Fifty-Four Works, Twenty-Four Artists, and a Living Argument About Nordic Folk Art

DECORAH, Iowa — Visit the exhibit, “Nordic Echoes: Tradition in Contemporary Art,” open at Vesterheim, the National Norwegian-American Museum and Folk Art School, through December 31.

Organized by the American-Scandinavian Foundation (ASF), the traveling exhibit features contemporary Nordic folk arts and cultural traditions from the Upper Midwest (North and South Dakota, Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan).

It includes 54 works of paper cutting, rosemaling, weaving, decorated sheepskin coverings called skinnfell, sculpture, and ceramics by 24 contemporary artists. Highlighting innovations to and variations on traditions, this exhibit presents artists' works as living, malleable forms grounded in traditional skills rather than as static objects rooted in the imagined past.

“It's wonderful to have these artworks, some of which test the boundaries of Scandinavian folk art, at Vesterheim,” Laurann Gilbertson, Vesterheim Chief Curator, said. “Come see why the exhibit is titled, ‘Tradition in Contemporary Art!’”

Many of the artists included in the exhibit have Vesterheim connections. Pieper Blomquist and Tara Austin are presenting upcoming online webinars about decorative painting. They are also Folk Art School instructors, along with KJ Groven, Jerry Johnson, Lucy and Gene Tokheim, Karen Rebholz, Beth Homa Kraus, Elizabeth Belz, and Christine Novatny. Teresa Faris's work has been in previous Vesterheim exhibits, and a piece by Bill Amundsen is in the Vesterheim collection.

Look for announcements of upcoming online and onsite programs in connection with the exhibit. Sally Yerkovich from the American-Scandinavian Foundation will give a gallery talk, joined by several artists, at Vesterheim's Norwegian Christmas celebration on December 5.

Based in New York City, the American-Scandinavian Foundation is a leading cultural and educational link between the U.S. and Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden that works to build international understanding through an extensive program of fellowships, grants, intern sponsorship, publishing, and cultural offerings.

“Nordic Echoes” at Vesterheim is supported by a generous gift to the annual fund from Dr. James and Christine Tuve Burris. The exhibit is a program of the American-Scandinavian Foundation with support, in part, from the National Endowment for the Arts and the following ASF funds: The Bonnier Family Fund for Contemporary Art, The F. Donald Kenney Fund for the Visual Arts, and The Centennial/Second Century Fund. Mid-America Arts Alliance/Exhibits USA is facilitating the Upper Midwest exhibition tour, which is supported by Margaret Cargill Philanthropies, a generous contributor to the exhibition's development.

Vesterheim, the National Norwegian-American Museum and Folk Art School, welcomes people of all ages and backgrounds to engage in the conversation of the American immigrant journey through the lens of the Norwegian-American experience. For more information on exhibits, classes, programs, tours, membership opportunities, and ways to donate and volunteer, connect at vesterheim.org, (563) 382-9681, and Vesterheim, 520 W. Water St., P.O. Box 379, Decorah, IA, 52101-0379.

Press release, reproduced as received from Vesterheim.