2019 Woodcarver's Auction

June 27, 2019
Intern's picture

Each year the Iowa State Fairgrounds are dotted with hand-painted sculptures that resemble a Fair time favorite. The last few have included a horse, an ice cream cone, the state of Iowa and a pig. This year’s #FairFavorite statue is a baby elephant, celebrating the 90th birthday of Baby Mine. Baby Mine was a 4-foot tall baby elephant that came to the Fair in 1929, thanks to 15,000 Iowa children that helped sponsor and name him by sending in nearly $1,000 nickels and dimes. For the last few years the Blue Ribbon Foundation has had its own statue in front of the Administration Building. This year we partnered with Sticks Inc. on a design for the Foundation’s elephant statue. This elephant will be auctioned off at the 2019 Woodcarver’s Auction.

The Woodcarver’s Auction is an event put on by the Blue Ribbon Foundation on the last Sunday of the Fair. Many different items are auctioned off including chainsaw wood carvings created by T.J. Jenkins and Gary Keenan, sculptors and registered chainsaw carvers. They will be sharing their art with Fairgoers each day. Spectators can watch four times a day as the nationally known pair turn simple logs into everything from animals to people.

Gary will carve nearly anything that reasonably fits the tree or log. He stays busy with commissioned work, carving both topped trees and freestanding logs. He has done well in competitions, both in the U.S. and abroad. Gary was invited to participate in “Sculptree”/Westonbirt Festival of the Tree that took place in August 2007, in England. This was quite an honor, since Gary was the only American to be invited out of a total of only twelve wood sculptors invited. Gary also carves at fairs, festivals, city events and open houses.

TJ’s work as a chainsaw artist all started with a rotten log used for chainsaw carving practice. With lots of practice, he ended up carving a bear head out of a tree trunk. Since then, he has carved over 70 bear heads in all shapes, sizes and painted with the wildest color schemes you can imagine.

 

The Woodcarver’s Auction will also feature Champion meats that will be up for bid during the sale.

The 2019 Woodcarver’s Auction will be held on Sunday, August 18 at 3:30 p.m. in the Cattle Barn’s Penningroth Media Center. All funds generated from the auction will be used by the Blue Ribbon Foundation to preserve and renovate the Iowa State Fairgrounds. Last year’s auction raised $56,500 for the Foundation.

 

- Gabrielle Gerke, PR Intern