Nelsonville will host the "Fire and Ice Festival" for Final Friday on the Square, January 30, 2015 from 4 - 8 p.m.  On the final Friday of every month, the Nelsonville Historic Square galleries and retail shops stay open late to feature local events.

For the first Final Friday of 2015, the Hocking College Culinary Arts program will again present Master Ice Carver Paul "Iceman" Ahrens, from Precise Ice Creations. Ahrens, Culinary Arts and Art students will carve blocks of ice located throughout the square in a team carving competition. 

Other "Fire and Ice" themed activities, including complementary "Flaming Bananas Foster" made on an ice table, prepared by Hocking College Culinary students, a large fire pit and fire twirlers. Culinary students will be selling big bowls of smoked pork chili, vegetarian minestrone soup and cornbread in front of the Hocking College Art Gallery.

Final Friday will also include the opening of the tenth annual Hocking College Glass Invitational and second Ceramics Invitational. The Hocking College Art Gallery will host the Glass and Ceramics Invitational exhibition opening reception from 5 - 9 p.m. The exhibition runs January 30 through March 14, 2015. The closing reception will be at the Final Friday on February 27 from 5 - 9 p.m.

Glass and ceramic artists from around the world are featured in the exhibition, including Tom Bartel, Danny Crump, Brian Dieterle, Kelsey Duncan, Danielle Hall, Bethany Haeseler, Chris Harman, Seana Higgins, Kyle Johns, Ellen Kleckner, Michael Lorsung, Misha D. Nalepa, Bonilyn Parker, Brad Schwieger, Trey Snowden III, Maia Stern, Laura Tansey, Tina Vu, Xiyue Wang, Caitlin Wolle, Nao Yamamoto and Katherine E. Zeilman.

Rhapsody, the Hocking College student-run fine dining restaurant located at 18 Public Square, is also taking reservations for the evening. The special "Fire and Ice" menu includes crab cakes, king crab legs and walleye plus carved local Angus beef, baked Alaska and Irish coffees. Contact Rhapsody at 740.753.5741 for reservations.