Team USA disqualified from World Snow Sculpting Championship in Minnesota over anti-ICE message

STILLWATER, MINNESOTA: Team USA was disqualified from the World Snow Sculpting Championship in Minnesota after turning its snow sculpture into a protest against ICE.

Organizers say the team altered its original design to include outstretched hands that subtly spelled “ICE out” in American Sign Language, prompting officials to pull the entry.

Team USA's sculpture was titled ‘A Call to Arms’

Team USA's sculpture’s original concept showed a sphere made of outstretched hands and carried the title “A Call to Arms.” 

'Call to Arms' sculpture description said, "In a world where division is growing, we all have an equal responsibility to do our part to stay united. A Call to Arms is a figurative expression urging people to take action, often in response to a crisis or conflict. It is a rallying cry to engage in a particular cause.  It is going to take each and every one of us to keep our democracy healthy and viable for future generations. Everyone needs to lend a "hand" to keep our society moving forward. "

However, as work progressed, Team USA, made up of St Paul artist Dusty Thune and teammates Dan Belcher and Josh Jakubowski, chose to modify the piece by adding peace signs and American Sign Language hand gestures.

The added gestures spelled out messages including “ICE out,” “love,” “unity,” and “resist.”

“Unfortunately, Team USA did not comply with the rules of the competition,” said Robin Anthony-Evenson, president of the Greater Stillwater Chamber of Commerce & Foundation, on Wednesday, January 28.

She noted that organizers received “several phone calls and complaints” about the sculpture. Anthony-Evenson cited competition rules stating that “teams must adhere to their original submitted sketch” and that “sculptures must respect cultural and social values, and avoid offensive, controversial, political, or inappropriate themes.” She added that the hand gestures “did not align with these pre-established rules and policy.”

After organizers learned about the changes to the sculpture, they removed some of the hand signs on January 19, Anthony‑Evenson said. By Monday, January 26, the entire sculpture had been taken down from Lowell Park, she added.

Team USA captain explains creation of ‘A Call to Arms’

Thune, a veteran snow sculptor and team captain, said his group, called 'House of Thune,' “hadn’t necessarily planned on inserting any messages into the sculpture, other than hand signs for peace, love, unity and resistance, which would have been continued into the snow on the ground behind the sphere as if it were rolling toward the St Croix River and leaving messages in its wake.”

He explained that the decision to alter the design of 'A Call to Arms' came on January 14, the first day of the competition.

Thune described the challenges they faced while carving. "Upon digging into the snow block, we found the snow pack to be so poorly packed and full of debris that the outstretched arms we were carving kept crumbling and falling off," he said. “We made the choice to focus on bigger hands and shorter arms to try and salvage our piece. Sometimes the medium (snow) decides the way a piece is going to be created. Sometimes external events also have a hand in shaping what a piece will become.”

He noted that the timing coincided with the January 7 shooting of Renee Macklin Good, 37, by a US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent in Minneapolis, implying that outside events influenced the team’s approach.

Stillwater Mayor's letter to Team USA

Stillwater Mayor Ted Kozlowski and Sara Jespersen, the event’s co-chair, shared a letter to Thune and Anthony-Evenson dated January 20, expressing their “deep disappointment."

“As you were made aware, the rules governing this international competition are explicit: political symbols, statements, or messaging of any kind are strictly prohibited,” they wrote. “Despite this clear policy, inappropriate content was incorporated into your sculpture. This was not an oversight. It was a conscious decision, and it was a selfish one.”

The letter also stated that Team USA’s changes had hurt organizers, taken time and money to address, and damaged a partnership with a nonprofit sponsor.

“At a time when unity and mutual respect are more important than ever, introducing this type of messaging into this forum was unnecessary and divisive,” the letter said.

“I really enjoyed the message in the original piece that was submitted for the competition,” Kozlowski said on Wednesday. “I thought it was a great message at a time when Minnesotans need it most. Unfortunately, they decided to change it a bit to include a political message, which clearly violates the rules that everybody else adheres to. It’s unfortunate because I think it takes away from the overall message of the sculpture, and I love the sculpture.”

Kozlowski said he hopes Thune is allowed to participate in future World Snow Sculpting Championships. “Dusty and Team USA have always been great, and they’ve always been a part of this competition on some level,” he said. “The whole thing was unfortunate, but I don’t think we would ban these guys from future competitions. It’s a tough time in Minnesota right now, and so I think we should give everybody some grace. I completely understand why they did it, especially on that day.”