Indiana Ice Studio

A Frozen History

Pictured in red is Stephan Koch, founder and owner of the Indiana Ice studio. Stephan attended Grand Rapids where he studied culinary arts which built the foundation for his transition into the ice carving world. Stephan worked as a chef for a short time, and still hosts a dinner with an invitation extended to anyone in the community. For this he is still affectionately nicknamed “chef” by his friends in the community. Quickly tiring of the hot kitchen Stephan decided to cool things off by beginning an ice carving career. Stephan’s Ice studio was opened in the year 2000 and is located on his property in west Muncie Indiana. He built his studio from the ground up with the help and support of his wife Karen. Since its beginning the Indiana Ice studio has made it a goal to bring a sense of wonder and fun to its projects along with a high level of professionalism. Because of this attitude the Ice studio has worked and built relationships with many strong brands in the Indiana area. The Indiana Ice studio is responsible for bringing many Ice festivals to Indiana, including the Carmel Ice festival and the Culver Winterfest. If you have seen ice anywhere in Indiana, Stephan is likely involved somehow.

Depending on where you are dining this could even include your beverage at a restaurant, if the ice in your drink looks particularly fancy there is a chance it was specially frozen and cut by Stephan. The Indiana Ice studio freezes all of its own ice for use in sculptures of all different sizes, and even supplies ice for other carvers at various events. Stephan’s work routinely makes its way to Alaska where he competes in the Ice Alaska Ice carving competitions. Or to Slovakia where Stephan has competed in the Tatree Ice Carving Competition. To date Stephan has competed in over 70 ice carving competitions. Examples of some of the sculptures created can be seen on the gallery page. The Indiana Ice studio has created an estimated 7,000 sculptures as of May, 2020 and will continue to bring the spectacle of ice to Indiana for many more years to come.