Birch Grove School for the Arts, Osseo Senior High artists feature art at Minnesota State Fair

Osseo Area Schools was well-represented with award-winning artwork at the recent 2025 Minnesota State Fair. 

It’s only fitting that both a student and teacher from the district’s only arts-focused elementary school, Birch Grove School for the Arts, would represent the school with their state fair artwork.

Seed art has long been a popular staple of the Minnesota State Fair, and Birch Grove art teacher Kori Brown made it her mission to enter this competitive art space and win a ribbon. 2025 was her second attempt at that goal, and she spent about 75 hours this summer on a painstaking seed art project that ultimately led to a fourth place ribbon. 

Using a variety of Minnesota-grown seeds, from tiny poppy seeds and Dutch white clover to larger seeds like golden flax, wild rice and lentils, Brown painted each seed, rolled each in glue and placed it with a toothpick to ultimately create a 3D VHS tape clamshell box of A Goofy Movie. 

Birch Grove fifth grade student Kennedy Bunde had an award-winning pottery piece in the state fair this year, winning an honorable mention for a two-part bowl that she made as a fourth grade student.

“I was just making something random and thought I should make this into a cute strawberry,” Bunde said. 

Bunde was able to see her artwork on display at the fair, an experience she called “really cool.”

She made the outer part of the strawberry bowl using the potter’s wheel and used sponges to help smooth the edges before painting and glazing the piece. 

“That’s something unique about Birch Grove is that we have two potter’s wheels,” Brown said. “Grades 3-5 are able to use them, and we have adaptive equipment that goes on the potter’s wheels to help smaller people center their pieces.”

Bunde already has her sights set on another State Fair artwork for 2026, though she’s thinking of a drawing for her next fair-worthy creation.

Four artists from Osseo Senior High School also had their work featured and received awards at the Minnesota State Fair. Senior Luke Scott won the grand prize for all 12th graders and first place in his class for his clay piece made on the potter’s wheel. Junior Benjamin Sanvik won first place in his class for his clay piece made on the potter’s wheel. Junior Shiloh Fowlkes won first place in her class for her hand-built clay piece. Junior Peyton Fahrenbruch won second place in his class for his clay piece made on the potter’s wheel.