Local artist creates giant snow sculpture in Cornwall, Ont. Park

CORNWALL, ONT. -

A large snow sculpture is greeting people in Lamoureux Park in downtown Cornwall, and it's been such a hit, more could be popping up around town very soon.

The giant piece of snow art comes from the mind of local artist Ryan Hill of Akwesasne, naming it "The King of the Forest."

"It's basically a stump with a wood spirit into the stump, just kind of imagining what a tree would be like if it was alive," Hill told CTV News Ottawa.

It took him around 10 hours to create over the frigid last weekend in January, and he's been back to check on it a couple times, to do some minor touch-ups.

"The snow is constantly evaporating so it eventually comes apart," he said. "Today I'm just here smoothing things out, redefining the lines, things like that."

Artist Ryan Hill touches up his snow sculpture "The King of the Forest" in Cornwall's Lamoureux Park on Tuesday, Feb. 8, 2022. (Nate Vandermeer/CTV News Ottawa)

Hill is no stranger to sculpting, and has done work with Winterlude in Ottawa and the Ice on Whyte Festival in Edmonton. He also produces wood chainsaw art and stone art in his home gallery.

"There's no festivals, everything is cancelled, so I was looking for a place to express myself artistically, what I love to do," Hill said. "Sculptures is what I do and through the art community here in Cornwall we came up with doing a snow sculpture (like) last year."

The city of Cornwall had worked with Hill in the past, including on a snow dragon in the same park in 2021, and thought it would be a good idea for him to create another work of art for residents to enjoy.

"We know that in winter it's really easy to stay inside but we have beautiful parks in our community and this was just an opportunity to entice them out, explore our community and enjoy winter," said Kat Rendek, project coordinator for the city of Cornwall.

The city provided Hill an area near the Civic Complex and created a foundation with piled snow. It's a location where people could easily drive by to see the finished product.

Several residents drove by and stopped to look Tuesday morning, like the Bulloch family.

"I think it's beautiful. It adds just an element of newness to the park and I love looking at it," said Scott Bulloch.

"This is our second time. We were here last week and our children were absolutely enthralled in it so we are very excited to actually come by today and see the man behind the creation," added his wife Janelle. "It's so very, very cool."

"We're glad it's surviving the elements," she said. "I think that's a metaphor to the current state that we're in and hopefully that is also something that can be encouraging for others to see."

The Bulloch family visit Ryan Hill's "The King of the Forest" snow sculpture in Cornwall's Lamoureux Park. (Nate Vandermeer/CTV News Ottawa)

Rendek says the sculpture has been a hit both in-person and on social media.

"It's really inspired people to see art in winter, see the unexpected and really spark joy in a lot of people," she said.

"On our Cornwall tourism social media page, we put out just a little 'come visit the community' type post and it turns out it is one of our top three social media posts for Cornwall ever," Rendek added.

"We're already talking about some new sculptures in time for Family Day weekend too, just, again get people outside and enjoying winter art and Ryan's work," she said, noting other artists in the city are welcome to reach out with their own ideas.

"We are welcoming public art at this point in our community. They just need to contact the city who will put them in contact with me and we will work with them to find a location and help set them up," Rendek said.

"We would love to see people do snow sculptures in their own yards or properties, other places in the park. You don't need to be a professional artist to play in the snow!" she added.

For Hill, he knows this sculpture will one day melt, and he's fine with that.

"I was told once that a piece of art is never done, it's just the artist stops working on it," he said.

But its memory will live on and he's proud others can connect with his artwork.

"It's a little bit overwhelming, that part. To give people good feelings and, you know, bring a little bit of joy in their day and have them say, 'Hey look at that, that's pretty cool'," he smiled.

You can find more of Hill's artwork on his website.