Sometimes, you just never know where life will take you.<\/p>\n
If you had told Missouri artist Ander Weis they would be spending about 10 hours a day inside a freezer making a sculpture out of butter, they probably would not have believed you. <\/p>\n
“I can honestly say that I never thought that I would be making stuff out of 600 pounds of butter,” Weis said. “I would have thought it was a joke. I would have laughed immediately.”<\/p>\n
For the past five years, Weis has helped create the iconic butter cow displayed in the Gerken Dairy Center at the Missouri State Fair. <\/p>\n
The tradition has been around for over two decades. Stacy Dohle with Midwest Dairy said the butter comes in 55-pound blocks, totaling at least 600 pounds in all. <\/p>\n
Weis said it is no easy feat to design and shape the giant sculpture.<\/p>\n
“It\u2019s certainly a work of love,” Weis said. “This year, we were in the freezer specifically for 10 hours a day for 8 days.\u201d<\/p>\n
The piece on display at the 2026 state fair is titled, \u201cAmerica\u2019s greatest pastime.” An ode to America\u2019s 250th anniversary, the scene includes a cow alongside two kids wearing baseball jerseys with the numbers 1776 displayed on the back.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe put a lot of extra details in this year,” Weis said. “It took us a whole extra day, but we thought it was worth it. So, the detailing in the fence, the numbers are the format based on the Declaration of Independence, the butter, the popcorn falling out [of the cow’s mouth] …it was completely worth it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Each year, Weis’ spouse helps the vision come to life. Before the fair begins, the pair gear up in layers of warm clothing and get to work in the 34-degree cooler.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe were not prepared that first year for how cold it is in that freezer,” Weis said. “You\u2019re cold in the first hour, and by the tenth hour it\u2019s just unbearable.\u201d<\/p>\n
Weis said creating the sculpture is physically taxing and takes a toll. Weis even gets freezer burn almost every year. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not like a sports injury, but we have both injured ourselves putting the butter on and manipulating it into place,” Weis said. <\/p>\n
Dohle said Weis\u2019 dedication is not lost on fairgoers. She added the sculpture is a state fair staple and a must-see for many families, as people pack the dairy center to catch a glimpse of the legendary cow.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s definitely a tradition, so everybody has to come in and see the butter sculpture every year,” Dohle said. “It\u2019s fun, I mean, just to see little kids\u2019 expressions, and people want to take their picture with it. It\u2019s a great stop here at the Missouri State Fair.\u201d<\/p>\n
Weis said the joy it brings keeps the pair coming back. Weis’ spouse comes from a 4H family, who they said is proud to see the sculpture every year.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt makes my family so happy that it gives back to me to be able to do it, and to imagine that other people enjoy it as much as well,” Weis said. <\/p>\n
Despite the long hours, strange injuries and cold working climate, Weis is not ready to retire just yet. The pair plans to work on the butter cow for the next five years or so. Missourians can see the butter cow at the fair through Aug. 23. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Sometimes, you just never know where life will take you. If you had told Missouri artist Ander Weis…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":600623,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[307,304,305,306,308,93,61,60],"class_list":["post-600622","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-arts-and-design","tag-arts","tag-arts-and-design","tag-artsanddesign","tag-artsdesign","tag-design","tag-entertainment","tag-ie","tag-ireland"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/600622","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=600622"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/600622\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/600623"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=600622"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=600622"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=600622"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}