History
Maine Snow & Ice Sculpting Foundation (MSISF) was founded in 2001 by a small group of enthusiastic individuals that met while developing a Maine winter festival celebrating high level Snow and Ice Sculpture. The vision for the festival came from their President, Ed Jarrett, who recently had returned to his home state of Maine after spending 15 years working in the Hospitality field and carving ice in Rhode Island. He was amazed to find that no one was celebrating the art of snow and ice sculpture in this perceived cold State ( please scroll down for a full history on the Maine WinterFest & Derby).
The mission statement has not changed since the inception of MSISF. Introducing the art of Snow and Ice Sculpture to people of all ages and abilities throughout the state of Maine is responsible for the many programs and fundraisers that have been developed through the years. In 2002 a College Mentor Program was set up at Southern Maine Community College, in which a representative from MSISF support’s the Culinary Department faculty by visiting classes and providing hands on training in Snow and Ice Sculpture. Several SMCC graduates have gone on to participate in the MSISF Apprentice Program. This program was also developed in 2002 and provides an opportunity for the participants that get accepted, to train one on one with an MSISF approved instructor, and work closely with the professional sculptor’s that are invited to work on the many projects undertaken by MSISF.
In 2003, MSISF became the official sanctioned authority, to run the state of Maine’s Snow Sculpting Championship, with the winner getting an automatic invite to the US National Snow Sculpting Championship. MSISF has provided the winning team with an all expense paid trip to this annual event, which is held in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin.
In September of 2006, Ed Jarrett became the first Full Time Executive Director for MSISF. During that fall, we expanded the Apprentice program offerings, by developing an eight week long Ice Carving venue for the L.L.Bean Northern Lights Event. Moving right into 2007, we did an introduction of Ice Carving for Bowdion College, added programs K-5 WinterSculpt and WinterSculpt Sr.(see details on programs page), merged the Maine WinterFest with the State’s largest Ice Fishing Derby, teamed up with Camp Sunshine to build the World’s Tallest Sandcastle(please scroll down for more info on this event), provided ice carved centerpieces to several non-profit’s, and are in the process of building a snow track for L.L.Bean’s Winter Expo utilizing a snow making technique that crushes blocks of ice into pure snow regardless of outdoor temperature.
On the horizon, we are putting a State Ice Sculpting Championship together, and we will be teaming up with the American Heart Association for a speed ice carving demonstration in February 2008 rightfully named “Melt My Heart".
Maine WinterFest & Derby ( the continued history coming soon)
World’s Tallest Sandcastle (the whole story coming soon)
