You’d think the immense beaver lodge room that two Red Deerian snow sculptors created for Sweden’s famed Icehotel couldn’t get much more Canadian — but you’d be wrong.
As further homage to their home country, Dawn Detarando and Brian McArthur carved a “hidden” hockey stick among the snow twigs that make up the cavernous ceiling of their Beaver Lodge suite in the Icehotel.
“It’s a nod to Canada, in a way,” said McArthur, although “Sweden is also crazy about hockey.”
McArthur and Detarando, of Voyager Art, returned this week from a trip to the Scandinavian country, where they were the only North American team selected from 157 applicants from 36 countries to carve a theme room for the 2023-24 Icehotel.
Their cavernous, dome-shaped room room focuses on Canada’s national emblematic animal — the beaver.
Located in the village of Jukkasjarvie, some 200 km north of the Arctic Circle, snow and ice from the frozen Torne River has been used to create this annual tourist attraction since 1989. Snow is pumped in to create all of the interior walls of the 3,000 sq. metre hotel, which has 15 themed “art rooms” as well as 20 uniform overnight suites that are rented out to guests.
Detarando and McArthur, who previously carved a feline theme room for the Icehotel in 2019, were inspired by the real-life beavers who live on their own property to submit their beaver lodge proposal.
Their submission called beavers “unique environmental heroes” that are critical for a healthy ecosystem. “Their dams help stabilize water levels and protect against drought, floods, controlling erosion and improving water quality, while creating wetland habitat which increases biodiversity.”
Canada’s historic fur trade was based on beaver pelts. They were needed for the production of top-hats in Europe, since the Eurasian beaver population had been practically decimated. But beavers have been making a comeback in Sweden since being reintroduced in 1922.
Detarando and McArthur travelled to Jukkasjarvie in late November to start work on the Icehotel project, after teaching ceramics for a week at a Swedish folk art school.
They spent two weeks of 10-hour days spent carving ice and snow in daytime temperatures of about -7 C. “It was good, but it was really hard,” Detarando recalled of carving the three-foot-thick walls.
Their hands became so warm that snow would melt on their gloves, requiring constant changes to dry ones. While their faces could feel the cold, all the carving activity kept their bodies feeling quite hot.
The Beaver Lodge room that resulted features two carved snowy beavers that measure up to six feet tall. One is chewing a log at the head of the ice bed, while another is bringing another twig into the lodge at the other end of the room. The ceiling is carved with interlocking twig shapes — and the hidden hockey stick.
The Red Deer couple enjoyed carving alongside the other artists, who worked on other rooms of the hotel.
Considering that they usually work on projects in isolation in their local studio, Detarando and McArthur consider this a unique opportunity to collaborate on an international project.
All participants worked towards the joint goal of getting the latest Icehotel up and running. “We were all working to create a beautiful unique experience for people,” said McArthur.
“It was pretty satisfying to create an entire room that shares our craft and skill with people who will get to experience and enjoy our creativity and love of these materials.”
Detarando recalled trading stories at meal times with the other 25 artists from 13 countries who worked on the project. The Red Deerians becoming re-acquainted with sculptors they had met in 2019, as well as making some new friends.
This year’s Ceremony Hall in the Icehotel, which is popular for weddings, was carved by a team from Poland and called “Slava.” Detarando said they used Ukrainian motifs to show support for the Ukraine people, who are under continued attack by Russia. “It really is spectacular.”
