East Providence Art Teacher Makes Tom Brady Tribute With Snow

EAST PROVIDENCE, RI — All week fans, former Patriots and Buccaneers teammates and coaches have paid tribute to the greatest quarterback in NFL history, Tom Brady, following his retirement.

But an East Providence middle school art teacher did so in possibly the most New England-style fashion — building a snow sculpture of Brady's Patriots helmet. Last weekend's blizzard gave Katina Gustafson the perfect materials to honor the seven-time Super Bowl champion.

"I can remember having an elementary teacher that was obsessed with Tom Brady, she wanted to marry him," Gustafson said.

"Throughout the years, I've watched the games with my family members, not all a fan of the Pats," Gustafson continued. "But we still love each other. In Tom’s last few years, playing for the Buccaneers. My dad has made it a point that Tom Brady followed him to Florida. My dad and stepmom even got season tickets to be able to see Tom play in the nicer weather, too."

Gustafson said she did have to wait a few days, though. The snow from the storm was too light and fluffy for sculpting, so she had to wait for it to melt a bit.

Originally, Gustafson was going to sculpt Stitch from "Lilo and Stitch," since she likes to make art that connects with her students at Riverside Middle School. However, the ears became too challenging because of moisture in the air making them fall, she said.

"I reached out to my family. My sister gave me the idea of the football helmet," Gustafson said. "So I shifted gears and started piling up the snow to make more of a sphere form. When I went to go make the mask portion of the helmet, it started to mist. Which was making it difficult for the snow to stay for the cage part. I had to make a change, so I just did the outline of the cage and added the color of red to simplify that part of the helmet."

Cage or not, Gustafson's classes have a lot of Patriots fans, and the sculpture left many of them excited.

"I try to make sure my sculptures are something that I can connect with my students," Gustafson said. "Just trying to inspire them to get outside and be out in the fresh air and make something with their hands."