Brooklyn Park Teacher Wins Blue Ribbon for State Fair Crop Art

A Brooklyn Park art teacher won big at the Minnesota State Fair this year. With her depiction of the movie “Labyrinth,” Kori Brown took home first place in Class 11 crop art category

Class 11 is dedicated to celebrating special occasions. The musical fantasy film, made with David Bowie and Jim Henson’s puppets, celebrates its 40th anniversary this year. Brown said the movie was a childhood favorite.

Last year, Brown earned a fourth-place ribbon for a different crop art piece. So this year, she thought outside the box. Aside from a variety of seeds, she used corn silk and onion skin to craft her piece. Brown said it took her 140 hours to complete based on the audiobooks she finished while she was working.

Kori Brown’s award-winning crop art on display in the Agriculture Horticulture Building.

On the opening day of the fair, when Brown walked into the Horticulture Building, she was excited to see it affixed with a Blue Ribbon award.

“I was just the most ecstatic, and I was so excited. It was a major goal of mine to win a Blue Ribbon at the State Fair in seed art, because it’s just such a popular thing,” Brown said. “So, goal accomplished!”

Her success outside the classroom aligns with the work she does during the school year. Brown teaches visual arts at Birch Grove School for the Arts in Brooklyn Park. She’s even helped some of her students submit their artwork — and even place — at the Minnesota State Fair in other categories over the last few years.

This is Brown’s 17th year teaching and her third year submitting crop art. She plans to continue, as she finds crop art meditative and a way for her to reconnect with the art she teaches every day.

Kori Brown, who teaches visual art at Birch Grove School for the Arts, shares her excitement with CCX News after learning she won a Blue Ribbon.

Brooklyn Park