{"id":1968,"date":"2022-08-24T10:32:12","date_gmt":"2022-08-24T14:32:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/magazine.alumni.ncsu.edu\/?p=1968"},"modified":"2024-02-01T15:39:04","modified_gmt":"2024-02-01T20:39:04","slug":"thinking-outside-the-sand-box","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/magazine.ncsu.edu\/2022\/thinking-outside-the-sand-box\/","title":{"rendered":"Thinking Outside the Sand Box"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Ed Williams<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Maybe it was that sandbox when he was three. Or maybe it was family beach trips when he was four, his parents demonstrating a \u201cfrog house\u201d\u200a\u2014\u2009when you stomp your foot into semi-wet sand, cover the top of your foot with a mound of hard-packed sand and then gently extract your foot, leaving a hide-away hole, maybe for a frog.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Like you did as a kid, Ed Moore \u201964 moved on to bigger piles and sand castles and walls and moats\u2009\u2014\u2009fleeting satisfaction erased by the high tide. As an adult, he spent 40 years as an architect on more permanent projects, designing office buildings, medical facilities, fire stations, apartment communities and the Visitor\u2019s Center at Umstead State Park.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On a whim, Moore entered his first sand sculpture competition in Atlantic Beach, N.C., in 1985. He sculpted King Neptune, unique enough to win first place. He repeatedly won that competition in ensuing years. \u201cI like how sand sculpture and architecture share a 3-dimensional element,\u2019\u2019 says Moore, 82. \u201cBoth are creative. Both are conceptual. Both you\u2019re working with your hands.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Moore comes equipped with some of the tools of his trade, including brushes and trowels.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

But where the two part ways is architecture\u2019s permanence versus a sand sculpture\u2019s impermanence.  While architecture is purposeful and functional, sand sculpture is art for art\u2019s sake. Moore\u2009\u2014\u2009with lively eyes, well-earned laugh lines and the visage and verve of Santa Claus\u2009\u2014\u2009has moved between both worlds. Asked how long he plans to keep making sand art, he laughs: \u201cMaybe this project is my last project!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Grains of Sand<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
\n
<\/span><\/span>

12<\/h2><\/a>
\n

Projects Ed Moore and his team tackle each year.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

<\/span><\/span>

20<\/h2><\/a>
\n

Tons of sand Moore used to create this year\u2019s MerleFest sculpture.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

<\/span><\/span>

3<\/h2><\/a>
\n

Tons of sand carved away to create the MerleFest sculpture.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

<\/span><\/span>

120<\/h2><\/a>
\n

Approximate number of hours it took his team to complete the MerleFest sculpture.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

<\/span><\/span>

12 x 16 x 9<\/h2><\/a>
\n

In feet, the approximate width, length and height of the MerleFest sculpture.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

<\/span><\/span>

500<\/h2><\/a>
\n

In dollars, the amount Moore pays for 20 tons of sand.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

This project is a repeat performance at the 2022 MerleFest. It joins hundreds of his sand projects over the years at the N.C. State Fair, the N.C. Aquariums, the Festival for the Eno, Raleigh\u2019s Artsplosure, BugFest at the N.C. Museum of Natural Sciences and events and locations across North Carolina. At the N.C. State Fair, he once fashioned the pyramids of Giza, the Great Sphinx and other Egyptian icons out of 100 tons of sand\u2009\u2014\u2009his most ambitious endeavor. His art form has carried him as far as British Columbia, Canada. His travels\u2009\u2014\u2009as competitor or judge\u2009\u2014\u2009have introduced him to aficionados across the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n