Missouri State Fair Butter Sculptor Fuses Art, Dairy Together « Back

SEDALIA, Mo. – This year’s butter sculpture in the Gerken Dairy Center at the Missouri State Fair will give fair-goers something to think about, according to sculptor Janice Hargrave of Sedalia, Mo.

“We tried to pick a masterwork that most people would recognize,” Hargrave said. “We chose Rodin’s masterwork, ‘The Thinker,’ because we hoped to not only entertain but also educate by tying the art and dairy together.”

According to Hargrave, she and her brother and fellow artist, Scott Linsenbardt, were able to make the 600-pound, 5-foot tall butter sculpture appear as a “cow sitting like ‘The Thinker,’ with hoof under chin and sitting on a milking stool.”

Sculpting the likeness was not easy, however, as cows and humans are anatomically different.  Hargrave had to get creative. “I used a little artistic liberty to personify the cow a bit,” she said.

The butter cow took nearly 65 hours to complete over the course of five days. Hargrave and her brother sculpted for 40 hours in the Gerken Dairy Center cooler, which is kept between 50 and 65 degrees to regulate the butter’s temperature. Midwest Dairy Association, on behalf of Missouri’s dairy farmers, annually donates the butter used for sculpting, which is recycled for future use when possible.

To prepare, Linsenbardt worked for 20 to 25 hours to make the armature, which serves as a supporting framework for the sculpture. In addition to the welding, he also set up the lights for the display of the butter cow.

Hargrave recently received degrees in art education and ceramics from the University of Central Missouri and will teach K-4 art next year at Horace Mann and Washington elementary schools. Hargrave and Linsenbardt also regularly compete in the annual Missouri 50 Fine Art Exhibition.

The duo created their first butter cow at the 2010 Missouri State Fair.

“Last year, we said it’s probably the wildest thing we’ve ever done. We like the adventure of butter sculpting, that’s why we do it,” said Hargrave.

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Midwest Dairy Association is a non-profit organization funded by dairy farmers to build demand for dairy products through integrated marketing, nutrition education and research. Midwest Dairy is funded by checkoff dollars from dairy farmers in a 10-state region, including Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Iowa, Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, Arkansas and eastern Oklahoma. For more information, visit www.midwestdairy.com. Follow us on Twitter and find us on Facebook at Midwest Dairy.