Amid the music, rides, cotton candy and beach play, there’s a fascinating and unexpected sight right next to the boardwalk in Ocean City, Maryland: a massive display of Bible-themed sand art.
In stunning detail, these biblical sculptures — which can be found between 1st and 2nd street in the downtown area— are not only eye-grabbing, but they’re also spirit-affirming, with artist Randy Hofman bringing key scenes from the scriptures to life and placing them smack-dab in the middle of one of the most unlikely places.
See a video featuring the most recent sand scenes below:
Since that time, Hoffman has been wowing locals and vacationers, alike.
Feature stories and images showing his stunning work have made their way around the internet, with his display becoming a go-to destination — and that’s no surprise considering his artistic abilities and his decision to minister to the masses right on a busy beach.
“The sand sculptures are temporary, like us,” the artist once told The Baltimore Sun’s Dark Room.
And he’s right, as sand is certainly a tough tool to work with. Each of the sculptures takes about a day to complete, with Hofman relying on a plastic knife and biodegradable glue to help bring the scenes to life.
The glue helps keep the sand sculptures in tact for a few weeks before he must sculpt again.
Hofman told photojournalist Lauren Pond back in 2012 that he believes the sand creations “touch people,” explaining how he once worked in advertising in New York before leaving that field to do something that felt much more meaningful.
“It just didn’t feel right, but coming down here to the beach and doing this Bible stuff, it’s like God knew what the story was,” he said. “So now I’m advertising the Lord.”
Hofman switches up the designs and installs lights so that they can each be seen at night as well.
You can find out more about Hofman’s creations here.