Community takes part in Ayyám-i-Há snow carving

A couple, both artists, took advantage of a heavy snowfall event in Southern Ontario to engage their neighbours.

We moved to a new neighbourhood in November, and due to the winter weather, it’s been slow getting to know our neighbours. As I am immunocompromised, we are also unable to safely host gatherings in our home. Although we’ve been eager to connect with our community and to serve, we’ve been stumped as to how to begin.

Being artists, we were inspired by the Universal House of Justice’s encouragement to utilize the arts in its Ridván 2023 message: “In this new series of Plans, increasing attention needs to be given to other processes that seek to enhance the life of a community—for example, by improving public health, protecting the environment, or drawing more effectively on the power of the arts.”

An opportunity soon presented itself in the form of a massive amount of snow that fell in our area (and in many parts of Ontario and Quebec). Since my husband Siggi is a carver and snow sculptor, we were determined to use this free art resource. We decided to host a community carving workshop on our front yard—right in time for Ayyám-i-Há!

Siggi created two blocks of snow: a column, on which he carved a heart and the words “Unity in Diversity,” and a large wall for the community to use as a carving space. Additionally, he erected a plywood sign announcing the event, which could be easily seen by passersby.

Over 20 neighbours, many of whom were children and youth, showed up to carve a collective sculpture into the walls of snow.

We also created “howdy packs”—sandwich bags filled with Persian treats, stickers for kids, and an invitation to our free snow sculpting lesson. We walked to a couple of homes where we’ve seen children, introduced ourselves, gave them the howdy packs, and invited them to the lesson. They in turn spread the word to several families, and on the day of the event, over 20 people—mostly kids and youth—showed up with spoons and butter knives in-hand, ready to sculpt.

Siggi gave the group basic instructions, and then let the kids sculpt as they wished. It turned out to be an incredibly dynamic, joyful time, and several elderly people came to enjoy and view what was going on. Afterwards we roasted marshmallows, which was a hit. We’ve told the participants that we plan to host this annually, which was well-received.

Now when we walk in the neighbourhood, it’s much easier to chat with others. It’s as though the doors have opened: the children recognize us, wave, and come up to say hello. Parents have been telling us that their kids keep talking about the event and how much fun they had. We’re now inspired to hold arts and crafts activities in our garage monthly, and to produce a neighbourhood Zine with uplifting content.

-Rachel & Siggi Bühler