It's a job that kids dream of and older adults wish they would have had. But, no, it's not being an astronaut or NFL player; it's being the butter carver at the Minnesota State Fair.
This year that job will be filled by Gerry Kulzer as he gets the chance to carve the likeness of the dairy princesses into butter, but he says the job isn't about him.
"This isn't about me. This is about the farmers in our five-state area. They are working tirelessly to bring us these yummy products — ice cream and butter — they are working hard," Kulzer said. "They work day in, day out, and that's why we are here. We're promoting the fact that we have these saints really who work so tirelessly to bring us good food."
Kulzer is excited to get a chance to carve at the great Minnesota get-together once again, and he shared his excitement with News Talk 830 WCCO's Jordana Green and Adam Carter.
When longtime butter sculptor and Minneapolis native Linda Christensen announced that she would be stepping down after nearly 50 years in the role, the knife was turned over to Kulzer, who will lead the carving of Princess Kay of the Milky Way.
"In 2018, I auditioned, and they gave me a 90-pound block of butter, and I got to carve a likeness out of that butter," Kulzer said, noting that "apparently they liked what they saw" as he got to return and work with Christensen.
He said that working with Christensen, who initially took the role in 1972, was just "fantastic," and when she decided to step down, his name was the one they called.
"What an honor it is to represent the farmers of this area," Kulzer said.
While it would be cool to have "full-time butter sculptor" as your job title, Kulzer shared that he only does sculpting on the side while he works full-time as a teacher.
"I got into sculpting in college. My first ceramics class that I ever took was just fascinating to me. Just the feel, the tactile feel of the clay," Kulzer said.
After years of practice, he continued honing his craft and falling in love with the art.
But, what he does in a studio, and what he does at the fair are a little different, as butter isn't exactly like the clay he normally uses when sculpting.
"Butter, when it's soft, is very much like clay… but when we have the butter in the butter booth at 40 degrees, that's when it's more difficult," Kulzer said. "Take a stick of butter out of the fridge and try cutting it in half. That takes some force."
So the challenge Kulzer has is using his muscle to work through the 90-pound blocks of butter, something he said he is "amazed" that Christensen was able to do for so long.
When it comes to the process of sculpting the dairy princesses, Kulzer said it's the best-case scenario for a sculptor, as the model is with him in the butter booth as he works.
"That is awesome because I can ask them to turn their head, or look up, look down, so I can see from any angle I need," Kulzer said, noting that anyone can watch as they are "doing this live in the dairy building at the fair."
Kulzer will start his sculpting at 9 a.m. on Thursday when the fair open's for the season, working on his block of butter in his spinning booth.
"Come on down to the dairy building to see the block of butter and then come back later to see how it evolved," Kulzer said.
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