by Kevin Lilly
WALTON — A world-class ice sculptor treated Lewis Cass students to a demonstration of his art this week.
Stephan Koch of Indiana Ice Studio in Yorktown, spent Tuesday afternoon at the high school in Walton cutting and carving two 10-inch thick, 300-pound blocks of ice with a chainsaw and other tools. After about an hour, Pegasus began to emerge.
“This is my ice. This is what I do,” Koch said.
The audience consisted of students taking classes in advanced art, ceramics, sculpting, painting and advanced foods.
“We have a number of groups going to benefit from this,” said Lewis Cass art teacher Darby Scalf.
Koch warned those in the first two rows that they would likely get sprayed with “snow” shooting from the blocks as the artist worked. He made true on his promise as arcs ice shavings shoot from the blocks.
Scalf explained that he wanted the students to see there are careers in the art field, either by taking on projects on the side or working full-time like Koch, who says he has jobs every week.
“Some students think, ‘If I go into art what am I supposed to do?’ Don’t limit it to anything,” Scalf tells his students.
Scalf said Lewis Cass is averaging two graduates a year who go on to an art career such as photography, page layout, Web design and sculpting.
Koch got his start in ice sculpture while in culinary school. He has since honed his skill and opened a business. When not creating ice sculptures for weddings, banquets and other events, he enters international competitions.
Koch recently competed in Alaska, where he and three other people worked on 6,000 pounds of ice carved in recognition of the roll of snowmobiles in the country’s northern-most state.
Prior to Koch’s arrival, Scalf talked about the positive and negative space in art so the students would have an understanding of what they would be seeing. He also stressed to them the amount of planning involved before beginning to carve. In the days to follow, Scalf said he would review the experience in the classroom.
Koch told the students that he makes his own ice, which must be crystal clear. Each block takes 72 hours to form. Once a block is turned into a sculpture, a typical one will last five to eight hours at room temperature, he said.
When asked what he thought about all his works of art being only temporary creations, Koch said that is actually good for business.
“Honestly, if they didn’t melt, who would order new ones, right?” he said.
The winged horse ice sculpture will be kept in a freezer until May, when it will be the centerpiece at prom.
• Kevin Lilly is news editor of the Pharos-Tribune. He can be reached at 574-732-5117 or kevin.lilly@pharostribune.com.
