Show of Hands: Art in Education

press release: From May 2–4, 2019, the Sustaining Scandinavian Folk Arts in the Upper Midwest project will be bringing Scandinavian and Scandinavian-American folk artists, scholars, and community members together for a symposium on Scandinavian traditional arts. Following last year’s successful World Record Symposium, which focused on Scandinavian and Scandinavian-American music in the Upper Midwest, the 2019 event will focus on material folk arts in the region. The symposium will include artist demonstrations of fiber arts, woodcarving, rosemaling, and more, as well as artist presentation panels covering topics such as apprenticeships, sustaining traditions, and folks arts in education.

We’re excited to welcome Valorie Arrowsmith (weaving), Rose Arrowsmith DeCoux (storytelling), Tara Austin (rosemaling), Else Bigton (woodcarving), Torben Jarlstrøm Clausen (paper cutting), Kathryn Hartman (knitting), Andrea Herkert (rosemaling), Allen Holzhueter (knitting), Annikki Martilla (weaving), Phillip Odden (woodcarving), Pekka Olsen (woodcarving), Fredrik Prost (drum making), and Auður Björt Skúladóttir (knitting),

All events are free and open to the public and will be held at the Monona Terrace Convention Center in Madison, Wisconsin. The full schedule is now available online.

For those of you coming from out of town, we’ve gathered some information on accommodation options in Madison.

The event is generously sponsored by the Sustaining Scandinavian Folk Arts in the Upper Midwest project, Wisconsin Teachers of Local Culture, Mills Music Library, the Department of German, Nordic, and Slavic, the Center for the Study of Upper Midwestern Cultures, the Society for the Advancement of Scandinavian Study and in partnership with the Wisconsin Arts Board, the Minnesota State Arts Board, Livsreise – Norwegian Heritage Center, Vesterheim Norwegian-American Museum and Heritage Center, North House Folk School, and the Wisconsin Historical Society.