Red Deer sculptors turn snow into fantasy hotel
Published 12:40 pm Wednesday, December 24, 2025
Red Deer’s snow sculpting wizards have once again created a frozen fantasyland.
Dawn Detarando and Brian McArthur, who live and work in Red Deer County, were among 33 artists from a dozen countries to create this year’s Icehotel in Jukkasjärvi, Sweden.
Cathedral Grove is the 30-metre entrance and main hall for the hotel and the first experience for Icehotel visitors.
“Towering rows of trunks rise like ancient columns in this woodland haven, while an illuminated sky pokes through the vaulted canopy, creating a maze of dappled light on the forest floor,” is how Icehotel describes the couple’s stunning contribution.
“In this sacred grove, every breath becomes meditation, and every moment a chance to be both lost and found in the stillness of this sanctuary.”
Work on this year’s Icehotel back in March when ice was harvested from the Torne River. Construction began in November on the 30,000-square-foot hotel and it was finished in late December. This is the 36th Icehotel and nearly 90 builders, artists, lighting designers and art support staff collaborated to create the snow and ice spectacle using 5,000 tonnes of ice.
It features 12 art suites, Detarando’s and McArthur’s main hall, a ceremony hall and 20 ice rooms, where guests sleep on warm bedding and snuggle into sleeping bags to keep away the chill in the -5C rooms.
Detarando said they arrived in mid-November and spent 23 days carving Cathedral Grove.
“We pretty much carved every square inch of the 100-foot-long hallway which has a 16-foot-tall ceiling. The average temperature for most of the carving was -20C as our end walls were open to the outside.”
“In the last week of carving, the end walls with doorways were formed and the interior took on a comfortable -7C temperature, which was wonderful to work in.
“We could finally see the light at the tunnel, so to speak, when the end ice walls were built, and the last week was about the finer details,” she said.
This was the third time the couple have been chosen to contribute to the Icehotel.
“We have developed a signature style of carving all the surfaces of a room. The first was in 2019, where we built a tropical room with cougars called Feline Lair. Then in 2023, we built Beaver Lodge and, this year, Cathedral Grove,” she said.
McArthur is equally enthusiastic about the experience.
“It’s an amazing feat to be able to participate and work together to build this ephemeral hotel with a variety of professionals from around the world.”
Artists and sculptors were joined by electricians, light designers, light and heavy duty load operators and various construction specialists. Those trained in construction were required to install structural features, such as support columns and doorways.
“The artists who created the art rooms this year were incredibly talented and have professional backgrounds in branding and advertising, photography, music, museum design, puppeteering, landscape architecture, interior design, public art, industrial design, sculpture, performance art and sand sculpting.
“We felt pretty lucky to be amongst these talented individuals.”
Detarando said that by arriving a week earlier than the other hotel room artists they got to know the building crew well “which was a big treat.”
“It was really exhausting but exhilarating all at the same time. Each day, you could see the progression and how far you’d come.”
As they were building the main hallway, artists and construction workers were constantly passing through and offering words of encouragement on their way.
One of the Icehotel’s attractions this year is a playable grand piano made of ice.
Icehotel guests can drink in the ice bar or dine at the restaurant, which offers four-course meals, parts of which are served on crystal clear ice blocks.