Butter Sculpture Unveiled at Pennsylvania Farm Show

HARRISBURG — About 18 years ago, sculptor Jim Victor got a phone call from his brother about a rather unusual newspaper advertisement.

The Pennsylvania Farm Show was looking for someone to construct its famed butter sculpture. 

Victor, who had made life-sized chocolate replicas of movie stars Mickey Rooney and Ann Miller, turned out to be the perfect man for the job.



The Farm Show has turned to Victor, the Conshohocken artist, more than 10 times since to create a signature piece of artwork that thousands will study up close starting Saturday. That’s when the eight-day Pennsylvania Farm Show will fully open to the public.

“I like to hear people’s opinions,” Victor said of blending into the crowds at the Farm Show, which is in its 97th year. “Sometimes, it’s good to be a fly on the wall.”

The butter sculpture was unveiled in a brief ceremony Thursday night that marked the unofficial opening of the Farm Show at the Farm Show Complex and Expo Center here. It is made from nearly 1,000 pounds of butter and required more than 300 hours to make. Victor’s wife, Marie Pelton, and another sculptor, Jimm Scannell, were also part of the project.

This year, the sculpture incorporated a theme of PA Preferred, the official brand of agriculture products grown or made in the state.

The sculpture featured several intricate parts, including a wheel of cheese, fruit and a milk container. Other detailed pieces were a carved turkey, a truck pulling a bed of logs and a man setting an ornament on top of a Christmas tree.

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To learn more about an amazing fine art exhibition, please visit Love Unlimited Film Festival and Art Exhibition.