Kadaka Stadium accumulates a lot of snow during the winter, which needs to be removed from the football pitch and running track. In order to avoid having boring snow piles, a decision was made to turn to the students of the Estonian Academy of Arts (EKA) and ask them to create something special for the people of Mustamäe.

Work to create the snow sculptures began before the holidays, when around 100 tonnes of snow were pounded into two huge blocks.

"The weather has been very stubborn. Initially, we wanted to finish before Christmas then it thawed, and unfortunately you can't make a snow sculpture with that kind of snow. And thanks to the thaw and then the cold afterwards, the snow sculptures have turned into ice sculptures, but they will stay up longer because of that," said Kail Timusk, a sculpture student at EKA.

The snow sculptures are inspired by an Alaskan tree frog that left an indelible impression on YiYang Sun from China, who is studying animation at EKA. During the Coronavirus pandemic, Sun made over 200 ceramic frogs while in quarantine before capturing them frame by frame for a short animated movie.

"There is a tree frog in Alaska that freezes like an ice sculpture in winter. Around 70 percent of their body is frozen to save water and energy," the EKA animation student explained.

With increased warmth, the tree toad comes back to life and so, the snow sculpture thaws. According to Sun, both events could be seen as early signs of the coming spring.

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