World’s largest paper snowflake exhibit runs through April 10 at NIU

DeKALB – Northern Illinois University will host an opening reception for its art exhibit displaying the world’s largest paper snowflake.

The reception will be held from 4 to 7 p.m. Thursday, March 23, in the NIU Founders Memorial Library, 217 Normal Road, DeKalb, according to a news release.

The event is free and open to the public.

The reception features photo opportunities with the snowflake, a create-your-own paper snowflake workshop, two talks featuring NIU experts, a time-lapse video of the world record paper snowflake creation, real-time snowfall counts from Science on a Sphere and NIU student snowflake designs.

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Jessica Labatte, Northern Illinois University associate professor of art, (left) and photography student Qiming Ruan, a senior, draw out a design on the giant paper snowflake they are making along with other students in the photography department Tuesday, March 29, 2022, in the Convocation Center at NIU in DeKalb. The students are attempting to break the world record for the largest paper snowflake. (Mark Busch - mbusch@shawmedia.com/Mark Busch - mbusch@shawmedia.co)

The first talk features Joseph O’Brien, an atmospheric science software specialist at Argonne National Laboratory’s Environmental Science Division, and Victor Gensini, associate professor in the NIU department of earth, atmosphere and the environment.

The second talk will be lead by NIU photography students and Jessica Labatte, associate professor and head of the photography department.

The snowflake was created by NIU students in Labatte’s ARTD 464 Advanced Photography Post Production class. The snowflake set a Guinness World’s Record for the largest paper snowflake at 44 feet, 6 inches.

The exhibit will run through Monday, April 10.

For information, visit calendar.niu.edu/event.