Ice sculpting photos

Award-winning Ice sculpture, The Joust, World Ice Sculpting Competition, Fairbanks, Alaska (Patrick J. Endres / AlaskaPhotoGraphics.com)

World Ice Art Championships

The World Ice Art Championships occur annually in March in Fairbanks, Alaska. Artists attend the event from around the world over. They chisel and carve away at giant blocks of ice, fashioning remarkable creations that sometimes reach 25 feet high. Two competitions feature a small and large sculpture contest performed outdoors in the beautiful Fairbanks winter weather. The artists favor the quality of ice from the local ponds due to its thickness and clarity, the latter due to a lack of organisms in the water. Visitors enjoy a park filled with ice creations displayed at night with colorful lights to accentuate their beauty. All ice sculpting photos are available for purchase as stock photography or fine art prints to display in your home or office.

Multi-Block Ice sculpture by Junichi Nakamura at the World Ice Art Championships held each March in Fairbanks, Alaska (Patrick J. Endres / AlaskaPhotoGraphics.com)

World Ice Art Championship, Kiddy park statue, Fairbanks, Alaska (Patrick J. Endres / AlaskaPhotoGraphics.com)

Zoom boom harvests large blocks of ice from a Fairbanks pond. Sculptors use blocks cut by chainsaws in the World Ice Art Championships held each March in Fairbanks (Patrick J. Endres / AlaskaPhotoGraphics.com)

Large blocks of ice, cut and harvested from a pond, will be used in the World Ice Art Championships held each March in Fairbanks, Alaska (Patrick J. Endres / AlaskaPhotoGraphics.com)

Ice sculpting chisels used during the World Ice Art Championships held each March in Fairbanks, Alaska (Patrick J. Endres / AlaskaPhotoGraphics.com)

Ice sculptor chisels away at Sculpture during the World Ice Art Championships held each March in Fairbanks, Alaska (Patrick J. Endres / AlaskaPhotoGraphics.com)

Multi-Block Ice sculpture at the World Ice Art Championships held each March in Fairbanks, Alaska (Patrick J. Endres / AlaskaPhotoGraphics.com)

Northern Exposure, an Ice sculpture of an Eskimo family carved during the World Ice Art Championships held each March in Fairbanks, Alaska (Patrick J. Endres / AlaskaPhotoGraphics.com)

Good Omen, the title of this award-winning Ice Sculpture lit by colored lights, Fairbanks, Alaska. (Patrick J. Endres / AlaskaPhotoGraphics.com)

Ice sculptor Steve Brice adds whiskers to the face of a tiger in the 2004 World Ice Art Championships in Fairbanks, Alaska (Patrick J. Endres / AlaskaPhotoGraphics.com)

Aiming Eyes, by Junichi Nakamura, Peter Slavin. 2007 World Ice Art Championships, Single block sculpture, first place, realistic (Patrick J. Endres / AlaskaPhotoGraphics.com)

2005 Ice Art Championships, Fairbanks, Alaska (Patrick J. Endres / AlaskaPhotoGraphics.com)

Ice sculptor Junichi Nakamura, Japan, World Ice Sculpting Competition, Fairbanks, Alaska (Patrick J. Endres / AlaskaPhotoGraphics.com)

Ice sculptor Junichi Nakamura, Japan, World Ice Sculpting Competition, Fairbanks, Alaska (Patrick J. Endres / AlaskaPhotoGraphics.com)

Ice sculpture, World Ice Sculpting Competition, Fairbanks, Alaska (Patrick J. Endres / AlaskaPhotoGraphics.com)

Native Alaska ice sculptor, Brenna Outwater, chisels away while sitting inside a long ice tube created by joining multiple blocks of ice. The Sculpture, titled “Soul Catcher,” designed by Native artist Kathleen Carlo, won first place in the abstract category multi-block competition at The 1996 World Ice Art Championships held each March in Fairbanks, Alaska. (Patrick J Endres / AlaskaPhotoGraphics.com)