Savannah College of Art and Design students adorned Tybee Island, Georgia for the annual Sand Arts Festival, a sculpting contest that is a rite of spring. Angling for prizes totaling $11,400, the competitors had more than cash to spur them on. This year, visiting artist and world champion sand sculptor Ted Siebert of the Sand Sculpture Company elevated the game with an ornate sculpture created with students from SCAD's Art of the Spectacle class.
Siebert was both teacher and judge. His quarter-long workshops, in which he taught students the finest sand sculpting techniques, prepared them to face his scrutiny at Sand Arts. Siebert judged the newly added Most Ambitious category. Prize-winning or not, in our eyes, any artist who attempts to master the tricky medium of sand is ambitious. Congratulations to all. Here are the first place winners:
Most Ambitious and Sand Sculpture Awards:
Sand Sculpture No. 16 — Submerged Dragon
Spencer Kohl, B.F.A. painting, St. Johns, Florida
Madison Ellis, B.F.A. animation, California, Maryland
Samantha Greene, B.F.A. animation, Wake Forest, North Carolina
Julia Chamberlain, B.F.A. animation, Guilford, Connecticut
SCAD Spirit Award
Sand Relief No. 15 — Let It Bee
Danielle McGotty, B.F.A. photography, Wall, New Jersey
Nicci Aguiar, B.F.A. sequential art, Nantucket, Massachusetts
Sydney Schulz, B.F.A. graphic design, Liberty, Missouri
Michael Decker, B.F.A. graphic design, Spring, Texas
SCAD Castle Award
Sand Castle No. 3 — Poetter Hall
Sabrina Shankar, B.F.A. production design, Nesconset, New York
Alumni Choice Award
Sand Relief No. 13 — Lesley from Wisconsin
Kat Morgan, B.F.A. illustration, Matthews, North Carolina
James Nichols, B.F.A. interactive design and game development, Chester, South Carolina
Grant Whitsitt, B.F.A. animation, Jackson, Tennessee
Chandler Jernigan, B.F.A. photography, Brunswick, Georgia
Gray’s Reef Best Underwater Creature and Sand Relief Awards:
Sand Relief No. 3 — Sand Bubbler
Toni Dammicci B.F.A. fibers, 2012
Emily Brodowski B.F.A. metals and jewelry, 2012, Hampstead, Maryland
Krystal Sokolis B.F.A. accessory design, 2012, Lemont, Illinois
Wind Sculpture
Wind Sculpture No. 9 — Mobius Plane
John Warfield Sibert, B.F.A. industrial design
Blake Gunderson, B.F.A. industrial design, Tavares, Florida
Sand Castle
Sand Castle No. 21 — Hollow Hermit
Kaela Proctor, B.F.A. industrial design, Sebastopol, California
Cait Dorshefski, B.F.A. industrial design, Ft. Washington, Maryland
Taylor Hester, B.F.A. industrial design, Florence, Alabama
