Vermont artist Woody Jackson’s P’26 iconic cows are best known for gracing Ben & Jerry’s ice cream cartons. Now, they’ve found a new home on the cover of St. Lawrence Magazine, grazing on the lawn of Herring-Cole Hall. Discover the story behind the artwork and the family ties connecting one of Vermont’s best-known artists to St. Lawrence.
Woody Jackson’s P’26 cows have wandered across Vermont for decades. They’ve appeared on Ben & Jerry’s products, in galleries, on posters and T-shirts, and in homes throughout New England. For this issue of the St. Lawrence Magazine, they’ve made a new stop: the lawn outside Herring-Cole Hall.
The cover artwork depicting Jackson’s signature cows gathered in front of one of the University’s most iconic buildings perfectly captures the theme of this issue—a celebration of the deep connections between St. Lawrence and Vermont. This is a relationship Jackson knows well as both one of Vermont’s most recognizable artists and the parent of newly minted alumnus Silas Jackson ’26.
Jackson’s big break came in the early 1980s when Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield discovered his work in a gallery near Burlington. At the time, both the artist and the fledgling ice cream company were short on cash. Instead of a one-time payment, Jackson agreed to create artwork in exchange for royalties on T-shirts and other products. Forty years later, it remains one of the most fruitful creative partnerships in Vermont history.
“The cows have been very, very good to me,” Jackson says with characteristic humor.
Today, his celebrated bovine subjects are also a tribute to a changing Vermont. When Jackson graduated from Middlebury College and began farming and painting in the Champlain Valley, small dairy farms dotted nearly every country road. Today, many have vanished as agriculture has consolidated into a larger industry. “My images are sort of a throwback to when the cows were actually out,” he says, recalling a time when grazing herds were a common sight across the state’s landscape.
While Vermont remains central to his art, St. Lawrence University has become an important part of Jackson’s family story. Jackson’s stepdaughter, Kelsey Burns graduated in 2001 and participated in the University’s Madrid program, which Jackson remembers as an especially immersive and transformative experience. His nephew, Harlow Punderson ’22, founded the St. Lawrence chapter of Ducks Unlimited and now works for the organization in Bozeman, Montana. And his son Silas ’26, a graduate of Vermont’s Green Mountain Valley School, walked onto the men’s lacrosse team his sophomore year, an experience Jackson says became one of the highlights of his college years.
As a parent, Jackson has also come to appreciate the reach of the St. Lawrence network. Whether attending lacrosse games or selling artwork at the Waitsfield Farmers Market, he frequently meets Laurentians eager to share their St. Lawrence stories. “The SLU alumni network is really strong,” he says.
For Jackson, the connection feels natural. Like Vermont itself, St. Lawrence is a place where community, tradition, and a strong sense of place continue to matter—a fitting backdrop for an artist whose work celebrates all three.
