Ellsworth Cooperative Creamery unveils Stout-made statues

MENOMONIE — Deano Samens said when someone stopped by UW-Stout’s Materials and Process Lab to check in on the progress of their metal sculptures, they remarked:

“Holy cow!”

Continuing the story, he said, “I remember hearing that and thinking what a great title; that sums it up.”

On Monday, Stout staff, students and community members stood in front of the Ellsworth Cooperative Creamery in Menomonie for the unveiling of three metal sculptures, each made in the shape of a cow. And for many that worked on the project, it was a time to celebrate the hard work that went into cutting, shaping and welding the cows together.

John Freeman, director of sales and marketing at Ellsworth Cooperative Creamery, said the metal sheets and parts for the cows were donated to the University and came from finishing tables and connected piping which was originally used at their creamery.

With the metal on hand, Samens said the first stage of creating the sculptures was the creation of a concept and model by the Design Theory and Method class at UW-Stout, which took roughly half a semester. Beyond that, Stout staff and five students went to work to create the full model.

Renae van der Hagen, an industrial design major at Stout who worked on the project, said she clocked in roughly 146 hours when everything was finished.

“Most of the things that I have worked on were smaller scale, so smaller products. This was definitely a fairly big one to work on,” she said.

Being at the unveiling and celebration on Monday, van der Hagen said it gave her a chance to take a deep breath, sit back and see the final product.

“It was a lot of fun,” she said. “Even though it was a difficult process, I very much enjoyed it.”

And many community members, including Ellsworth Cooperative Creamery employees, gave a positive reception to the detailed sculptures.

“These could not have turned out any better,” said Freeman. “The realistic-ness of them while still being true to the form of a cow and having the different sizes — kind of showing the generationalness of our creamery — and touching on sustainability, reuse and being resourceful, it was a perfect collaboration… These cows will be around as a memorial to that collaboration for decades.”

A project of this scale was really a first for the industry design department, said Samens, as their department pushed past many challenges, like with three of the five students leaving the project during the summer to pursue work, internships or post-graduation opportunities. Now it is something he can appreciate on his way to work.

“I am super excited because I drive by here every day on my way to work; this is part of my commute,” he said. “To see a child out here pulling on the tail or ringing the bell and seeing mom and dad out taking photos with them, it is going to bring a smile to my face every time. All the struggles and everything we endured will disappear at this point… As far as I am concerned when it comes to public art, that is what it is all about: public reception. Maybe it could spark some creativity in them as a small child, and at the end of the day that is awesome.”

Looking towards the future, Samens said there is certainly interest in doing more projects like this.