The Iowa State Fair’s iconic butter cow will make a trip to the nation’s capital next year.
Well, between 650 and 800 pounds of butter will make the journey, at least. It then it will be sculpted from scratch in an exhibit at the Smithsonian American Art Museum celebrating state fairs around the country.
Butter artist Sarah Pratt has sculpted the Iowa State Fair staple since 2006, after apprenticing under former sculptor Nora “Duffy” Lyon for 15 years. She’ll travel to Washington, D.C. with her family to create the cow next summer, where it will be on display for a year at “The State Fair and American Craft” exhibit in the Smithsonian’s Renwick Gallery.
“I was already excited and bowled away by the fact that they would be interested in the craft, the art that I do, but also in literally displaying a piece, so that was really exciting,” she said.
Pratt has been communicating with the museum about the exhibit for over a year. Initially, the plan was to transport the sculpture to D.C. after the 2025 fair ended in order to continue the tradition of recycling the butter to create the next rendition, but Pratt said there were concerns about how to do so without damaging the piece in transit. The exhibit dates — Aug. 22, 2025 to Aug. 23, 2026 — will also almost certainly overlap with the 2026 Iowa State Fair. And so the decision was made to transport fresh butter (the source has not yet been determined) to the nation’s capital so the cow could be two places at once.
“All of those things made it become clear to all of us that sculpting on-site was going to be the way to go,” Pratt said.
The tradition of butter sculpting
Pratt and her butter cow will represent butter sculpting as an art form that’s practiced at state fairs across the nation. Pratt herself sculpts butter in both Kansas and Illinois as well as the Iowa State Fair.
Butter carving and molding has deep roots in history that spans countries and continents, but it also holds a significant place in American history. Butter sculptures were once used to showcase agricultural prowess and abundance in America and have been created to depict American leaders for over a century. The first Iowa State Fair butter cow was created in 1911, and the cow is now a common animal feature at state fairs across the Midwest.
“I think [the butter cow] is definitely representing Iowa, but it is also representing the tradition or the craft of butter sculpting and what that has meant.”
Sarah Pratt, butter artist
“I think [the butter cow] is definitely representing Iowa, but it is also representing the tradition or the craft of butter sculpting and what that has meant,” Pratt said. “I’ve spent a lot of time researching the history of it across the years, and where it got started and how it’s evolved. So I think that is definitely in the forefront of my mind too — representing that craft.”
There may be more butter sculptures in the exhibit in addition to art celebrated at state fairs, like quilts and other handmade arts and crafts, creative food products and Native American art and traditions.
“I am really very intrigued by how other parts of the country celebrate the cultures that they experience,” Pratt said. “I am just excited and tickled to be to be part of all that.”
Pratt’s daughters, Hannah and Grace, are training to create the butter cow themselves one day and will accompany her to D.C.
“I am just still pinching myself at that I have the opportunity to be sculpting for the Smithsonian and representing Iowa and butter sculpting, and then I get to do it alongside my family,” Pratt said.
The butter cow will be on display at the Smithsonian American Art Museum from Aug. 22, 2025 to Aug. 23, 2026.
