Oklahoma State Sugar Art Show
September 27-28, 2008 (setup on September 26)
 
 
   
   Home
   Event Details
   2007 Winners
   2007 Candids
   Contact
 
   Media Coverage
   Fun with Sugar

 
 
Dear friends,
 
Welcome to the Oklahoma State Sugar Art Show web site which has been especially set up to provide timely information and entry forms, as well as pictorial inspiration for contestants, visitors and brides alike. I will be your personal guide for all aspects of the sugar art show. Please contact me at kvsugarart@aol.com with any questions you might have.
 
Having just concluded an incredible competition this past September, it is now time to look forward to 2008.
 
So what’s in store? Let me tell you.
 
OKLAHOMA SUGAR ARTISTS
will present
THE OKLAHOMA STATE SUGAR ART SHOW
and
THE LANGUAGE OF FLOWERS 2008
 
Nature provides us with endless inspiration. Competitors will have a rewarding time researching the language of flowers. From birth until death, flowers have been intimately connected with man in a myriad of ways. Newborn babies are welcomed with flowers, brides are wreathed in flowers, and at life’s end we are respected with floral tributes. Most flowers have special meaning; some well known and others obscure. The Victorians were accustomed to using flowers as romantic symbols when expressing their feelings. Flowers tell tales in perfumed words. Look, for example at the rose; each variety and color reveals a different message, while the delicate iris represents faith, hope, wisdom and valor. Even foliage has its place: ivy for fidelity and friendship, lemon balm brings love, while the juniper promises protection. Some are even carnivores! The flowers used on the wedding cake must communicate a real message to the judge and viewer, not just represent a thoughtless hodge-podge of overkill.  The discerning sugar artist will realize that winning entries will not look as though they had been blasted by a shotgun full of flowers with no design line or story. The theme can also be inspired from, but are not limited to, sources other than the Victorians: gardens, parks, poetry, musical scores, ikebana, clothing, conservatories or national flowers.
Dressing the bridal table is just like coordinating a wardrobe; all of the complementary elements must be there. The contestant’s chosen theme must be echoed in the table design.
Entrants who don't care to fuss with all the individual table ornamentation may enter the Oklahoma State Sugar Art Show, the companion event that focuses on the skill of the decorator without added to-do. Little or no table decoration is required and contestants may compete against their peers in experience-appropriate divisions with nine different categories from which to choose.
This Grand National event, the only one of its kind in the United States, attracts food service professionals as well as the bridal market: a huge source of inspiration meant to push the envelope, educate and inspire.
Save the dates for 2008: mark your calendar for setup on September 26 and the competition and exhibition will follow on September 27 and 28, with demonstrations from the dynamic Marina Souza and Dawn Nemec. This talented team has won more money than any other contestant pair in Food Network Challenges! You won’t want to miss the chance to attend their class September 29 and 30. The class fee is $200; first come, first served. Already students have signed up for this unique opportunity. Please connect with Loydene Barrett to register.
Another applause generator has been the recently introduced live competition which has added a new element of interest. For the third year, contestants have created “one-off” concepts; in 2007, we saw amazing five-tiered bridal towers created from Chocopan and Rice Krispies® Treats using Bakery Craft cupcake stands. Paul Edwards gave entertaining commentary describing competitor progress, much to the delight of the thousand-strong audience stacked high in the bleachers.
This annual production is intended to promote the world of sugar craft and the products that are available from our sponsors. Please support them and their products – there is a direct link to each web site where you can access information and equipment that will speed your growth in the art of sugar-craft.
BRIDES MAGAZINE AND FOOD NETWORK NEWS
 
For more entertainment throughout the year, don’t forget to watch Food Network programming to see our award-winning artists featured on past and future Challenges and the Sugar Art Show.
 
And there’s even more magic: Maria McBride, wedding style editor for Bride’s magazine, attended the recent exhibition as she was on the lookout for new talent. Maria chose several artists’ designs for inclusion in magazine layouts in 2008. Bride’s has an annual circulation in excess of two million, so this is indeed fortuitous for those involved. Once having appeared in a spread such as this, the positive impact on the participant’s business is incalculable.
 
Food Network TV has aired countless one-hour broadcasts of this competition during the past four years. Coupled with proven print coverage, we have reached millions of people. The exhibition attracts a local audience of more than 80,000 visitors each year.
 
There is more good news. The Tulsa World newspaper ran a special supplement celebrating the Oklahoma State Centennial, which has just concluded this past November. The citizens of Oklahoma were asked to participate in a statewide opinion survey for their favorite foods, cookbook authors and food events, one to apply for each of the past 100 years. The Oklahoma State Sugar Art Show was voted #20 in a list of 100 state icons for the century!
 
Many of the entries have already or will appear in upscale magazines in the United States and overseas in publications such as: Cake Craft and Decoration (UK), American Cake Decorating, Pasticceria Internazionale (Italy), Texas Wedding Guide and World Class Weddings. The list also includes: Culinary Trends, American Culinary Review, Here Comes the Cake, Catering, Baking Buyer, and Modern Wedding Cakes and Chocolates (Australia), just to name a few. American Cake Decorating, as well as Cake Craft & Decoration, provides ongoing updated coverage from issue to issue, so please don’t forget to subscribe.
 
The following companies sponsor a special baking division: Guittard Chocolate, Royal Pacific Foods, and Nielsen Massey Vanillas. Entrants receive a complimentary variety package of these products for their test kitchens and each of the ingredients are required in the final innovative presentation. In addition, King Arthur Flour provides substantial gift hampers to augment the prize package.
 
The 2008 special event, sponsored annually by Eileen Walker, will be entitled BIRDS & NESTS. The showpiece can include flowers, foliage, nuts and berries to complement the natural setting of the nesting birds.
 
At the moment, a decision is in the process of being made as to the theme of the live competition; the baking competition will focus on decorated chocolate truffles.
 
The price of admission to this icon event at $8 is minimal – all visitors can access the show, the exhibition and world-class demonstrations for this tiny cost. Entrants pay extremely low entry fees for their show experience and the hotel rates are the fairest and most inexpensive rates possible – please visit the Accommodations link. Each year the bar is raised with contestants producing outstanding and innovative work.
 
In accordance with the show’s admittedly very public nature and stated mission to educate and inspire, contestants know that they are expected to exhibit professional courtesy, general civility and good manners to all at the event. Sportsmanship is a key trademark; attendees must honor the judges and their integrity, realizing that the decision-making is an extremely challenging and tiring process. While final decisions are based on the requirements of the score sheets, professional contestants also realize that there is a certain element of subjective opinion. We recognize and appreciate that the judges work long hours to determine who is the “best of the best.”  
Good wishes to all,
 
Kerry Vincent
 
 
Kerry Vincent