The Oneida Daily Dispatch (Oneida, NY)
ANNUAL UNVEILING
52nd annual NY State Fair Butter Sculpture unveiled
SYRACUSE, N.Y. »
Just because there isn’t a NY State Fair this year doesn’t mean there doesn’t have to be a butter sculpture, either.
The 52nd Annual American Dairy Association North East Butter Sculpture was unveiled Tuesday, Sept. 1 at its usual location within the Dairy Products Building at the NYS Fairgrounds. The event was live-streamed for guests to attend virtually.
Spinning in its chilly carousel was an 800-pound sculpture titled “Nourishing Our Future” paying tribute to those who ensure that children are nourished and learning - whether in school or at home - including dairy farmers, school nutrition staff, teachers, and parents.
The buttery two-sided masterpiece depicts, on one side, a dairy farmer providing milk to a child learning from home with his mother and “virtual” teacher who is seen etched into the laptop screen. On the other side, a child is seen learning in school with a school nutrition worker delivering a meal tray to the classroom.
The American Dairy Association North East (ADANE) says, “Both settings illustrate the vital contributions and commitment to ‘nourishing our future,’ wherever children learn by dairy farmers and school nutrition teams.”
The sculpture was created for the fair by artists Jim Victor and Marie Pelton of Conshohocken,
“This is the first butter sculpture that we’ve done this season, and normally we would have done about three by this time, easily.”
— Jim Victor of Conshohocken, Pa.
Pa. To bring their vision to life, the pair worked for ten days sculpting with “scrap butter,” – butter from damaged packaging or similar circumstances that make it unsuitable for sale and consumption - from O-AT-KA Milk Products in Western New York. This is the artists’ 18th consecutive year making the sculpture for the fair.
Victor shared that the pandemic has effected both his and his partner’s ability to make art. “This is the first butter sculpture that we’ve done this season, and normally we would have done about three by this time, easily.”
Though so much has changed recently, this butter sculpture is still a powerful symbol, said Lisa Porter, from Porterdale Farms in Adams Center, NY, who spoke on behalf of the state’s family dairy farmers. “[It] still remind us of how cows are taken care of very diligently every day on our farms, [how] our land and resources are taken care of, and [how] we’re still producing nutritious, healthy, wholesome, local milk every single day.”
Richard Ball, New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets’ commissioner, shared his enthusiasm that this tradition lasting half a century was able to continue despite recent challenges.
He continued, “This year’s sculpture fittingly recognizes all of our food responders, from our dairy farmers to our school food workers, who work hard every day, despite these challenging times, to ensure that our students are being provided nutritious, healthy food.”
After the sculpture is deconstructed, the ADANE says the “scrap butter” will be transported to Noblehurst Farms in Linwood, N.Y., where it will be responsibly recycled in a methane digester and converted into renewable energy.
“[Farmers] are the original recyclers,” Porter commented.
Four fans of the fair won the opportunity to “attend” the virtual unveiling through American Dairy Association North East’s #Virtuallybuttertogether Instagram Contest by posting photos of themselves enjoying dairy. Winners Ryan Del Franco, Brooklyn; Kathryn Gozigian, Syracuse; Jennifer Groth, Camillus; and Angela Noreau, Chase Mills were represented by lifesize cardboard cutouts appearing around the Butter Sculpture. The winners also received free pizza for a year and a Chromebook.
Other cutouts filling the room represented dairy farmers, food nutrition service workers, and other important members of the community.