By Julia Barcello
Last weekend, Tod’s Point was teeming with joyful and tenacious sand artists, determined to build the winning sand sculptures.
On July 9, Tatiana Mori from the Greenwich Arts Council and Andrew Karen from the Department of Parks and Recreation worked together to run the annual Sandblast at Tod’s Point.
This tradition is a reliable bonding activity for families and friends. Whether they preferred to create the sculpture or to sit back and watch creative sculptures being built, the contest is a fun community-wide event and the weather this year was perfect.
Building began at noon, but some dedicated crafters started early, “We feel pretty confident… We started at 10 am,” explained Lila, who created a Harry Potter village.
Sculptors of all ages were very busy transforming sand into castles, guitars, animals, dragons, and even into Buenos Aires, Argentina. Marina and her friends decided to sculpt Buenos Aires, Argentina, “because today is July 9th, and it’s the day of Argentina’s Independence,” explained Marina.
Children enjoy the contest for numerous reasons. “It’s a good opportunity to see the creativity of others,” expressed Juliet Prezioso. All the children enjoyed exploring their imagination and critical thinking while crafting their sculptures, “I put rocks along the sand as a structure for the castle,” explained Sophia, who placed in the top five.
The Sandblast is also a teachable moment for children to acquire experience in team-building. “Well we wanted to build a Harry Potter castle, but they wanted to build a village, so we compromised and built a Harry Potter Village,” explained Lila. “We had to find something everyone would agree with. Last year we arrived before the agreement, now it’s much easier,” said Mrs. Prezioso when discussing the value of working together and maintaining a strategy.
Mackenzie and Warren, along with Sadie, Lily, Luna, and Annie, constructed two large volcanoes which were remarkably detailed. “We started with a little river, then we started building the volcano with lava seaweed coming out of it. We made little spots for shells and rocks, then we made houses all-around,” explained Mackenzie and Lily.
“Well, I had to go for something big. I was thinking our alligator would be a good option,” said Dylan who had the help of his father, Shane.
Some sculptures even had scholarly descriptions. “We are building a penguin in the middle, then building things around like melting icebergs to show climate change,” explained the young sculptor.
Others were inspired by classic books and movies. “I’m building a boat because of the Titanic. I’ve read the books and I like boats,” said another young sculptor.
At around 1:15pm, judges Mori and Karen walked the beach and distributed participation ribbons to each participant. During this time, Mori and Karen selected the top five sculptures, all of whom received prizes ranging from beach bags to shovels.
First place was awarded to Vivian and Sebastian, Isamina, and Thomas, who constructed a paradigmatic fairytale castle lined with seashells and a sea turtle. “We are very happy we won!” exclaimed Vivian.
Emma, Ben, Ian, and Kelly Johnson, Mary Muse, Stella Reese, Jodie Brym, Harrison Milner, and Bonny Davis were awarded second place with a fascinating octopus sculpture. “It took a village,” stated Ian when discussing the building process.
Third place was presented to Lucas, who created a complex three-headed alligator.
