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ILLEGAL SNOW ART
Team USA snow sculpture in Stillwater removed over ICE out' messaging Event organizers received phone calls and complaints about the sculpture Team USA's snow sculpture "Call to Arms" was removed from Lowell Park on Monday, Jan. 26, 2026. (Courtesy of Makwa Studio) By MARY DIVINE | mdivine@pioneerpress.com | Pioneer Press PUBLISHED: January 28, 2026 at 2:34 PM CST | UPDATED: January 28, 2026 at 2:59 PM CST Getting your Trinity Audio player ready... A sculpture designed by Team USA for the World Snow Sculpting Championship in downtown Stillwater has been removed by officials citing changes made by the sculptors in response to recent federal immigrant enforcement. The original design, as submitted to competition officials, featured a sphere of outstretched hands. It was called "A Call to Arms." But the team of sculptors, which includes St. Paul artist Dusty Thune and teammates Dan Belcher and Josh Jakubowski, decided during the festival in Lowell Park to add peace signs and hand gestures using American Sign Language. Among the messages spelled out in ASL: "ICE out," "love," "unity" and "resist." Anthony-Evenson, who knows ASL, said the hands spelled out "ICE out" by using the sign for "ice" and the "resistance fist." "It was very creatively done, and it was not very easy to read," she said. "You had to look at it very carefully to notice it, but clearly it was noticed. We appreciated the positive messaging that we did see like 'love' and 'peace,' but at the end of the day, the sculpture was modified from the submitted design. The submitted design had open fingers." Unnecessary and divisive' In a letter to Thune dated Jan. 20, Anthony-Evenson, Stillwater Mayor Ted Kozlowski and World Snow Celebration Co-Chair Sara Jespersen expressed their "deep disappointment" regarding the team's actions. "As you were made aware, the rules governing this international competition are explicit: political symbols, statements, or messaging of any kind are strictly prohibited," they wrote. "Despite this clear policy, inappropriate content was incorporated into your sculpture. This was not an oversight. It was a conscious decision, and it was a selfish one." The letter went on to say Team USA's actions negatively impacted event organizers, required financial resources to address and damaged the partnership with a nonprofit sponsor. "At a time when unity and mutual respect are more important than ever, introducing this type of messaging into this forum was unnecessary and divisive," the letter said.
January 30, 2026 at 10:28 AM