Image of people creating carving out of snow

Caroline Yang for Atlas Obscura (Cube); Shutterstock.com (Snow); Courtesy Team Kwe (Sculpture, Sculptors)

How Did This Block Become THIS?

Meet three artists who celebrate their culture by carving magnificent snow sculptures

By Ellyn Lapointe

From the December 2024 / January 2025 Issue

Learning Objective: Students will explain how a team creates snow sculptures and then will design their own sculpture using clay.

Lexile: 830L; 610L

Key Focus Area: Matter,

Other Focus Areas: Engineering, Measurement & Data

As you read, think about the challenges and rewards of making something out of snow.

On a frosty field in Minnesota, a huge cube of snow towers over three sculptors. They anxiously wait for the competition to start. Their fingers are eager to grasp the tools spread out before them—saws, axes, and chisels. They’ll use them to shape their snow cube into a work of art.

Together, Heather Friedli, Juliana Welter, and Maggie Thompson are a snow sculpting team called Team Kwe (kuh-way). Other teams of snow sculptors stand in front of their own cubes. Everyone’s nervous breaths puff into the frigid air.

Suddenly, a horn blares! The artists grab their tools and start sculpting. Each team will spend the next 56 hours carving. Some teams will even work through the night! Their goal is to transform their giant block into a magnificent snow figure.

For Team Kwe, the final sculpture is more than a piece of art. It’s a link to their past and a way to honor their heritage.

It’s a frosty day in Minnesota. Three sculptors stand in a field. A huge cube of snow towers over them. They’re waiting for the contest to start. Saws, axes, and chisels are spread before them. They’re eager to grab the tools. They’ll use them to shape their snow cube. They’ll turn it into a work of art.

The sculptors are Heather Friedli, Juliana Welter, and Maggie Thompson. They’re a snow sculpting group called Team Kwe (kuh-way). Other teams stand in front of their own cubes. Everyone is nervous. Their breaths puff into the cold air.

A horn blares! The artists pick up their tools. They start sculpting. Each team will spend the next 56 hours carving. Some teams will work all night! Their goal is to turn their giant block into an amazing snow figure.

The final sculpture is more than a piece of art for Team Kwe. It’s a link to their past. And it’s a way to honor their heritage.

Water Keepers

Courtesy Team Kwe

From left to right: Maggie Thompson, Heather Friedli, Juliana Welter

Every winter, Team Kwe celebrates their culture through snow sculpting competitions. All three women are members of the Anishinaabe (ah-ni-shi-NAW-bay). That’s a group of Indigenous peoples from the lands surrounding the Great Lakes—a group of 5 large lakes between the U.S. and Canada. Team Kwe is the only snow sculpting team in the U.S. made up entirely of Indigenous people.

For the Anishinaabe, women are the keepers of water. In their language, the word kwe means woman. Team Kwe often sculpts cultural symbols, such as an otter, a bison, or a traditional dancer.

The effort takes teamwork and toughness. The team calls snow sculpting an “extreme art-sport.” The coldest temperature the sculptors competed in was -60° Fahrenheit (-51° Celsius)!

“You have to be ready physically and mentally,”
says Friedli.

Team Kwe celebrates their culture every winter. They do it through snow sculpting. The women are members of the Anishinaabe (ah-ni-shi-NAW-bay). That’s a group of Indigenous peoples. They’re from the lands around the Great Lakes. That’s a group of five large lakes between the U.S. and Canada. Team Kwe is the only snow sculpting team in the U.S. made up entirely of Indigenous people.

Women are the keepers of water for the Anishinaabe. The word kwe means woman in their language. Team Kwe often sculpts cultural symbols. These include otters, bison, or traditional dancers.

Snow sculpting isn’t easy. The team calls it an “extreme art-sport.” The coldest temperature the sculptors worked in was -60° Fahrenheit (-51° Celsius)! “You have to be ready physically and mentally,” says Friedli.

Frosty Competition

Once the competition starts, it’s a race against the clock! Teams shape their snow blocks using only hand tools. No electric tools are allowed.

Team Kwe starts by drawing grids, or intersecting lines, on the sides of their cube of snow. Then they mark where important parts of the sculpture will go with a dot, like plotting points on a coordinate grid. For example, when sculpting a bison, the artists mark where its shoulder and heel would be. These points serve as a guide.

While sculpting, each team member thinks about the shape and weight of the sculpture. If it gets too heavy on one side, it may fall over. And if it can’t stand up on its own, the sculpture is taken out of the competition.

The last element of the competition is the most unpredictable: the weather. “Mother Nature is our fourth teammate,” Friedli says. For the best carving conditions, the temperature should be between 20°F and 25°F (-7°C and -4°C).

But during the competition, the weather can change a lot. If warmer weather heats up the snow too much, the snow becomes the texture of mashed potatoes, Friedli says. You can still mold it. But if the snow continues to warm, the sculpture will melt.

When temperatures drop below 32°F (0°C), liquid water turns to ice. Snow forms in clouds when water vapor freezes into tiny ice crystals that clump together. If snow starts to melt and then the weather drops below freezing, that water turns to solid ice. If this happens, it makes the block very hard and more difficult to sculpt, Friedli says.

It’s a race against the clock once the contest starts! Teams shape their snow blocks using only hand tools. No electric tools are allowed.

Team Kwe starts by drawing grids on the sides of their cube. The crisscrossing lines help them plan where parts of the sculpture will go. They mark these with a dot. It’s like plotting points on a coordinate grid. For example, they might sculpt a bison. The artists mark where its shoulder and heel will go. These points act as a guide.

Each team member thinks about the sculpture’s shape as they work. It may fall over if it gets too heavy on one side. And it has to stand up on its own. Or it will be out of the contest.

There’s another element to the contest. It’s the weather. “Mother Nature is our fourth teammate,” Friedli says. The temperature should be between 20°F and 25°F (-7°C and -4°C). That creates the best carving conditions.

But the weather can change a lot during the contest. Warmer weather can heat up the snow. Then it will have the texture of mashed potatoes, says Friedli. You can still mold it. But the sculpture will melt if the snow gets any warmer.

Liquid water turns to ice when temperatures drop below 32°F (0°C). Snow forms in clouds when water vapor freezes. That creates tiny ice crystals that stick together. But warm weather can cause snow to start to melt. Then the temperature can drop below freezing. The water turns back to solid ice. That makes the block very hard. It’s more difficult to sculpt, says Friedli.

Liquid vs. Solid

Shutterstock.com

Liquid (left); solid (right)

Ice and liquid water are different states of matter. The particles in water move freely past each other. As water freezes, the particles form a pattern and lock in place.

How are particles in a liquid arranged differently than the particles in a solid?

Liquid vs. Solid

Shutterstock.com

Liquid (left); solid (right)

Ice and liquid water are different states of matter. The particles in water move freely past each other. As water freezes, the particles form a pattern and lock in place.

How are particles in a liquid arranged differently than the particles in a solid?

Brief Beauty

When time is up, the judges yell, “Tools down!” Now it’s time to pick a winner. Judges consider the sculptures’ creativity, difficulty level, and whether they were completed when choosing the winners.

After the competition, the sculptures stay on display. But as the weather warms, the snow changes to liquid water. The sculptures melt away.

Friedli isn’t sad that Team Kwe’s sculptures don’t last very long. In fact, that’s what makes them special, she says.

Time is up! The judges yell, “Tools down!” Now they’ll pick a winner. Judges think about the sculptures’ creativity and difficulty level. They also look at whether the sculpture was finished in time.

The sculptures stay on display after the contest. But the snow changes to liquid water as the weather warms. The sculptures melt away.

Friedli isn’t sad that Team Kwe’s sculptures don’t last very long. In fact, that’s what makes them special, she says.

Steps in a Snow Sculpture Competition

Stephen Maturen

1. Create a clay model of the sculpture.

Courtesy of Team Kwe

2. Get your tools ready.

Courtesy of Team Kwe

3. Start carving!

Stephen Maturen

4. Finish the sculpture.

Stephen Maturen

5. Judges review it and pick winners.

Steps in a Snow Sculpture Competition

Stephen Maturen

1. Create a clay model of the sculpture.

Courtesy of Team Kwe

2. Get your tools ready.

Courtesy of Team Kwe

3. Start carving!

Stephen Maturen

4. Finish the sculpture.

Stephen Maturen

5. Judges review it and pick winners.

video (2)

Games (1)

Activities (14)

Quizzes (1)

Answer Key (1)

1. PREPARE TO READ (10 minutes)
Discuss students’ experiences with different kinds of snow.

If it snows in your area, ask: How does snow feel when you hold it and shape it? Is snow always the same? (No—snow can be fluffy or slushy. Sometimes it’s easy to shape and sometimes it doesn’t hold together well.) If it doesn’t snow in your area, talk about differences in texture among frozen items like ice cubes, ice pops, and slushies. Ask: What do all kinds of snow—or frozen treats—have in common? (They are solid. As they warm up, they can become liquid.)

Play the video “States of Matter.” Briefly pause the video at time 1:30 and note that water freezes, or changes from a liquid to a solid, at 32°F. Finish playing the video. Then ask: If you were making a sculpture out of snow, what temperature would you want it to be outside? Why?

2. READ AND REFLECT (20 minutes)
Determine the article’s key ideas and discuss tools used to sculpt snow.

Read the article aloud, pausing to note key ideas in each section. Closely examine the photo of the team’s tools. Discuss what students notice about the tools and how they think the team uses each one. Ask: Which tool do you think would be the most useful? Why? Discuss students’ ideas as a class.

Ask: Why is it important for the sculptors to think about shape and weight while they build? (If the sculpture is unbalanced or too heavy, it might collapse.)

Have students work in pairs to complete the Quick Quiz. Reconvene to discuss their answers.

3. RESPOND TO READING (30 minutes)
Design and create a clay sculpture.

Provide each team with at least a cup, or fist-sized amount, of modeling clay. Preview the Create a Clay Sculpture activity and complete the first two steps together. Give groups about 20 minutes to design and build their sculptures. Reconvene at step 7 and briefly discuss their designs and the challenges they faced in making their sculpture.

Conclude by asking students: How was this activity similar to the team’s snow sculpting? (e.g., Both involved planning a design and using tools to sculpt.) How was it different? (e.g., We didn’t have to worry about unpredictable weather.)

STEM INTEGRATION

MATH: Use thermometers to read temperature (CCSS Math: 2.MD.D.9)

Discuss why people might want to know what temperature it is outside and how they could find out. Tell students they’re going to practice using thermometers to find temperatures. Play the video “What’s the Temperature?” Then distribute the Reading a Thermometer activity. Read the directions and do an example together or refer to the “Need a Hand?” box on page 2. Have students work independently and then discuss their answers. As an extension, you can have students measure and record the temperature at the same time each day for one week using an outdoor thermometer.

SCIENCE: Play a game about states of matter (NGSS: PS1.A)

Review the most common states of matter: solid, liquid, and gas. If appropriate, discuss and note vocabulary for changes in state: solid to liquid (melting), liquid to solid (freezing), liquid to gas (evaporating), and gas to liquid (condensing). Project the online game “Matter Maze” and play for a few minutes to show students how it works. Then have students play independently or in pairs.