SCOTT SIMON, HOST:
Most sandcastles at the beach begin with an overturned bucket and a few poked holes, but some can be truly spectacular. How do they get created? Dean Arscott has been a sand sculptor for 15 years - joins us now from St. Petersburg, Florida. Thanks so much for being with us.
DEAN ARSCOTT: Absolutely. A pleasure to be here.
SIMON: With respect, what does a sand sculptor actually do?
ARSCOTT: Well, we do all sorts of events. We do corporate events, theme parks, sporting events, weddings, all kinds of stuff, so inside, outside, on the beach, off the beach, wherever they will have us.
SIMON: And how did you fall into it?
ARSCOTT: I graduated from Ringling College of Art and Design. I was an illustration major and looking for design gigs online. One day, I saw sand sculptors wanted. So my now boss and partner took me out on the beach one day and showed me the basics, and I was in Fort Lauderdale the very next day on my first job.
SIMON: Wow. So how do you do it?
ARSCOTT: It's very simple. It's just sand and water. It's just compacted wet sand - so just as you were mentioning, flipping, you know, a bucket of wet sand over - and carving. So, I mean, that is the basics, and, you know, any sort of level of intricacy or big and fanciness to it is just with time and practice.
SIMON: Are there particular sand sculptures you reflect on and remember?
ARSCOTT: Sure. Yeah. I mean, I won a couple of nice prizes at the Siesta Key Crystal Classic a couple years ago. It was a - kind of a silly one with - from an old sketchbook page I did. It was a Neanderthal riding a narwhal. So that was just super fun. And made the front page of the paper in Tampa Bay Times a handful years ago, participating in the Pier 60 Sugar Sand Festival. I did a large bust of Bob Marley that made the weekend edition of the papers. So, you know, it's always fun to get that, you know, notoriety.
SIMON: Yeah. Any instruction you'd like to offer families who are going to make probably less ambitious sandcastles in the beach this summer?
ARSCOTT: You know, on the beach, that sand is generally a very washed sand because the tide is constantly washing all that nice sticky stuff out of the sand. Now, you can make something out of any sand. It's just a matter of how vertical and extreme and intricate you can get with it. So you'll just have to read the pile. Every sand has its own learning curve. But I always say it's impossible to put too much water in the sand, especially on the beach 'cause that water's always draining through. So if your sandcastle is crumbling, you probably didn't add enough water or compact it hard enough.
SIMON: I have to ask...
ARSCOTT: Sure.
SIMON: ...Is it sad when your sand sculptures are knocked down or washed away?
ARSCOTT: No. You know, we're never intentionally putting anything where it's going to wash away. And that's the - unless that's the specific request for some sort of, you know, social media video or something. But, you know, the old, tired joke is we call it job security. So, you know...
SIMON: (Laughter).
ARSCOTT: ...It is kind of the nature and the magic of sand sculpture. It is ephemeral, so you've got to come and see it while it lasts 'cause it won't last forever.
SIMON: Dean Arscott from Team Sandtastic. Thanks so much for being with us. A good weekend of sculpting to you, sir.
ARSCOTT: I appreciate it. Thanks for having me.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "CASTLES MADE OF SAND")
THE JIMI HENDRIX EXPERIENCE: (Singing) And so castles made of sand melts into the sea. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.
