While I have never been to Revere Beach, I look forward each
year to photos of the amazing sand sculptures from a competition
that brings people from throughout the world to this location just
north of Boston.
The winning entry in the Revere
Beach sand sculpting contest was “Nest” by Mélineige Beauregard of
Montreal, Canada. // Photo: Revere Beach
Partnership
Adding to the enjoyment of the Revere Beach International
Sand-Sculpting Festival are longtime sand-sculptors Dan Doubleday
and Meredith Corson-Doubleday, who bring the event to life,
especially for distant viewers, with their expert commentary on all
the pieces. I also appreciated the slide show created by
professional photographer Greg Cook on his
Wonderland website.
The sand sculptures are evaluated using four categories: (1)
degree of difficulty, (2) originality and creativity, (3) quality
of sculpting, and (4) overall visual impact.
In the two videos on this page, Dan and Meredith conduct their
fourth-day “walkthrough” together, as the sand sculptures take on
their final forms. At the time that Dan and Meredith recorded their
commentary, they did not know who the winners would be, so I would
like to add some help with that:
Creativity, humanity and whimsy seem to be abundant qualities
among the sand sculptors producing unique works of art at various
competitions across the United States this year.
“Dance of the Undefined,” first
place in the Hampton Beach Sand Sculpting Competition. Artist:
Mélineige Beauregard, Montreal, Quebec. // Photo: Hampton
Beach Facebook page
In June, the Hampton Beach Sand Sculpting Competition in New
Hampshire celebrated its 17th anniversary by attracting more than a
dozen professional artists, including at least five from
Canada.
This year’s winner at Hampton Beach was Mélineige Beauregard
from Montreal, Quebec. Her work in sand, titled “Dance of the
Undefined,” shows a woman from the waist up with honeycomb arms
stretched above her head. Mélineige explained that the piece
represents how people are constantly changing in some ways while
staying the same in others.
She considers art as a kind of spiritual experience, according
her to bio on the
Hampton Beach website.
“When my hands touch the material, when my heart opens to give
life, when my head is illuminated by light, I become the co-creator
of the universe,” she was quoted as saying. “An artist is one who
spiritualizes matter. For me, art is a means of communication, a
way to transmit the energy of life, to affirm its vastness and its
beauty.”
Mélineige has won more than 30 individual awards in sand
sculpting. In 2004, she teamed up with her father, renowned
sculptor Guy Beauregard, to win the World Championship doubles
competition. Last year, she was the winner at the Revere Beach
International Sand Sculpting Festival in Massachusetts. See the
article by Liz Vanderau in
Boston University Today. A slideshow of the
Hampton Beach sculptures was posted on YouTube by Ammoguy5.
Winners
were listed on the Hampton Beach website with
photos on the Hampton Beach Facebook page.
“Soul Evolution,” first place
in the Revere Beach International Sand Sculpting Frestival. Artist:
Pavel Mylnikov, Moscow, Russia.
Photo: Revere Beach Facebook page
This year’s winner at the Revere Beach competition, July 21-23,
was Pavel Mylnikov of Moscow, Russia. His sculpture, titled “Soul
Evolution,” is an intricately carved piece with two masculine
angels on a rocky outcropping. Artist-reporters Dan Doubleday and
Meredith Corson-Doubleday of RevereTV do a nice job of explaining
their craft in a series of videos. Below, I’ve linked to two videos
focused on four sculptures in this year’s competition — including
entries by Pavel and Mélineige:
The festivals at Hampton Beach and Revere Beach are listed among
the top 10 sand-sculpting competitions in the United States,
according to
Coastal Living magazine. Also making the list is the SandSations Sandcastle
Competition in Long Beach, Wash. (See Facebook for
some random photos and a list of winners.)
Another great sand-sculpting festival was held this year on July
14 and 15 at Imperial Beach, California.
NBC 7, San Diego put together a nice video of the top
winners.
“Neptune’s Organ,” first place
in the 2016 Virginia Beach International Sand Sculpting
Championship. Artists: Meredith Corson Doubleday and Dan Doubleday,
Florida.
Photo: Virginia Beach website
Last year’s first-place winner in Virginia Beach was Mélineige
Beauregard, mentioned above. The first-place in team competition
was won by Meredith Corson Doubleday and Dan Doubleday, mentioned
above as artist-reporters in the Revere Beach competition. Their
sculpture, Neptune’s Organ, also took the Neptune’s Choice,
Sculptors’ Choice and People’s Choice awards in the team
division.
After enjoying dozens of photos showing amazing sculptures, I
can’t help but think about the fragility and temporary nature of
these artworks. For all their beauty and intricacy, as well as the
thoughts and emotions they inspire, these sculptures soon
disappear, and the artists are left to prepare for their next
fleeting creation.
Sand sculptors from throughout the world continue to turn their
unique ideas into temporary masterpieces to be washed away with the
tide. Only memories and photographs remain of these intricate, but
fleeting, art objects.
“Life” (side 1) by Karen
Fralich took first place at the Hampton Beach Master Sand Sculpting
Competiton in June.
Photo: Hampton Beach Village District
Perhaps someone can tell me if this unusual art form is on the
increase or decline. Some sand-sculpture festivals keep going each
year; some have disappeared; and new ones have started up since I
started featuring this art form in 2009. Last year (Water Ways,
Aug. 25, 2014), I rounded up all the “Amusing Monday” pieces
about sand sculpture. I remain as impressed with the new work today
as I have ever been.
In June, Hampton Beach, N.H., was the site of the 15th annual
“Master Sand Sculpting Competition,” which is about as good as it
gets. The first two pictures on this page show opposite sides of a
sand sculpture created at the festival. The piece, which artist
Karen Fralich calls “Life,” took First Place at the festival this
year.
Other top winners are featured in a very nice gallery
of photos on the Hampton Beach website. The artists discuss
their work in a series of videos by Newhampshiredotcom. Though the
sound quality leaves something to be desired, I did find it
interesting to hear these folks describe their very interesting
concepts:
“Life” (side 2) by Karen
Fralich
Photo: Hampton Beach Village District
Another noteworthy festival is the 12th annual Revere Beach
National Sand Sculpting Festival in Massachusetts. The theme this
year was “The Spirit of Massachusetts.”
The best
photo gallery of the winning entries was a nice presentation by
Boston magazine. The contest features both solo and doubles
entries, adding a extra element of excitement.
“Open Your Mind and Let Your
Spirit Fly” by Mélineige Beauregard took first place at Revere
Beach. // Photo:RevereBeach.com
The winner in the solo competition was Mélineige Beauregard of
Montreal for “Open Your Mind and Let Your Spirit Fly,” shown in the
third photo on this page.
Some additional images were provided by Boston photographer Matt
Conti in the publication
“North End Waterfront.com”
Coney Island held its 25th annual
Sand Sculpting Contest this past weekend. So far, few
worthwhile photo galleries have been posted, but reporter Kate
Cummings of Brooklyn TV News 12 had a report, which I posted in the
video player at the bottom of this page. Last year’s event was
featured nationally on
ABC’s Good Morning America.
Finally, coming in our state, Olympia’s annual Sand in the City festival
will be held this weekend. Sponsored by the Hands On Children’s
Museum, it should have some excellent sand sculptures, though the
event is not rated as a top-tier competition. Last year’s
sculptures can be seen on the museum’s website.
For a fairly complete list of sand sculpting events in the U.S.
and Canada, go to SandSculptingEvents.com.
Master sand sculptors from throughout the world have been
stretching their imaginations this year at various sand-sculpting
festivals where they’ve been putting their unique abilities on
display.
“Inseminate” by Guy-Olivier
Deveau of Quebec City, first place in the Master Sand Sculpting
Competition in Hampton Beach, N.H.
Photo courtesy of Hampton Beach Village
District
In June, the 14th annual Master Sand Sculpting Competition in
Hampton Beach, N.H., brought together a dozen amazing artists,
including first-place winner Guy-Olivier Deveau from Quebec City,
Canada. Deveau’s sculpture “Inseminate” (shown here) was done as a
tribute to the recently deceased Swiss artist H.R. Giger, who
helped create the creature in the movie “Alien,” according to
festival organizers.
I am both amused and inspired by Carl Jara’s piece, “Putting
Down Roots,” which depicts a friendly embrace between man and
nature (second photo on this page). Jara, of Cleveland, Ohio,
continues to impress me with his imaginary figures.
“Putting Down Roots” by
Carl Jara of Cleveland, Ohio, third place
Photo courtesy of Hampton Beach Village
District
Tacoma’s Sue McGrew participated in Hampton Beach, creating a
thoughtful piece she called “Mother’s Protection” (third on this
page). For a full gallery of photos of the sand sculptures, visit
the
Hampton Beach visitors page or the Flickr page created for the event.
“Mother’s Protection” by
Sue McGrew of Tacoma
Photo courtesy of Hampton Beach Village
District
I am sorry to learn that the Arts in Action festival held in
Port Angeles for nearly a half-century will come to an end after
this year’s event, Sept. 5-7.
The folks running the Port Angeles festival were no longer able
to continue, and nobody stepped up to take it over, according to
Doc Reiss, sand sculpture organizer.
“Forty-nine years is a good, long run,” Reiss told reporter
Arwyn Rice of the Peninsula Daily News, who tells the history of
the sand-sculpture competition and the decision to end it this
year.
McGrew and Sandis Kondrats of Latvia will creates tribute
sculptures this year in Port Angeles to recognize 10 years of
master-level sand sculpting in the remote city on the Olympic
Peninsula. I have been pleased to report on the event as an
“Amusing Monday” feature since 2009:
Master-level sand sculpting also has come and gone from Federal
Way, which just goes to show that these festivals are as ephemeral
as the sand sculptures themselves.
In 2011, amateur photographer Flint Weiss of Maple Valley shot
the Federal Way sculptures, then he told me why he loved them but
was worried about their future. His words turned out to be
prophetic:
“I do feel that art is enriching and that everybody is capable
of producing some,” he wrote in an e-mail. “One of the things I
like about sand sculpture is how solid and crisp everything looks,
when it is really only made from sand.
“That makes sculptures like these feel somewhat improbable,
making them all the more impressive. I also really enjoy the sheer
artistry involved. While it’s easy for me (or any of us) to take a
trowel to a pile of sand, it never looks anything like what these
folks do.
“It’s sad,” he continued, “that this contest doesn’t get the
public support it deserves. Given how much Western Washington loves
both art and craftsmanship, it’s kind of surprising that the
contest isn’t more popular.”
After three years in Federal Way, the World Championship of Sand
Sculptures moved on to Atlantic City, N.J., as I reported in “Water
Ways”:
In other areas, “Boston” magazine” covered the 2014 Revere
Beach National Sand Sculpting Festival, which featured the theme
“Stars and Stripes: A Tribute to Our Nation’s Armed Forces” to
coincide with the 70th anniversary of D-Day. (Don’t miss the
extended slide show at the bottom of the page.)
“My SA” in San Antonio covered the Texas
SandFest in Port Aransas. See also Tim Burdick’s photos of the event.
This year’s World Sand Sculpting Tournament of Champions, ending
today in Federal Way, drew 16 of the best sand sculptors from
across the United States, along with three from Canada and one from
Italy.
Carl Jara’s “Unfurling”
required the artist to reach into a narrow space to refine the
piece, which took first place in the Northwest Sand
Festival.
Photo courtesy of NW Sand Festival
We’ve seen many of these sand artists before at the Federal Way
event, also known as the Northwest Sand Festival. Some are well
known at other sculpting contests around the U.S., including one
each summer in Port Angeles.
The first photograph on this page shows a sculpture called
“Unfurling” by Carl Jara of Cleveland. It was awarded the
first-place trophy in the singles division.
Another familiar name is Sue McGrew of Tacoma. Her untitled
piece, also on this page, took a third-place award in the singles
division at the Federal Way event.
Second place, called “Three Muses,” went to Delayne Corbett of
Vancouver, British Columbia.
To get a better idea what this year’s exhibit was like, view the
following slide shows:
The last major sand-sculpting event in the United States is
coming up on Sept. 28 Virginia Beach, Va. It’s called the Neptune
Festival, because it’s held in Neptune Park. See the best from the
2011
Neptune Festival.
Sue McGrew’s untitled piece
took second place in the Northwest Sand Festival, in its final day
today.
Photo courtesy of NW Sand Festival
The video, below, shows a variety of scenes from the Federal Way
gathering. It was produced by Michael Dziak and can be found on the
festival’s
website.
