Local butter sculptor prepares for Minnesota State Fair
ST. PAUL, Minn. (FOX 9) - Tucked away in his home art studio in Litchfield, Gerry Kulzer creates masterpieces in the form of three-dimensional portrait busts. FOX 9’s Leah Beno was shocked when she walked in the door, and Kulzer asked if he could carve her face during the interview for practice.
"Understand, this is not going to be a great portrait in the time we have," says Kulzer.
During the month of August, Kulzer’s focus is all about practicing for his favorite and busiest time of year, when he will eventually trade this quiet corner in his basement for thousands of people watching him at the Minnesota State Fair.
Every day of the fair other than Labor Day, he’ll be inside a 40-degree cooler, carving Princess Kay of the Milky Way and the royal finalists out of butter.
"I equate it to teaching. That way, I don’t get nervous," Kulzer said. "We are in the business of helping promote that joy, especially in dairy. If you are eating ice cream, you are happy."
With a slightly amended schedule with his Eden Valley-Watkins School District, Kulzer will return to his classroom and teach 7th to 12th grade art just in time for the first day of school after Labor Day.
"I put in sometime during the summer to get my bulletin boards up and my lessons ready," says Kulzer.
When he’s not teaching, it’s Kulzer’s commission work that is turning heads across the country. Ranging from carving a couple out of butter for their wedding day to helping create nine-foot bronze statues currently standing in Fort Hood, Texas, are among some of the work he is most proud of.
"I grew up on a farm, and on a farm you kind of gotta be creative. The tractor breaks down in the middle of a field and you gotta figure out a way to fix it or get it back," says Kulzer. "As an artist you have to create. You get hungry, and you have to eat. If I haven’t made something or played in the clay for a while. I have that desire."
From there, he went to college and recalled seeing Linda Christensen carving royal heads out of butter for years at the fair and being a bit envious.
"That was the only place you could see a live sculptor working. That was pre-internet, so you didn’t have YouTube videos of how they did things," Kulzer said.
By 2021, when Christensen retired, Kulzer had tested, trained with her, and Midwest Dairy gave him the job. Each spring, when Princess Kay finalists are announced, Kulzer gets his first glimpse at who he will be carving come fair time.
"What I need to work on this year… glasses! Three of the finalists have glasses. I need to work on that," says Kulzer.
While Beno’s head and the 50-pound block of clay used to make it provided some practice, Kulzer looks forward to the 90 pounds of butter and carving the proud promoters of the dairy industry for six hours a day starting Thursday. In the process, he makes all sorts of dreams come true, including his own.
"It’s like, what an honor. What an honor to carry on this legacy and promote dairy," says Kulzer as he starts to choke up. "I kinda get emotional thinking about it. It’s such a weighty thing, and I hope I do it justice. Because the farmers that we are, the dairy community we promote, works so hard, I hope I work equally as hard and make them proud and happy in some way."
For more examples of Kulzer’s work, click here.