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State Fair
Estelle Timar-Wilcox

Job Interview: How a college stats teacher became a crop art superintendent at the State Fair

A woman poses with crop art
Minnesota State Fair crop artist Marta Shore poses with one of her works.
Courtesy of Kathy Berdan

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One of the most popular attractions at the Minnesota State Fair is crop art. Last year, curators got 240 submissions from seed artists. This year, that number went up to more than 350. So the Fair decided it was time to hire someone dedicated to the exhibit.

In this edition of Job Interview, we talked to Marta Shore. She’s the new superintendent for crop art at the fair. She puts in long hours for the 12 days of the fair, and delights in making her own crop art.

This conversation is a part of our Job Interview series, where we talk to everyday Minnesotans about the rewards and challenges of their work. This interview has been lightly edited for style and clarity. Click on the audio player for the original version.

Official title: Assistant Superintendent for Crop Art and Scarecrow at the Minnesota State Fair.

What I actually do: We spent about 12 hours a day on Tuesday and Wednesday just getting the art on the walls and on tables and things like that, and then I’m here most days. We do hands-on crop art sessions, designed for kids, but I don't turn adults away, if they want to do it.

I’ve been making crop art since 2015. I’m not trained as an artist at all. My day job is teaching biostatistics in the school of public health at the University of Minnesota.

So definitely not someone who ever entertained the idea of making art. But in 2015, a friend of mine, who is an artist, taught me how to make it, and I can look back on it and honestly say it was pretty terrible. But they displayed it, and that’s what hooked me on it.'

A great day at work: Linda Paulson, who’s been making crop art for 55 years, is here, so I actually got to meet her in person. She lives in northern Minnesota, so she very rarely comes to the fair anymore, because she’s in her 80s. For crop artists, it's kind of like Swifties seeing Taylor Swift. It’s just, she’s a star. She’s so amazing.

A not-so-great day at work: It has been stressful. When people dropped off, we had these tables all around the room. I was just overwhelmed by the thought of, ‘How does this all work? How does this all get done?’

People are really excited about crop art and want to touch it. I’ll see someone reach over and try to get really close to it. I just have to remember it’s passion that's driving them, and not malintent. So just have to gently remind them, like, could you please stay behind the stanchion?

What I’ve learned: I have learned, first of all, it will get done. I just need to kind of trust my coworkers, trust the process.

The other thing I’ve learned is, people who make crop art are very passionate, but they’re also very kind, which is really rewarding. There’s been a lot of them just saying really nice things to me, which is great because it’s my first year on the job, and I’m making a lot of mistakes.

I’ve been enjoying talking to people. I’ve been enjoying helping people do it. I’ve always really liked the crop art community, which is like: make something you love; it will be shown; try not to be a jerk.