John and Laura Gowdy
Laura Cimador Gowdy comes from Castelfranco Veneto, Italy. She is an elementary school teacher.
Laura and her husband John Gowdy have teamed up in the competitive world of professional sculpture since 2007. They have won many awards as a two-person team in world-class sand events in Texas Sandfest, Cervia (Italy), and Fort Myers Beach (FL). In 2011 they won the nationally televised "Sand Wars" professional sand sculpting competition in Siesta Key, Florida.
On April 18, 2018, Laura and John had the honor of being invited to the Vatican, Rome to personally meet Pope Francis and donate to him a sand sculpture that was carved inside Saint Peter’s Basilica.
In 2020 John and Laura participated in a reality show called "Race Against The Tide" in New Brunswick, Canada.
John Gowdy is a professional sand and marble sculptor.
John’s hometown is Atlantic City NJ where he has served as a Fire Captain of The Atlantic City Fire Dept for 27 years. After retiring in 2007, he met his wife and teammate Laura Cimador at a sand sculpting event in Jesolo, Italy near Venice. They married in 2011 and have been an international sand sculpting team ever since.
Together they have won many master events and have placed in the top three places here at Texas Sand fest in the past 5 years.
They have carved sand for many clients such as :
• The White House Commission of Remembrance, on the beaches of Normandy, France in memory of the D-day landings
• Pope Francesco, Saint Peter’s Cathedral in The Vatican
• To name a few…
Before meeting Laura, John has competed here at Sand Fest as a solo since 1999!
“Over the years I have witnessed this event growing from a few solo sculptors to what you see here now. It’s just unbelievable! “
“ I really enjoy coming back here year after year to the wonderful hospitality offered by the management, the excellent beach sand quality, and simply put, the hometown feeling I get from everyone here in Port A! “
