Rural and Community Art Project Grant

The primary focus of the project is to create an engaging arts experience for participants and the general public. Our event overcomes barriers to the arts, bringing this unique art form to people who would never go to an art gallery. A secondary focus of the project is to expand our participants' artistic skills. For that reason, we have designed the Symposium as a collaborative event, rather than a competition. New carvers are mentored here, and our artists come back year after year because they gain skills and benefit personally from the interaction with other carvers. These are our measurable outcomes: ? Audience members will be exposed to art and will engage with the arts and artists. ? Snow carvers will experience personal growth as artists. To evaluate whether audiences are engaging with the arts and artists, EWF volunteers will interview people in Whiteside Park at several times during the Festival. Interviewers will ask a number of questions designed to measure engagement, such as ?Did you talk with any of the sculptors'? and ?What did you learn?? To evaluate whether the carvers are experiencing personal growth as artists, we will survey the carvers at the last group event. Among other things, the survey will ask ?How has carving in the Snow Sculpture Symposium benefitted you as an artist??.