Art on the Green brings sandcastle to the campus for 26th year in a row

A 15-foot sandcastle stands in the middle of 138 art vendors at Art on the Green this weekend and will remain on the North Idaho College campus for weeks after the tents are taken down.

Benjamin Dodson, who is working on the sandcastle with his dad and brother, said they have been working on sandcastles at NIC for 26 years.

His dad grew up on Long Island and grew up on the beach, so sandcastles were a staple in his life, Dodson said. After moving to the Coeur d’Alene area, his dad found an outlet to bring the beach with him at Art on the Green, and has been doing so since 1998, when Dodson was just 6 years old.

Every year, two dump trucks bring the sand to the NIC campus and at the beginning of the week, usually on Monday and Tuesday, Dodson and his family will build the forms and fill in the sand. They started the official carving Wednesday, and the castle will be completed on Sunday.

The sandcastle, which is taller than it has been for a few years, is made of 16 tons of sand, Dodson said. At the end of the day, when they want to preserve it, they will spray a layer of Elmer’s glue to keep the moisture in and the structure standing.

This weekend, Dodson will create trees around the sandcastle.

“I like to do that, it’s pretty mindless and simple work, but it’s fun to make thousands of trees, and it just brings everything together, and it looks really awesome,” he said.

The completed structure will last a few weeks and will remain on the campus until NIC takes it down.

Other artists from across the state and country had the opportunity to showcase and sell their work as well.

In order to have a booth at Art on the Green, artists are required to produce their own art and bring it to the festival, said Kelsey Cordes-Snyder, information hospitality booth chair.

Cordes-Snyder said despite the upcoming heat this weekend, she is excited to see the community come together and see people she only runs into once or twice a year.

“It’s fun to run into them at the festival and see all of the performing arts, and seeing all of the different booths,” she said. “It’s just a really cool community event.”

Bellevue artists Jason Matias and Alexandra Prater focus on photography and fabric pieces.

Matias said he shoots around the idea of isolation and creates replications of different landscapes of consciousness, whether it be a real place or an image of a place he created by placing multiple images together.

Prater said she is a fashion and sustainability fanatic, so she creates a second chance for fabric before it reaches a landfill, and she enjoys the opportunity to have her inspiration come to life.

“In your head, you think of something and then you think it’s almost impossible, but then when you actually finish … it’s rather selfish to keep it for yourself,” she said. “It’s nice to be able to share it with others and inspire other artwork pieces or give someone the opportunity to find peace and meaning for their home.”