Sculptor Gabriela Schmidt of Akron, Ohio, works on sculpting a construction worker holding a two-way radio in the American Dairy Association Mideast’s butter cow display at the Ohio State Fair. Credit: Courtesy of ADA Mideast
In 1903, Ohio State and the Dairy Processors of Ohio hosted a butter sculpting contest with no restrictions on subject matter; the selected piece would be displayed at the Ohio State Fair.
There was one entry in particular that stood out from the rest — a life-sized cow and calf, submitted by A.T. Shelton & Company, a butter distributor. Little did they know, their winning entry would spark over a century of butter creations, becoming an iconic tradition at the fair.
Now, year after year, a group of sculptors get together to create a new butter cow and calf, alongside a new, mystery sculpture representative of Ohio and its culture. In years past, the fair has featured sculptures honoring Ohio’s dairy farmers, the Buckeyes and notable Ohioans such as John Glenn and Jack Nicklaus, according to the Ohio State Fair website.
This year’s theme — construction.
Jenny Crabtree, senior vice president of communications at the American Dairy Association Mideast — which sponsors the display — said the theme was selected amid ongoing renovations at the Ohio Expo Center, specifically the Dairy Products Building where the butter cows reside.
“The theme of ‘Pardon Our Dust’ just really seemed fitting because we knew that business would not be as usual during the fair,” Crabtree said. “It was a way for us to also share with fairgoers that bigger and better — bigger and butter — things are coming, and it just really lent itself to what I think is one of our best displays ever.”
It’s not every day that someone sculpts a life-sized display out of butter; many people have no idea where to even begin such a task.
Gabriela Schmidt, an incoming fifth-year in studio art with a focus in painting and drawing, was a part of this year’s team of sculptors. She said the process of creating the butter display begins with the armatures, or the metal framework, and some soft butter.
“The first step is just scooping out really soft butter and putting them in layers. You can’t do it too fast, it’ll just splat and fall on the ground because it’s so soft, and you get so messy,” Schmidt said. “Once we do that, we can let it freeze a little bit, get a little colder, so then it’s as easy as sculpting clay.”
The display’s six sculptors created not only the cow and calf — donning hard hats — but three life-sized construction workers, scaffolding, safety cones and of course, the “Pardon Our Dust” sign, according to an ADAM press release. Crabtree said the display was constructed in a week’s time, totaling about 350 hours of work inside the building’s 46-degree Fahrenheit cooler.
According to the fair’s website, the sculptures often use more than 2,200 pounds of butter. Crabtree said they use 55-pound blocks of unsalted butter, which is supplied by a creamery in Texas.
Spending hours inside a freezer, working with something as slippery as butter, is not easy.
“I dropped [the sculpture’s hand] three times,” Schmidt said. “I had to fix it up a lot and it’s also tough because at that point, when you’re working with the butter so much, you literally have butter fingers.”
For Schmidt, the opportunity arose when Paul Brooke, the cow’s lead sculptor, reached out to her sculpture professor, Carmel Buckley, seeking help from students or interns. She said after taking turns working on the cow with a few other students last year, she officially joined the team this year.
Schmidt isn’t the first Ohio State student to get her hands greasy, though. In fact, she said three out of the six sculptors graduated from Ohio State’s art program — soon to be four, as Schmidt said she intends to return for next year’s fair.
“I love telling people that I do it and people love hearing that I do it,” Schmidt said. “I just feel so incredibly lucky that Paul ended up reaching out for interns while I was at OSU and that I got to stay on for another year and meet all these people. They’re so amazing; the team is just so nice. I couldn’t have asked for a better opportunity at OSU.”
Crabtree said the association — and Brooke himself — were grateful to have Schmidt’s assistance in this year’s sculpture.
“[Brooke] was so happy to have her be a part of the team, and, you know, she did phenomenal work,” Crabtree said. “It’s not something that an artist does on a regular basis, so to be able to come in and work with butter … [she] really held her own and did a great job. We were very, very happy to have her as part of the team.”
Crabtree said after the fair, the butter is recycled and re-used in non-edible products, along with other cooking greases and oils at the fair.
“We try really hard to use butter that’s nearing or even past its expiration date,” Crabtree said. “We feel good about being able to recycle it, just to be as sustainable as we can.”
As this year’s fair comes to a close, the butter sculptures remain a symbol of the things that make Ohio so special — even something as simple as construction.
