Sculpting with the Best

Matt Long knows sand.

Matt has been in the World Championship of Sand Sculpting and was in the original cast of “Sand Masters” on the Travel Channel. With his sculpting talents tested by sand all over the country, he has concluded that some South Jersey sand is akin to what he and his fellow professionals have used on beaches in the Gulf of Mexico from Texas to Siesta Key. Long says it’s the kind of sand that “the pros would go crazy for.”

For eleven years, the beaches of Cape May were home to an annual sand sculpting contest that Matt Long originated. Then in 2013, Matt moved the contest to nearby Wildwood Crest where contestants will meet this year on June 28.

Asked what the change was all about, Matt elaborated, “Wildwood Crest sand is among the best beach sand in the world for carving. I know! I have carved sand on hundreds of beaches. It packs up well. It’s void of larger shells. There are very few small ones, and there is no debris, seaweed or trash. The beach is the number one highlight for this contest. But that is not all.

“The public works department,” he said, “uses heavy machinery to push up piles of sand for all contestants. The piles last year were two to three tons each. It sounds like a lot, but I have seen many a group of contestants shovel more than that to create a piece. The beauty of having a pile set is twofold. It not only saves the back, but it saves time that’s used to carve a sculpture. More time carving equals better sculptures. Sand carving is time consuming and whatever saves time is a plus.” 

Although good, Cape May’s sand has been affected by beach replenishment and its quality is not as high for carving as the Crest’s.

While most amateur contestants are serious about the sculpting contest, building castles, gargoyles or crawling creatures from nothing but sand and water on a warm South Jersey beach is also great fun. To a professional carver like Matt Long, sand sculpting is art as well. 

We asked Long whether any contestants get upset at the end of the day when their masterpieces get washed away by the tide.

“You have to let it go,” he said. “You do all this work and it’s gone. It relates to how temporal everything is really.”

What about the professional? “You just get used to it,” he said. “It’s like a song. You sing it and it’s gone. So you come back and sing it again, maybe a little different. There’s more letting go in the arts than people think. Like the [Tibetan] monks that make mendalas in the sand.”

Last year, 75 participants created 24 sculptures. This year’s contest could see even more creations. It’s open to individuals and teams in seven different divisions. Participation is free and registration takes place on the morning of the event. Details are available at the Wildwood Crest Department of Recreation,
609-523-0202.