Smithsonian exhibit features Minnesota State Fair artists, churns controversy

Minnesota State Fair artists feature prominently in the upcoming “State Fairs: Growing American Craft,” at the Smithsonian’s Renwick Gallery in Washington, D.C.

The free exhibit, which opens on Aug. 22 and runs through Sept. 7, 2026, will represent the first significant exploration of how American state fairs have cultivated an abundance of arts and crafts.

The exhibit’s Mankato-raised craft curator Mary Savig picked some of the crème de la crème — and the crop de la crop — of Minnesota State Fair artists for inclusion. Among the highlighted works are a pointillist-esque portrait of President Richard Nixon by the late “Seed Queen” Lillian Colton and a butter-carton dress made and worn by the 1965 Princess Kay of the Milky Way.

Savig’s selection of the Iowa State Fair’s head butter sculptor to carve one of her iconic, life-size bovines for the exhibit has churned controversy. “I do hope Minnesotans forgive me and give the butter cow a chance,” Savig said.

Savig created the national exhibition to cast an overdue spotlight on underrecognized artists whose work broadens the picture of American arts and crafts.

“State fairs really have been these amazing platforms for artists to show us their skills and their creative ideas,” she said, noting that they feature many artists who wouldn’t typically show their work at an art gallery or museum. (Minnesota didn’t even have an art museum when it held its first state fair, in 1859, the year after it was granted statehood.)

A lot of early fair crafters came from rural areas, and their skills in handwoven rugs or needlework, among other domestic activities, had been passed down from one generation to the next.

“State Fairs: Growing American Craft” includes 240 artworks from the mid-19th century to the present, representing most of the 50 states.

Savig says her home state’s fair lit the spark for the exhibit (her go-to fair foods are Hawaiian shaved ice and lefse). And that fair’s slogan reflected how the national exhibition brings together the country’s range of fair traditions. “In the spirit of the Minnesota State Fair, we keep referring to this project as the Great State Fair Get-Together.”

When Savig attended the 2023 Minnesota State Fair, she was impressed by the commemorative artwork by crop artist Liz Schreiber. So she commissioned Schreiber to create the exhibition’s catalog cover, which will also be reproduced on merchandise.

Savig mentions Colton’s 1969 best of show seed portrait of Nixon as a provocative piece to display following the new president’s defeat of his Minnesotan opponent Hubert H. Humphrey. She says the portrait launched the genre’s penchant for pop-culture subject matter. It will be displayed alongside several other celebrity portraits created by Colton and her daughter, Minnesota crop artist Linda Paulsen.

“Craft has this very relatable feeling to it,” Savig said. “You can feel the artist’s hand and understand that she spent so much time manipulating these tiny seeds with a toothpick to make this for us.”