Northampton — Downtown Northampton has been hacked…and carved, plucked, drilled and chainsawed.
Artists at the 12th Annual Northampton Ice Art Festival on Saturday used a variety of tools and techniques to create ice sculptures at 14 locations in downtown Northampton.
If your canvas is a block of ice, you can drop your chips anywhere. All artists wore safety goggles, knee pads, thermal his gloves, heavy-duty aprons, and industrial-strength earplugs. A propane torch was used to briefly sweep over the sculpture to melt the ice and give it a glossy finish.
The sculpture will remain at the downtown location, weather permitting. Artists accept that their work melts. “It might be gone in a day or two,” he said Saturday with a shrug.
Here are the artists and their locations: Robert Mackey, Pulaski Park. Michael Rondeau, Shelburne Falls Coffee Roasters; Billy Poe, Cafe Barragán. Khali Hernandez, Inspirit Crystals; Mark Bosworth, Summit Salon. Greenfield Savings Bank, Nathan Peterson. Peter Vacchina, in a pinch. Michael Legassey, Thorns Marketplace. Wayne Miller and Meg Koupiek of Hampton Court. Chris Nelson, Regnate, David Berkley, Beryl. Jason Graves, Fitzwillies. Eric Noll (Hotel Northampton) and Ron Kimmel (A2Z Science & Learning Store).
