AIAS Celebrates 37th Annual Pumpkin Carve

Several carved pumpkins sit on wooden pallets, including one painted with a tiger face and others with various shapes and designs.

The Auburn chapter of the American Institute of Architecture Students (AIAS) hosted its Annual Pumpkin Carve on Friday, October 31, in the Dudley Hall courtyard.

This marks the 37th year of the annual event where students, faculty, staff and community members celebrate Halloween with the lighting of over 200 freshly carved jack-o-lanterns. The proceeds from this fundraiser go toward providing opportunities for students in the School of Architecture, Planning and Landscape Architecture (APLA). This year’s Pumpkin Carve was supported by APLA and the College of Architecture, Design and Construction (CADC).

Pumpkin carving began at 9:00 a.m., followed by a packed agenda: lunch of Boo-urgers and Hall-o-weenies grilled by students; therapy dogs from Student Counseling & Psychological Services; a scavenger hunt and a visit from Aubie.

A person stands next to someone in a tiger mascot costume wearing a skeleton outfit at an outdoor event with people and carved pumpkins in the background.
Aubie made an appearance dressed in his Halloween costume.
Two people in costumes are grilling food outdoors at a cookout event, with other people standing nearby and trees in the background.
AIAS members dressed as characters from “The Lorax” to grill burgers and hot dogs.

Attendees were able to purchase Pumpkin Carve merchandise, including a T-shirt designed by third-year architecture and interior architecture student Ellie Marie Lambert, a Halloween Aubie crewneck designed by Mackenzie Gwaltney and stickers by Tori Hauth, as well as gear from Pumpkin Carves past

A woman in a pirate costume stands among pumpkins on steps, holding a pumpkin. A sign reading Pumpkin Carve hangs above the scene.
Participants come in costumes to celebrate Halloween.
Three people play cornhole near a pumpkin display at an outdoor autumn festival; others walk and gather near decorated signs and stairs labeled PUMPKINS.
The event also features games and activities for students and community members.

“The Annual Pumpkin Carve was a huge hit once again,” said architecture students and Pumpkin Carve co-chairs Kasia Paszek and Emily Wagner, calling out highlights like a visit from ESPN. “We also got to bring a little Pumpkin Carve history back to life and sold 100 past year t-shirts.”

Late afternoon activities included the awarding of raffle prizes from local businesses and campus partners and a napkin sketch silent auction, featuring 32 napkin drawings by faculty, alumni and community members.

Sheets of paper and three colorful drawings of horror-inspired faces, including a clown, a pumpkin, and a pale figure, are pinned to a wall.
Faculty members show off their artistic skills by creating micro masterpieces on napkins.
Three men stand smiling with their arms around each other, two covered in white splatter, in front of a PUMPKINS sign outdoors.
Faculty members get in on the fun with a pie to the face.

One of the more popular events of the day was a silent auction where winners got the opportunity to throw a pie at faculty members from across CADC, including Mark Blumberg, John Pitarri and Frank Hu.

Pumpkin lighting began when the sun set at 5:30 p.m. and members of the community, along with the contest judges, streamed through the courtyard in a long line to view the exhibit. This year’s judges included Toby Hanna of J&M, Environmental Design Assistant Professor Eilís Finnegan and Architecture Professor Rebecca O’Neal.

Rows of carved pumpkins create a colorful display during the contest.
In the evening, all of the carved pumpkins are lit up in a large display.

At 7 p.m. AIAS representatives announced the Pumpkin Carve winners and awarded them J&M Bookstore gift cards. The award for Best Overall pumpkin went to Jen Thomas for the design of Audry 2 from “Little Shop of Horrors.” A drippy pumpkin design by Elin Lee and a mossy interior creation by Ella Hatley received second and third place, respectively.

Winners stand beside their carved pumpkins at the close of the contest.
Winners stand beside their carved pumpkins at the close of the contest.

Three honorable mentions were named for Funniest, Spookiest and Most School Spirit. Malania Cloud’s design was recognized as Funniest, Spookiest was awarded to Aiden Berry and Ruby Phister won Most School Spirit. The winning pumpkins were then auctioned off to the highest bidders with the proceeds going to AIAS.

“Thank you to everyone for coming out and enjoying our event,” Paszek and Wagner said. “We hope to see you again next year.”

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Events, Student Experience, Student Organizations

Related people:
Frank Hu, John Pittari, Jr., Mark Alan Blumberg