Brookfield artist features cream puffs in winning 2024 State Fairtastic Poster Competition

As a fan of the Wisconsin State Fair, Brookfield artist Jeff Sadowski can confidently say that the cream puffs will always be delicious. They never go wrong, he said.

Therefore, it was natural for Sadowski to paint a poster featuring multiple cream puffs around other Wisconsin State Fair nostalgia items: the Giant Slide, the Ferris wheel, the SkyGlider and the cream puff pavilion.

This poster won the 2024 Fairtastic Poster Competition sponsored by the Wisconsin State Fair Park Foundation. This poster competition commemorates the 100th anniversary of the Wisconsin State Fair Cream Puff.

According to the Original Cream Puffs website, since 1924, the Wisconsin State Fair and the Wisconsin Bakers Association have joined together to run the Original Cream Puff bakery. It sells an average of 30,000 cream puffs per day during the Wisconsin State Fair, according to the website.

Sadowski's artwork will be featured on posters and postcards available for purchase during the 2024 Wisconsin State Fair, which runs from Aug. 1 to Aug. 11. The proceeds benefit the Wisconsin State Fair Park Foundation. This foundation, established in 1995, supports youth development programs and helps provide funding for capital improvements for Wisconsin State Fair Park.

"I recreated what excites me and to make it pretty inviting," said Sadowski. "I love the history of the fair. The fair kind of keeps you young, and it takes you away from your daily life."

Why Sadowski likes the cream puff

Sadowski admits that he is not big on the fair rides nor does he indulge in some of the adventurous food offered at the fair.

But one of his most favorite places at the fair is the Original Cream Puff Pavilion, he said.

Sadowski said that the line always seems so long, but at some point, he gets caught up in seeing the cream puffs being made and ― faster than he would have thought ― his cream puff is ready. "It is amazing watching them being made," he added.

He said that the cream puff is universal and everyone's favorite fair offerings. According to the Original Cream Puffs website, the cream puff has debuted different flavors such as strawberry cream, latte cream, cocoa cream, pumpkin spice cream and peppermint cream puff. 

When Sadowski visits the Wisconsin State Fair or any other fair or festival, he said he brings his camera and just like to people watch and take photos. "I am not a big ride guy and not too adventurous," he said. He said that he prefers people-watching and taking pictures of people enjoying themselves at the fair. He said in three to four hours, he can take 50 to 75 photos.

"I am always looking for something new to take, and I can find something different and interesting about each photo," said Sadowski.

Sadowski as an artist

Sadowski was born and raised in Racine and now lives in Brookfield, where he creates his artwork in his home studio. He calls his art "contemporary pop surrealism," an art method that combines factors of popular culture such as cartoons, characters of comic books and commercial art with fantasy and surrealism.

According to his professional artist website, acrylics are what Sadowski likes to paint with, but he also mastered the airbrush and developed his own unique painting style. Sadowski has been featured in galleries in California, Illinois, New Mexico and Wisconsin.

One of his paintings has been shown in the Charles Allis Art Museum in Milwaukee and he has been in two group shows at the Milwaukee Art Museum.

Sadowski said his goal is to continue to be self-sufficient as an artist, do side commercial gigs and show his art in more galleries.

For more information on Jeff Sadowski's art

For more information on Jeff Sadowski's art, visit www.jeffsadowskiart.com.

For more information on the Wisconsin State Fair

For more information on the Wisconsin State Fair, visit https://wistatefair.com/fair.

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Cathy Kozlowicz can be reached at 262-361-9132 or cathy.kozlowicz@jrn.com. Follow her on X at @kozlowicz_cathy.