At first glance, Lake Geneva’s Winterfest unfolds as a grand visual display with 15 snow blocks that are 10 feet high lining the frozen lakeshore. Crowds stroll between snow sculptures bundled in scarves and gloves, pausing for photos and absorbing the magnificence of a blank canvas taking shape while listening to laughter in the cool, crisp air. Winterfest also reveals itself as an intellectual and community endeavor: a public classroom, an experiment in problem-solving and a living demonstration of how learning unfolds when conditions are uncertain and time is limited.
“Winterfest shows a completely different side of the creative process,” said Stephanie Klett, President and CEO of VISIT Lake Geneva. “To witness a team carving a massive block of snow into a fully realized sculpture in just 72 hours, without power tools, is the best reality show you’ll ever see. Just try to walk away without having learned something.”
Winterfest is not only a competition for returning snow sculpting teams. It is a place to revisit ideas, refine skills and apply lessons learned under pressure. For visitors, it is a rare opportunity to witness learning in motion, carved slowly from a blank snow canvas.
Returning with purpose: learning that evolves
John Woodard, an award-winning snow sculptor whose team from Pennsylvania, Jack of All Lanterns, returned to Winterfest in 2026. Woodward approaches the event less as a performance and more as a collaborative learning process. While the team’s core philosophy remains steady, their methods evolve year to year through reflection and intentional planning.
“As a team, we have not drastically changed our approach to learning,” Woodard said. “Our approach is collaborative. We stay in sync on what works and what is not working, then make changes accordingly.”
Preparation for Winterfest 2026 began months earlier, in the fall of 2025. The team reviewed what worked during the previous year’s competition and identified areas that required adjustment. One of the most significant lessons came from 2025, when extreme weather forced rapid, on-the-spot changes.
“The elephant and mouse eating ice cream was fun, but it required drastic adaptation due to the extreme weather,” Woodard said. “That put a lot of stress and workload on the team and impacted the carving because we could only change it so much from its original concept.”
This year, the team chose a design intentionally built for flexibility. The sculpture included pivot points that allowed adaptability if weather, time or physical endurance became limiting factors. Simplifying the overall structure also created space to focus on finer details if conditions allowed.
“The design we chose has pivot points to allow for easy adaptation and ample opportunities to amp up details as time permits,” Woodard explained. “We wanted to tackle last year’s issues head on.”
Adaptability as a learned skill
For Woodard, adaptability is not a personality trait. It is a skill developed through experience and repetition. Returning competitions like Winterfest allow teams to deepen that skill rather than simply repeat past approaches.
“I am a kinesthetic learner,” Woodard said. “Doing is learning.”
Each year brings different challenges. One year it is heat and rain. Another year it is the extreme cold and windchill. The team anticipates potential disruptions, but Woodard is clear that not everything can be planned.
“Stuff can and will happen in the moment,” he said. “When it occurs, we calmly approach the issue and pivot accordingly.”
Woodard described viewing each sculpture through multiple lenses. One lens imagines perfect conditions. Another accounts for disruptions related to time, weather or health. Each lens guides daily decisions about when and how to pivot while still meeting deadlines and delivering the strongest possible work.
“By carving, we become better carvers,” Woodard said. “By becoming better carvers, we are more able to adapt our own processes.”
That growth shows up in subtle ways. Tasks that once caused delays are completed efficiently. Decisions are made with greater confidence. Learning compounds through return and repetition.
“The combination of applying previous years’ learnings through proper prior planning, increased experience and daily collaboration help ensure we do not simply repeat what we did in the past,” Woodard said.
Learning together: team culture and mentorship
Winterfest 2026 unfolded with a calm, steady approach as Woodard and his teammate navigated an 11th hour adjustment that subtly reshaped their workflow. The shift required flexibility and quick recalibration, creating a different avenue of learning rooted in adaptability, shared responsibility and trust in one another’s instincts.
From the beginning, Woodard emphasized openness and shared ownership. “We started in the fall of 2025 with lots of explanations and open collaboration,” he said. “Everyone shares input on the design.”
Once on site, the team walked through expectations for the coming days, accounting not only for logistics but also for the unpredictable influence of weather, often referred to with humor as the team’s additional member.
Woodard described his approach to mentorship as hands-on and inclusive. Tasks are demonstrated, then passed along, feedback is constant and authority is shared.
“From day one, we work as a team, each having equal input,” he said. “One should not be afraid to contribute an idea or voice concerns.”
That ethos mirrors the values Woodard brings to his broader creative practice, whether carving snow, sand or pumpkins alongside fellow professional, award-winning multimedia artist, Jeff Brown. Learning is collective, iterative and grounded in doing. Even when circumstances evolve, the culture of collaboration remains constant.
Deanna Goodwin, Vice President of Marketing, Communications and Development for VISIT Lake Geneva, sees that same spirit extend well beyond individual teams.
“In terms of how the snow sculpting matters, the camaraderie among the sculptors is such a joy to witness,” Goodwin said. “They are so helpful to one another even though this is a competition. They loan tools, help with sculptures and fill in for someone if needed. We have 45 sculptors who are really one big family here.”
Rather than fierce isolation, she describes an environment defined by generosity. The competition may crown winners, but the culture remains collaborative, reinforcing Winterfest as both a contest and a community.
Art as education in public view
One of the most compelling aspects of Winterfest is that the creative process unfolds in full public view. Visitors do not only see finished sculptures. They witness uncertainty, revision and problem solving in real time.
For Woodard, snow sculpting begins with a story.
“The sculpting process usually starts with determining the message or story you want to tell,” he said. “The best stories connect to the viewers on some level.”
That storytelling requires research, audience awareness and careful planning. Translating a message into a three-dimensional image demands creative thinking and empathy. It also requires a working knowledge of physics, engineering and material limitations.
“Every medium has its own constraints,” Woodard said. “Melting snow causes water to drain and drip, which can throw the balance of a piece off and cause collapse. Heat can weaken the bond the snow has to itself. Bright sunny days can wash out details due to glare, requiring deeper cuts or bigger shadows.”
Snow sculpting is a subtractive process. Artists must visualize what is hidden inside the snow block and remove snow carefully, choosing tools based on precision and purpose.
“Depending upon when someone walks by, they will witness parts of the process,” Woodard said. “They will read the message and watch as the sculpture is slowly revealed, then judge for themselves if the image tells the same story or triggers a different one.”
In explaining the meaning behind Woodard’s 3D printed model for this year’s design, he noted that it was intentionally constructed to reflect a broader tension within contemporary creativity. Artificial intelligence can serve as a valuable support and it can also begin to replace the very act of creating if relied upon too heavily. When tools are allowed to generate ideas, resolve challenges and complete compositions independently, the discipline and imaginative engagement that shape true artistry begin to erode. AI can assist and expand possibility, he explained, but it should not assume full ownership of the creative process. This philosophy embodies his sculpture, which depicts AI restraining the hand holding an artist’s brush, a visual of ingenuity at its finest.
That philosophy aligns with how Winterfest functions as a public classroom. Klett sees this transparency as central to Winterfest’s educational value as visitors can pause, reflect and learn about the meaning behind the masterpieces of Woodard’s team and the other teams.
“The whole event is like an outdoor, informal, fun classroom,” she said. “You learn simply by watching.”
Creativity, education and the brain at work
Woodard’s philosophy extends beyond snow. He speaks candidly about the diminishing presence of art education and the consequences of treating art as disposable rather than foundational.
“Art is education,” Woodard said. “Creativity is pulling from different parts of your brain. It is not just following steps or directions. You are trying to combine things that maybe have not been combined before.”
He described creativity as essential to problem solving across professions, including highly analytical fields. The moment of insight, when a pattern emerges or a solution becomes clear, comes from creative cognition.
“That is the creative side of your brain,” Woodard said. “That is the part that can help you get there even faster.”
For Woodard, hands-on creation is not optional. It is practice.
“I am a fan of everyone learning something creatively, whether it is drawing, writing, or sculpting,” he said. “Create something with your hands and your mind; you will have learned so much more that way.”
It is here, quietly and naturally, that Woodard’s work reveals its educational core. His commitment to learning through constraint, to growth through repetition and to creative problem solving under pressure reflects a deep respect for how people learn. As a journalist and educator observing his process two years in a row, it is impossible not to admire his passion and deep regard for both art and learning, as well as the generosity with which he shares that philosophy publicly.
Endurance, commitment and the final push
Snow sculpting is physically demanding and Woodard does not romanticize the difficulty.
“Snow carving is hard work,” he said. “There are many times where I would be lying on the ground, cold seeping through me, miserable, stuck in a really tough place.”
There are moments of doubt, moments of exhaustion and moments when the work feels impossible. Yet Woodard finds meaning in the journey itself.
“It is done when it is done,” he said. “The success is having relayed the appropriate message.”
Winterfest culminates in a marathon final push. After more than three days of intense planning and carving, teams often work 30 hours or more leading up to the final deadline. At 11:00 a.m. on Saturday, tools go down. What remains is the result of endurance, collaboration and countless decisions made under pressure.
“Every journey is not easy,” Woodard said. “But eventually you get to where you have got to go. Learning is not always easy, but that is how you learn.”
Place, community and why Lake Geneva matters
For both Woodard and Klett, Lake Geneva is central to Winterfest’s success.
“I really like the feel of Lake Geneva,” Woodard said. “The town is spectacular. The lake, the mountains nearby, the proximity to bigger cities. If we were to ever move, Lake Geneva would be a top choice.”
He also praised the event organizers and town representatives, describing them as “fantastic” and deeply supportive of the artists.
Klett emphasized the importance of continuity in shaping the festival’s identity. “When sculptors return, they become part of the living story of the festival,” she said. “It reinforces the idea that Winterfest is not just an event. It is a community ritual.”
Goodwin, who has been with VISIT Lake Geneva for seven years, continues to be surprised by the caliber of work each year. “Every year I say, ‘These are the best I’ve ever seen,’” she said. “The sculptures keep getting better.”
She credits that evolution to the high level of competitors drawn to Lake Geneva. With two international teams and national teams that have competed across the globe, Winterfest now showcases artistry rarely found elsewhere in the region.
“What people are able to see are amazing works of art they won’t see anywhere else in this area,” Goodwin said.
For Klett, that artistic excellence ultimately serves a broader purpose. She defines success not only in economic terms, but through what she calls massive visitor curiosity.
“We succeed when people walk away knowing something they did not know before,” Klett said.
What remains on the snow canvas
Winterfest snow carving is temporary by design as sculptures eventually blend into the snow-covered ground. What remains is not the object, but the experience. On a blank snow canvas, visitors witness collaboration, revision, endurance and creativity under constraint. They see learning made visible.
They watch teams negotiate uncertainty in real time, adjust plans, revisit decisions and persevere through fatigue and weather until tools are finally set down. In that process, education reveals itself not as a finished product, but as a lived, collective act.
Few embody this more clearly than sculptors like John Woodard and his teammate Jeff Brown, who return with a quiet commitment to reflection and growth. Their work is shaped not by spectacle alone, but by care for the process, respect for learning and a steady belief in the value of hands-on problem solving.
Woodard, in particular, brings a calm seriousness to the work rooted in curiosity, humility and an ongoing discipline of refinement. His passion for sculpting through varying mediums, from snow to sand to pumpkin carving, is matched by an equally strong devotion to learning, teaching and adapting. In watching him carve and speak about the craft, what becomes evident is a quiet intentionality behind his work.
L to R: Klett, Martin, Woodard, Brown
Martin & Krause
While striving for the top honors in the invitational snow sculpting competition in Lake Geneva, the ultimate goal shares space in the heart with the approach to their work, supporting each other as a team, developing camaraderie with fellow snow sculptors and how meaning is shaped from a finite block of packed snow standing 10 feet high within an eight foot square.
As sunlight illuminates freshly carved surfaces and laughter and amazement carry across the Lake Geneva waterfront, it is hard not to smile. Winterfest invites people to slow down, watch closely, take in the magnitude of the landscape and learn something new. Families and friends gather, conversations begin, memories form and visitors leave warmed not only by beauty, but by the recognition that education does not always look like a classroom.
At Winterfest, education is welcomed by a snow canvas, as heartfelt meaning is carved into snow, one careful cut at a time.
I extend my sincere appreciation to professional snow carvers John Woodard and Jeff Brown; President and CEO of VISIT Lake Geneva, Stephanie Klett; Vice President of Marketing, Communications and Development, Deanna Goodwin; and Lake Geneva Mayor Todd Krause. Their artistic excellence and leadership shaped an experience that is both breathtaking and deeply meaningful.
Winterfest is fleeting by design, yet the craftsmanship, collaboration and shared spirit it cultivates endure well beyond the final carve. Standing before art that will eventually return to snow is a quiet reminder to cherish what is temporary yet beautiful. It is moments like these that affirm why Lake Geneva holds such a special place in my heart, a place I call heaven on earth.
Featured image: “Snow Sculpture” by Sarah Braun, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
Edited by James Sutton
