Kentucky

Artist: Kentucky State Fair removes award-winning miniature of pornography set

Preston Poling posted a picture of his award-winning miniature build to his Instagram page with a “Missing” stamp on it after Kentucky State Fair officials removed it from display, telling him it was inappropriate.
Preston Poling posted a picture of his award-winning miniature build to his Instagram page with a “Missing” stamp on it after Kentucky State Fair officials removed it from display, telling him it was inappropriate. Instagram, The Bearded Miniaturist

An award-winning miniature build was removed from the gallery at the 2024 Kentucky State Fair after it was deemed inappropriate, according to the maker.

The piece, a miniature depiction of The Casting Couch, a popular pornography set, won a third place award at the fair, according to Instagram posts from the build’s maker Preston Poling, who goes by the Bearded Miniaturist. However 12 hours later, the set was removed from the state fair’s gallery after officials deemed it inappropriate.

“It was such a fun piece to make and I wanted to enter it so people could get excited about it. Some people would know what it is and they would have fun, and I’ve had such a positive response off of this particular piece,” Poling said in an Instagram reel.

Poling completed the piece in June. The set was a simple room that featured a couch and a desk with a computer monitor and recording camera on it.

He entered it in the “I did it my way” category of the miniature contest, he said in an Instagram post. It was one of four pieces Poling submitted at the fair.

Louisville Public Media reported the fair allowed Poling to keep the award. A spokesperson for the fair told LPM that entries submitted to the fair are reviewed throughout the entirety of the fair.

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Christopher Leach
Lexington Herald-Leader
Chris Leach is a breaking news reporter for the Lexington Herald-Leader. He joined the newspaper in September 2021 after previously working with the Anderson News and the Cats Pause. Chris graduated from UK in December 2018. Support my work with a digital subscription
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