This year's Indiana State Fair annual cheese masterpiece has been unveiled. Sarah “The Cheese Lady” Kaufmann has been sculpting cheese at the fair for nearly two decades.
“[At the] Indiana State Fair people know cheese carving, but everywhere else I go," Kaufmann said. "People exclaim, 'Cheese carving? I never heard of cheese carving.'"
The popularity of food sculpting has grown over the years, but Kaufmann is considered an expert in the medium of cheese. Every year she ties her cheese art to the fair’s theme. This year’s theme of art and nature resulted in replicas of famous art works, including the "Moo-na-lisa" and "American Cow-lick."
Kaufmann said one of her favorite aspects of the work is interacting with fairgoers.
“They can see it evolve and see how a sculpture is made, and they just continue to get surprised every time, with all the detail we put in," Kaufmann said.
Kaufmann started sculpting cheese nearly 30 years ago in Wisconsin. That’s where she set a Guinness World Record with a 925-pound cheese roller coaster.
A new walk-in cooler at the fair allows for easier cheese carving and longer display.
For the past few years Kaufmann has worked with fellow artist Nancy Baker. Baker, a high school art teacher and food sculptor, talked to her students about her side hustle.
“This is the same skills they're learning in clay and in carving foam," Baker said. "And then I'm like, ‘Look, guys, this is a real life application, and you can earn a living doing this.'"
The two clocked in about 250 hours to complete the works of art, which will be on display through the run of the fair.
When the fair is over the cheese sculptures will be transported with other biological material to a digester in north central Indiana, and turned into green energy.
