Some families pass down heirlooms or holiday traditions, but the Pratt family of the Des Moines area has passed down a talent for sculpting with butter. Sarah Pratt, a 1999 UNI graduate, has been the Iowa State Fair’s head sculptor of the Butter Cow since 2006, a title she took on after many years as the butter sculpting apprentice. Her twin daughters Hannah and Grace Pratt are her current apprentices. 

They also carried on the family tradition of attending UNI, with Hannah majoring in theatre design and production with an emphasis in costume design and Grace majoring in studio art with a sculpture emphasis. Their dad, Andy Pratt, also graduated from UNI in 1998.

Even before becoming apprentices, the Pratt sisters could be found in the summer months at the Iowa State Fairgrounds, watching their mother work her magic.

“We’ve known the butter cooler for our entire lives basically,” said Hannah.

“My first memories of being in there, Mom would be working and we would be in the corner of the cooler with this giant comforter,” said Grace. “She’d give us a laptop, and we would play a Barbie movie.”

Sarah wanted her children to learn the craft at an early age. She would often give Hannah and Grace a pound of butter and let them make whatever they wanted. Sometimes she would hide their creations in the back of the cooler. 

“Other kids were playing with Play-Doh, and we were playing with butter,” said Hannah.

Growing up, the butter festivities were a normal way of life for the Pratt sisters. They had no idea their experiences were unique until they switched schools in fourth grade.

“Our mom was a teacher at our old school, so it was never weird if we brought up butter sculpting,” said Hannah. “Then we moved schools, and we started talking to our new classmates. I was like, ‘Yeah, so this summer, when we do butter sculpting,’ and they were like, ‘Wait, what? What did you say?’ I was like, ‘Yeah, we do the butter sculptures at the Iowa State Fair.’ And they're like, ‘You're lying! That's not true.’”

In their early days of apprenticing, Grace and Hannah started with small butter projects. For example, they recall sculpting a bird Snow White held in 2012 when the Butter Cow’s companion sculptures were Snow White and the Seven Dwarves.

“Mom did a good job of easing us into it and not making us feel pressured about it,” said Grace.

Hannah and Grace have a running list of ideas for companion sculptures. They typically begin brainstorming what could join the cow in March and submit their proposal to the Iowa State Fair a couple months after that. The chosen theme then remains a secret while the Pratt family gets to work sketching and plotting the execution. They begin sculpting about three weeks before the fair and continue through its opening days.

Hannah and Grace’s lifelong exposure to sculpting and other creative pursuits drove them to pursue highly creative majors. Because they’d grown up hearing about their parents’ positive college experiences, UNI was the first school they considered. They never thought to attend separate institutions. 

The positive UNI experiences have carried on with both Hannah and Grace who describe their professors often going above and beyond for their education. 

“We knew it wasn't a super big school,” said Grace. “It’s smaller, so you can get to places easier. There’s more connections between teachers and students and among the students, and there’s this community, almost family-like feel to it.”

Grace said that her classmates are often impressed by her work on the butter sculptures, but she is equally impressed with their artistic endeavors.