Description:

At the Milligan Studio, we are interested in making beautiful objects that evoke a sense of belonging. We also have a sense of humor, and a soft spot for the Minnesota State Fair, as we proudly exhibited at the Fine Art Building this year. Butter Tiara! is a homage to fellow artist Linda Christensen who for the past 48 years sculpted 90 pound blocks of butter into caloric tributes to each newly crowned Princess Kay and her court. Butter Tiara! is an approximately 6-8’ tall replica of a Princess Kay’s crown in gold and blue lights, “bejeweled” with cream and blue glass 4 oz butter sticks ornaments. As material costs are currently in daily flux due to trade restrictions with China, the exact height will be determined once the commission is awarded. The form of the sculpture, as shown below, will be sited on a 15’ x 15’ footprint . Not knowing the actual location of the work, if the site is level or not, we can approach installation with one of two methods. As Butter Tiara! is essentially a tiara with a round base, it would be our preference to directly anchor the sculpture into the ground. If the ground is uneven, the sculpture can be elevated and leveled using 8-300 pound concrete footings (painted blue to match the butter sticks). If time and budget permits, we’d like to try to set the crown upon a slowly spinning platform. No matter what installation method we use, Butter Tiara! will be fabricated to be enjoyed from all angles and by all who missed seeing Linda in the Dairy Barn (although her apprentice is very good too!) immortalizing the smart, hardworking dairy representatives who proudly wear the crown of the Milky Way Court.

Team Bio:

Conceptual Artist and best selling novelist Nicole Mary Milligan, who writes under the name N.M.Kelby, has had her work shown and translated all over the world. Her photographs have been shown in a wide variety of venues including Watermark Art Center and The Ali Center, an affiliate of the Smithsonian Institute. A Yaddo Fellow, she has received grants and fellowships from The Bush Foundation, PEN America, NEA, Jerome, Minnesota State Arts Board, Arts Council of Northern Ireland, Florida Arts Council, McKnight, Whiting Foundation, and others.