BLOCK #12 | IOWA
TEAM NAME:
Nor' Easter In Dubuque
SCULPTURE TITLE:
Clementine Breaks Free
ARTIST STATEMENT:
So many of us find it difficult not to feel weighed down these days. Helpless, perhaps—pushed and pulled and distorted by forces beyond our control. Clementine cannot and will not countenance such manipulations and indignities one moment longer. She is a walrus after all, and physics is on her side.
Team Members:
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Hugh McCarron (Captain): Lives in Dubuque, Iowa and is employed by City of Dubuque, Engineering Department. As a child, building snowmen and forts was the very beginning for him. The first time hr sculpted snow in an event was 2010 at the US Nationals in Lake Geneva. He was invited by a member of the Iowa team. After seeing the size and scope of the competition, he was hooked, his eyes were opened to a whole new wonderful world of snow sculpting. The size of the sculptures is what impressed him the most. This event started him on the road that eventually led to his success in facilitating the inaugural State of Iowa Snow Sculpting Competition. His artistic background includes, being a Blacksmith (Owner, Celtic Forge Blacksmith Shop in Dubuque, Iowa), a snow sculptor at the U.S. Nationals Snow Sculpting Competition in Lake Geneva (yearly from 2010 to 2024), and he Sculpted snow for the National Mississippi River Museum & Aquarium from 2012 to 2025. He enjoys expressing his creativity through photography, watercolors, and stained glass. He is also a volunteer blacksmith at National Mississippi River Museum & Aquarium.
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Rachel Spurling: Rachel is a 3D artist by trade living in “The Masterpiece on the Mississippi,” Dubuque, Iowa. Working as a fabrication artist, her time is spent building unique exhibits and displays for museums, nature centers, and historical sites, as well as various creations for corporate environments and tradeshows. Outside of work, you could find her selling her handmade ceramic wares at various markets and fairs, or pursuing a plethora of creative outlets with her toddler by her side. Her favorite, and most notable creative outlet is snow sculpting, which brings together art, nature, and community; an artist’s trifecta! She has been competing in a variety of competitions since 2018, qualifying for the National Snow Sculpting Championship twice and appearing on Disney+ “Best in Snow” in 2022. Creating larger than life ephemeral art is a fantastic way to push her abilities as an artist and connect with nature and the community in meaningful ways. It is an absurd and beautiful form of expression, and one that she aims to continue growing and sharing with others, especially her daughter, who she hopes will someday be right by her side with a shovel, a chisel, and a vision.
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Katie Runde: Katie first began snow sculpting when bribed with pizza by VT OG snow carving legend Adrian Tans, organizer of the Iowa state event at the time. Twelve years later, she is still hooked. As for sculpting in general, her grandmother took up sculpture in her seventies. Next thing you know, she had created an exquisite bronze bust of Abraham Lincoln and just kept living into her late-found yet formidable skills. Here's to you, Betty Powers Smith. All mighty human, sculptor, and inspiration. Creativity is just the only way Katie knows how to process life! She has been a professional realist oil painter and 3D chalk artist for years, all the while moonlighting as a woodwind player (primarily saxophone) from jam bands in dive bars to Bernstein pit orchestras and sacred music. At the moment, she is on the cusp between maternity leave and an active job search in hospital chaplaincy (what is more inherently creative than being human with other humans?), and her creativity is almost entirely taken up exploring the wonder of simple things with her toddler, wayward DIY, and frantic gardening.
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