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Carve Wars contributes art to Minot

By HANNAH VELASQUEZ 3 min read

Minot’s first ever Carve Wars took place Tuesday-Saturday, Oct. 6-10, at the Minot Moose Lodge, where the public was invited to watch five artists over five days create large-scale sculptures that will become a permanent display in the community.

While Carve Wars competition is usually based on speed, Minot’s event focused on craftsmanship, with the winner determined by the public’s vote on Saturday, Oct. 10. The event included a Quick Carve on Oct. 8-9. The smaller sculptures from the quick carve competition are up for auction on Saturday.

“It’s been great,” Joe Wanel, creator of Cave Wars, said Friday. “Lots of people have been coming out, watching and checking everything out - looking forward to tomorrow.”

According to Wanel, the five sculptures that will be displayed around the city include the campfire bears, the raptor, the Native American, the angel and the swimming fish.

Carve Wars started 15 years ago and is a traveling art competition that visits towns around the United States. The carvers showcasing their skills in Minot are Marina Cole from Canada, Wyatt Harrison from New Jersey, Jeff Coss from Iowa, Justin Driver from Kentucky and Brigitte Lockhead from Canada.

“It’s just good to see some of these guys again,” Wanel said. “Sometimes I get to see them all multiple times a year. Some I don’t get to see them once a year, so just getting together and doing this is probably my favorite part.”

Wanel is an award-winning chainsaw artist of 20 years and began with making furniture. As interested buyers requested more intricate works he started sculpture carving. The competition itself started because of Wanel’s own experiences.

“When I first got really into carving and doing competitions, I went to a few that weren’t run too well and they didn’t make money,” Wanel said. “I said, ‘Oh, I could do this,’ and just started doing it.”

The logs being used for the sculptures came from cut-down trees collected as part of the city’s flood management efforts to reuse and reduce waste. Carve Wars is sponsored by the Minot Area Council of the Arts and 2000 Trees for Minot.

“It’s awesome,” Wanel said. “For us, even when we’re at our shops or in competitions, when we see a piece of scrap, we’re like, ‘We can put a piece of art into that.’ Then somebody takes it home to enjoy, so it’s definitely the best-case scenario, especially in a situation like this where those trees had to come down. This way they can carry on as a piece of art around here.”

EmmaKay Poling, staff writer, contributed to this story.

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