ice Art Championships is an international ice sculpture competition held annually in Fairbanks, Alaska and sponsored by Ice Alaska, a non-profit corporation formed in 1990. This is an annual event has been held in Fairbanks, AK each March since 1988, when the tradition of ice sculpture, a feature of the Fairbanks Winter Carnival celebrations held during the 1930’s, was revived. Since 1988, there has been participation by sculptors from more than forty countries, including France, Russia, China, Sweden, Morocco, Malaysia, England, Australia, Japan, Mexico, and Finland. This year, we have over 180 sculptors that will be participating in one of four events. The Single-Block Competition had 46 registered teams and the Multi-Block Classic had 24 teams representing many states within the US as well as a variety of countries.

The Multi-Block Classics began on March 1st at 9AM and concluded on March 6 at 9PM. Twenty-four four-person teams worked frantically for 6 days and 5 nights in blinding snow and heavy winds. Temperatures varied from twenty above (not including the wind chill) to just below zero. Artists completed their sculptures with ten blocks of ice - each measuring 6’x 4’x3’ and weighing approximately 5,400lbs apiece. AT&T generously donated a high-speed internet connection that allows the public to view the sculptors’ progress and completion at any hour from the comfort of their home computer, available at www.icealaska.com.

Sculptures were judged in two categories: Realistic and Abstract. The Carhartt Awards Ceremony was held on March 7 at 8PM on the BP Stage. During the ceremony, first through third place was awarded in both categories, and fourth through seventh place was announced for all twenty-four sculptures. In the Realistic category, “White Fang”, constructed by Junichi Nakamura, Shinichi Sawamura, Fukumi Furukawa, and Takao Waki, all of Japan, won first place. In second place was “Swimming Lesson”, done by Dorjsuren Lkhagvadorj and Tsagaan Munkh-erdene of Mongolia as well as Mark Davis and Ed Winslow of California. Third place in the Realistic category went to “Stairway to Heaven”. Artists include Buddy Rasmussen, Clay Rasmussen, and Roland De La Garza of Texas, and Robert Childers of Illinois.

In the Abstract category, the first place winner was “Pandora’s Box”, by Vladimir Zhikhartsev and Vitaly Lednev of Russia, Aaron Costic of California, and Joshua Kang of South Korea. In second place was “The Three Graces”. Artists include Sergey Tselebrovsky, Dmitry Gorokhov, and Sergey Zaplatin of Russia, and Andy Gertler of New York. The third place winner in the Abstract Category was “Rockin the Night Away”. Danny Spangler and Jeff Weston of Idaho, Jeff DeJong of Utah, and William Sanduski of Pennsylvania were the artists.

The fourth through seventh place winners are as follows: “50th Celebration by the Sourdough Band” with artists An, Di, An,Qi Feng, An, Zhe, Zhang,Chun He all of China. “King Kong the Beauty and the Beast”, with artists Mario Amegee of Monoco, Steve Armance of France, Chan Kitburi of Washington, and Dean Murray of Wisconsin. “Subsistence” with artists Gerelsaikhan Nyamjantsan, Tuvshintur Rashaanjav, Batmunkh Tserendash of Mongolia and Kris Wilson of Alaska. “Age Old Quarrel” with artists Stanley Kolonko, Jr and Chris Uyehara of New York, Stephan Koch of Indiana, and Ken Diederich of Ohio.

The Ivalie Cox Award, the artists’ top pick of all the Multi-Block entries, went to “Ice Bridge to Nowhere” in the Abstract Category with artists Anita Tabor and Dave Borough of Alaska, Johnny Patton of Arkansas, and Christian Mougin of France and “50th Celebration by the Sourdough Band” was the Realistic winner. The Governor’s Award, chosen by Ice Alaska’s more than 500 volunteers, went to “King Kong - the Beauty and the Beast”.

For more information regarding this press release, please contact Ice Alaska Public Relations at publicrelations@icealaska.com.