‘Highly disappointed’: Maryland’s exhibit at the Great American State Fair falls short for some

At the Great American State Fair, you can milk a fake cow in the Michigan booth, win a plush manatee in Florida’s and dig for dinosaur bones in Montana’s.

Maryland’s exhibit features posters. They extol its waterways, seafood and history. It’s a “great place to call home,” one of them promises.

Plenty of fairgoers have peeked into Maryland’s tent during the 16-day Great American State Fair on the National Mall — but few have stayed long.

“I think they could have advertised themselves much better,” Joan McCuiston said of her home state’s display, suggesting it highlight Maryland history and the Chesapeake Bay. “It’s almost like they didn’t show up.”

On one recent day at the fair, which began June 25, staff minding the booth offered visitors branded swag from the the Maryland Higher Education Commission and the University System of Maryland at Southern Maryland.

The only interactive aspect of the display, which neighbors Maine’s, is a photo booth that captures visitors against various Maryland backdrops, including a 19th century cityscape and a harbor scene of the future, where people dress like the crew of “Star Trek.”

The fair, which covers most of the National Mall, is attracting tourists from across the country as part of the Trump administration’s observance of the nation’s 250th birthday. On Saturday, the mall will host what President Donald Trump boasts as the “largest fireworks display in history.” The fair is a production of Freedom 250, a public-private partnership to oversee the nation’s semiquincentennial intended to feature all states and territories.

But some clearly made more of an effort. Fair attendees play mini golf in South Carolina’s exhibit. Tennessee gives out bags of peanut brittle. Colorado invites visitors to play a video game in which they navigate a river.

Maryland’s bare-bones contribution, by contrast, seems to impress few.

“You can tell the governor I’m highly disappointed. This is not Maryland,” one woman who did not give her name remarked as she exited the booth.

But some booths offer less than Maryland’s.

Exhibit space for Connecticut, Washington and several other states showed little more than generic signage. Some state officials have said it would have cost too much to do more. Others opted out of the fair after accusing Trump of politicizing it.

A spokesperson for Gov. Wes Moore, who has frequently clashed with Trump, did not respond to an inquiry about Maryland’s exhibit.

Maryland art on the mall

One bright spot of Maryland culture at the fair is the colorful and energetic work of Baltimore artist April Skye Greene in a corner of the state’s tent.

Standing by her work, the artist said she was excited to show off her creations but somewhat nervous about the high security on the mall and the heat — temperatures had climbed high into the 80s and will go higher this week.

“If I get a chance to show my artwork and have people understand what my art is, then I’m OK,“ she said.

Other visitors said they learned something from their brief visit to Maryland on the Mall.

“I didn’t know Maryland is the sailing capital of the world. I had no idea,” Sally Green of Virginia said. “I love the fun facts and stuff that they had.”

But Cheverly’s Molly Leeman said her home state fell short.

She visited the mall Tuesday, “Innovation, Technology & Progress” day at the fair, which features a different theme every day.

Representatives from Maryland’s Higher Education Commission, in keeping with the theme, showed up to explain how the state’s colleges and universities excel in science and technology.

Leeman said she didn’t stop to absorb or read the commission’s display.

“It’s great, but there’s much more to learn about the state of Maryland,” she said. “That’s not what I would have expected to see.”