After a pair of anti-ICE snow sculptures were partially or completely destroyed in two separate competitions this month, the sculptors behind both pieces have reprised their original works in a combined sculpture in Minneapolis.
Snow sculptor Dusty Thune, who captains the multi-award-winning team House of Thune, carves what will become hands spelling “ICE OUT” in American Sign Language on a collaborative artwork near Lake of the Isles in Minneapolis on Feb. 1, 2026. A sculpture made by House of Thune, representing Team USA, was deconstructed entirely at the World Snow Sculpting Championship in downtown Stillwater over perceived anti-ICE content. (Jared Kaufman / Pioneer Press)
In late January, Team USA’s sculpture for the World Snow Sculpting Championship in downtown Stillwater, which depicted an orb of outstretched hands including American Sign Language signs for “love,” “unity” and “ICE out,” was deconstructed by competition officials. The sculpture, “A Call to Arms,” had been made by members of the sculpting team House of Thune, led by veteran sculptor Dusty Thune with teammates Dan Belcher and Josh Jakubowski.
Around the same time, a sculpture in the Minnesota State Snow Sculpting Competition at the Vulcan Snow Park at the Minnesota State Fairgrounds was altered to remove an “ICE OUT MN’ inscription and a whistle. The piece, resembling the bottom half of a face ascending into a tornado-like swirl, was created by Logan Thomas, Siera Himmerich and Nick Langer.
The new sculpture, located on private land at the north tip of Lake of the Isles, combines visual elements of both previous works — though, this time, the face’s mouth is covered with a riveted panel, symbolizing what artists view as their work having been censored. The work also includes a separate block resembling a gravestone that lists names of people who have died in federal immigration custody or been killed by agents, including Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minneapolis.
Snow sculptor Logan Thomas carves names into a snow block on Feb 1, 2026, near Lake of the Isles in Minneapolis. The names are of people who have died in federal immigration custody or been killed by agents as immigration enforcement efforts have ramped up in 2025 and 2026. (Jared Kaufman / Pioneer Press)
The project is a collaboration between Thune, Thomas, Himmerich, Langer and fellow snow sculptor Heather Friedli. Minneapolis poet laureate Heid Erdrich also helped facilitate the work and secure a location.
The artists behind the work are also hosting a candlelight vigil ceremony at 6 p.m. Feb. 7, featuring a reading by Erdrich, at the site of the sculpture on the corner of Franklin Avenue and W. Lake of the Isles Parkway, just south of Kenwood Park.
The Luminary Loppet, an annual arts festival featuring more than 1,000 ice luminaries on Lake of the Isles, takes place the same evening.
“A lot of people appreciate the beauty that happens in Kenwood and around Lake of the Isles, and our neighbors are really sad and really upset, so this is something people can kind of rally around,” said John Larsen, who’s hosting the sculpture on his front lawn. “It’s just a peaceful, creative response.”
Snow sculptor Siera Himmerich works on a large face, a portion of a collaborative sculpture speaking out about ICE activity, on Feb. 1, 2026, near Lake of the Isles in Minneapolis. Himmerich is a member of a sculpting team whose “ICE OUT MN” work was controversially disqualified and defaced at the Vulcan Snow Park in January. (Jared Kaufman / Pioneer Press)
Friedli said she, Erdrich and other artists had already been discussing a snow sculpture memorial to Good before Pretti was killed and both sculptures were altered, but those events pushed them to think bigger.
“Once the censorship happened, (Erdrich said) we need to incorporate everything,” Friedli said. “She approached some nonprofits, and I think they were scared, too, so they turned us down. Just like the community takes care of itself, the community said yes, right? And so we’re on a private location (and have) freedom of speech.”
Following a local and national outcry, the Greater Stillwater Chamber of Commerce has since acknowledged its officials mishandled the removal of “A Call to Arms” from the World Snow Sculpting Championship display.
Now, in addition to the Lake of the Isles sculpture, Thune is planning to recreate a version of the original “A Call to Arms,” cast in iron, as a permanent public art installation. He and Friedli have launched a crowdfunding campaign that, as of Tuesday, has raised nearly $9,000 out of a $40,000 goal.
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