APPLETON, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – Ice sculpture artists have a chance to show their talents along College Avenue this weekend.
It’s part of the annual Avenue of Ice event, and officials and sculptors are hoping to keep the winter spirit going.
If you love ice sculptures and Downtown Appleton, the Avenue of Ice is just for you. It features 39 ice sculptures placed up and down the Avenue.
Take a stroll down College Avenue and you can’t miss them.
“They’re amazing! They’re so beautiful” said Diane Kuehl of Brownsville. “I just love them, and I’ve taken pictures of a bunch of them.”
The ice sculptures can be found in front of boutiques, specialty shops and restaurants.
“It’s just fun, because it’s fun to see customers walking around and people, you know, down in the streets, even when it’s cold outside,” said Lillians of Appleton owner Kara Manuel.
Some businesses, like Lillians of Appleton, can even put their own personal spin on the design of the ice sculptures.
“Oh, I love it! It’s just me – I am a shopper!” Kuehl said, taking a picture of the ice sculpted shopping bag seated in front of Lillians.
“Some of them have added their logos to the designs, or they kind of have gone off of the theme of their businesses, so it’s really up to them to go with that creativity,” Downtown Appleton Inc. marketing and communications manager Abby Riech said.
Business owners say, the Avenue of Ice does also have a way of attracting people, not only to the downtown area, but to their businesses.
“It brings them inside, because they want to warm up, and they want to see what’s going on,” said Manuel. “A lot of people that don’t get to downtown very often will come downtown also, so it’s a new face.”’
Kuehl was one of them.
“It definitely attracted us and brought us up here,” she said.
