by The Minneapolis Institute of Art is always busy inside. During the winter, the courtyard features a different type of exhibit.
The Minneapolis Institute of Ice exhibit features replicas of sculptures in the museum, but made of ice.
Last weekend’s warmer weather brought more people out to walk around and look at the art — while it lasted.
MIA spokesperson Heather Hofmeister said each piece is handcrafted. One was made at the museum during the exhibit’s opening night on Feb. 6.
“The night of our opening, Feb. 6, they had assembled all the pieces in the collection, and you can see some cute little kids coming to check out the dog. There’s a lobster phone. It’s based on a piece in our collection by Salvador Dali and that evening they did a live demonstration and the person who was sculpting it had a full chainsaw, like a chainsaw you would chop down trees, It was very big and so fascinating to watch something so intricate be carved with a tool that is so powerful.
The change in weather affected Andrea Hauser’s favorite piece.
“I heard there was a sculpture of the Veiled Lady in ice, one of my favorite marble sculptures, so we came out to see it and she’s melted.”
The Veiled Lady also captured Clare Wellenstein and Maggie Polyps’ interest, though they have different favorites.
“My favorite was the torso in that corner,” Polyps said.
“My favorite was, it has a bunch of things coming off its head,” Wellenstein said. “That was pretty cool.”
The ice sculptures are now gone for the season, but new ones will be back next winter.
To learn more about events hosted at the Minneapolis Institute of Art, go to z.umn.edu/universityreport.
