Known to the American art world as a sculptor whose works are in collections, museums and public plazas across the United States and Europe, Tuck Langland returns to Dowagiac Saturday to judge the work of 10 ice artisans, as they transform this community’s downtown into a glistening gallery of art.

Hosted by the Greater Dowagiac Chamber of Commerce, the 15th annual Ice Time Festival returns to the central business district on Saturday, Feb. 6, as members of the Michiana Ice Carving Association transform 20,000 pounds of ice into life-size sculptures and compete for $1,600 in cash awards in an afternoon competition at Beckwith Park.

Announcement of this year’s judge was made Thursday by Dr. Timothy Dowsett, chairman of the winter arts festival and president of the Chamber of Commerce.

The night before at the Century Center in South Bend, Ind., Langland unveiled his bust of Joe Kernan for the former South Bend mayor and Indiana governor.

Known to many in Dowagiac by simply his first name, Langland is among a select group of artists, whose influence on this community’s open spaces and its unique display of public art, are felt on a daily basis.

Yet he is, perhaps, among the favorite of this elite group, as it was his bronze sculpture, Dance of Creation, which in 1995 became the first of 11 pieces of public art that would be given to the city and dedicated to its citizens.

Overlooking Farr Park, Dance of Creation was a gift to the community from the Tremble-Dalton families.

Over the next 14 years and through the continuing efforts of the Dogwood Fine Arts Festival and its Visual Arts Committee, 10 sculptures would follow with the most recent being the three cast bronze Cheetahs on the Run, which were a gift to the community from St. Denys Foundation.

Langland’s second sculpture for Dowagiac, Resting Dancer, was presented to the community in 1999 by the Harold B. Franklin family.

The bronze sculpture, situated at City Hall Park before a backdrop of flowering springtime dogwood, reminds us of Dowagiac’s local art movement, which took root in this community through the Dogwood Fine Arts Festival that is held each May.

Dowsett said in 2008 organizers of the winter arts festival established a new funding structure for Ice Time and their solicitation of corporate sponsorship dollars with the Platinum Sculpture level representing a donation of $1,000 or more.

Marking its 13th year as Ice Time’s longest-running corporate sponsor of the winter arts festival, Lyons Industries leads the way as the top Platinum Sculpture Sponsor, followed by Dowagiac Area Federal Credit Union and Dowsett Chiropractic Health Center  as  Gold Sculpture Sponsors, Kemner-Iott Agency of Cass County and Yazel and Clark Funeral Chapel as Silver Sculpture Sponsors, and City’s Pure Ice of LaPorte, Ind., and Wal-Mart of Niles as this year’s new Bronze Sculpture Sponsors.

Dowsett said he is pleased to have Langland, who is an award-winning master of portraiture and the human figure, return as this year’s judge.

Dedicated to art and the teaching of art, Langland is a retired professor of sculpture from the South Bend campus of Indiana University, where he taught from 1971 to 2003.

He designed and built the school’s sculpture studio from scratch, including the foundry.
Langland has also worked internationally with sculptors, such as Francis Nnaggenda of Uganda, with whom he created “Mother with Baana.”

He is also the author of two acclaimed books on sculpture, the most recent of which is entitled “From Clay to Bronze.”