Tyson Whistler: The Artist Behind the Ice Festival
Photography of Tyson carving by Michelle Waters
One of our favorite events of the year, the Marietta Ice Festival returns this Saturday, January 13th as part of Marietta Main Street’s winter schedule. Now a standalone event sponsored by Glenwood Community, the Ice Festival features expertly carved ice sculptures on display throughout downtown and a live carving at the Armory on Front Street. While much coordination goes into putting on this event each year, its success centers on the artistic vision and creation of one local artist.
Tyson Whistler of Whistler Ice Works began carving ice over eighteen years ago, teaching himself new techniques and using each sculpture as a learning experience. He started by purchasing a few blocks of ice a year to carve for holidays and special events. Now, he has his own freezers, block-making machine, and an arsenal of saws, tools, and bits.
This year’s event will use 18 300 lb blocks of ice – a total of 5,400 lbs! “Ice production has been nonstop for months as the order list this past year continued to grow,” said Tyson. “A new second freezer arrived a couple of weeks ago, so now more blocks can be produced and stored in the future to be able to handle more volume next winter.”
The Marietta Ice Festival was launched in 2017, originally as the program and theme for the first First Friday. Since then, the festival has grown both in number of sculptures and regional popularity. Communities across Southeast Ohio have enlisted Tyson to help them start their own Ice Festivals.
“The Marietta Ice Festival has become an annual event for downtown Marietta during the winter season and each year brings out lots of locals as well as many visitors to our community,” said Tyson. “It's so cool to be able to share my artwork with our area, my family and friends, and get to meet new visitors every year. The feedback is truly amazing.”
This will be the eighth year that Tyson has created most, if not all, of the ice sculptures for the Ice Festival. Each sculpture begins as a 300 lb block of ice that Tyson carefully chisels and carves down to its final form. To map out his designs, Whistler uses a projector to draw a template for each piece on tracing paper that is sized and frozen onto the ice before carving, allowing him to move more quickly. This technique also allows Whistler to create more elaborate designs, especially those requiring more than one block of ice.
Each year, Tyson challenges himself with new designs and techniques. He said this year’s requests from sponsors were very different, including many new designs.
“It’s exciting creating new and different sculptures but it also presents a challenge when you’ve never done the cuts before. What I see in my head doesn’t always transfer to the block very easily and often takes a lot more time to produce a quality sculpture,” he said. “With jobs this size, the added hours of designing and template creating adds its toll into the available carving time.”
Tyson said many of this year’s designs will be fun for the community, including a 6’ script “Marietta” sculpture that will welcome visitors from Front and Putnam Streets. “I’m also excited to produce a 3’ blue crab out of ice, a new design that is challenging but I feel will really pop once it’s set up!”
A progress photo of the Blue Crab for this year’s festival by Tyson
While many professional sculptors now use CNC milling machines for most of their carving process, Whistler strives to achieve the same polished look and complex designs using only hand-operated tools. It’s hard work, but he’s up to the challenge and uses each opportunity to further develop his skills.
Most of the techniques used for sculpting become repetitive and don't change too much once you find the method that is successful for you, he said. “Being able to sculpt efficiently timewise is important considering the medium being used, at the same time being patient to fine-tune the technique to produce quality and cleaner sculptures that last and don't break is key.”
A musical sculpture in progress for this year’s festival
Tyson officially launched Whistler Ice Works in 2021, creating customized ice for corporate and private parties, restaurants, and events – any event where a custom ice sculpture, luge, or craft ice can be utilized to create a wow factor for guests.
“The support from our area has been amazing. Business on average over the past three years has grown over 30% to 40% each year, the majority of it from the end of November to the end of February,” said Tyson. “I'm hoping this year more sculptures will be ordered for special business events, banquets, and weddings from spring to fall to balance the demand. It's great to see a small hobby turn into a foundation that keeps growing by producing sculptures and memories for everyone that not only purchases a sculpture but for the guests and visitors of the events to enjoy as well.”
Fifteen pre-carved ice sculptures will be on display throughout downtown from 12:00 pm to 6:00 pm on Saturday, January 13th, each a unique design. Visitors can admire several sculptures on the Armory Lawn. In addition to the pieces carved in advance, Whistler will do a live carving on the Armory Lawn beginning at 1:00 pm, sponsored by Glenwood Community.
Carving so many sculptures is a big job for one person, but Whistler continues to rise to the challenge each year, creating impressive works of art that will only last for as long as the weather permits. We thank Tyson for creating this experience for our community and sharing his unique artwork with the world!
Clutch Collective is proud to join Wit & Whimzy in sponsoring one of Tyson’s incredible sculptures again this year! Head downtown this Saturday to see our ice sculpture in front of our shop at 152 Front Street.
Photos of Tyson Whistler taken by Michelle Waters for Clutch MOV