Silver & Jewelry
Kim Bakken-Parr began her career as a high school chemistry teacher who loved to work in the lab. Her love of chemistry and teaching has continued as she shares her passion for the creative medium of Precious Metal Clay jewelry. Her husband, Lee Parr, has been involved in arts and crafts for years and they make a great teaching team. They are active in the White Bear Center for the Arts.
Marilyn Hanson lives on the South Dakota side of Big Stone Lake in western Minnesota. She has a passion for various art mediums and has been involved with MVAS for 19 years. Her father and sister, both former students of MVAS silver classes, introduced her to this fascinating art. Marilyn is semi-retired and is now able to offer 3 day classes this year. She is a veteran student of advanced silversmithing, silver spoons, bracelets, earrings and technique classes. She has been teaching silver classes since 2012. She enjoys teaching and sharing her knowledge. She is always amazed at the new ideas and designs that her students bring to her class. Her sister, Kathy Nardi, a talented silver and jewelry artist, often assists with beginner classes.
William Kennealy is a master goldsmith who has been a full-time Goldsmith since March of 1979. He has taught jewelry manufacturing and repair classes at the college level for 20 years. One of his specialties is stone setting. Setting every species of stone and every shape in all styles of settings. He comes from a family of educators and had a passion for teaching and for students.
Kathy Nardi discovered her love of silversmithing when she and her dad took their first silversmithing class together from Tom Johnson over 20 years ago. Since then, she has taken numerous classes from Tom, the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, GIA(the Gemological Institute of America), and has worked closely with an award-winning gold and silversmith. She has thoroughly enjoyed the enthusiasm and eagerness of her students to learn new things. She resides in St. Cloud, MN.
Norma Refsal became very interested and familiar with many of the Scandinavian folk arts while living with her family in Norway. She currently does work in metal, leather and wood, and her inspiration is closely tied to the Nordic folk art traditions. She lives in Decorah, Iowa with her husband, Harley, and they work together in their home studio.
Sue Roisen, a long time member of MVAS, studied Sami bracelets from Norma Refsal. Sue has a keen interest in Sami culture and traditions and is constantly creating new Sami bracelet patterns. When she is not making bracelets, Sue enjoys working in her Lac qui Parle Valley Vineyard near Dawson, MN.
Scandinavian
Karen Aakre is a fiber farmer that spins, weaves, and felts sheep wool. She travelled to Norway to learn this craft from Britt Solheim. She taught art for 15 years and has taught this craft since 2011. Karen is very involved in her Norwegian heritage and raises sheep llamas and goats.
Faith Clover. Born in Minnesota, Faith is the granddaughter of Swedish immigrants. She taught art education at the University of Minnesota and is a student of all things Swedish. She has taken groups of students to study crafts at Sätergläntan in Sweden. She hopes to interest others in this relatively unknown craft.
Clarice Dieter was inspired by her interest in her Norwegian heritage to study rosemaling and has continued to study and teach rosemaling since 1977. Clarice is active in the Terrace Rosemaling Association, Terrace, MN, the Prairie Renaissance Cultural Alliance Art Gallery in Morris, MN and the Art of the Lakes Gallery in Battle Lake, MN. Clarice lives in Morris.
Norma Refsal became very interested and familiar with many of the Scandinavian folk arts while living with her family in Norway. She currently does work in metal, leather and wood, and her inspiration is closely tied to the Nordic folk art traditions. She lives in Decorah, Iowa with her husband, Harley, and they work together in their home studio.
Jon Roisen started making Norwegian knives with Gene Tokheim in 1995. Since then he’s fine tuned his knife making skills to become a Gold Medal winner at the Vesterheim. Jon has assisted Gene in teaching at MVAS for over 10 years and needs no introduction to returning Norwegian Knife Making students. Jon and his wife Sue own the Lac qui Parle Valley Vineyard and are board members of MVAS.
Sue Roisen, a long time member of MVAS, studied Sami bracelets from Norma Refsal. Sue has a keen interest in Sami culture and traditions and is constantly creating new Sami bracelet patterns. When she is not making bracelets, Sue enjoys working in her Lac qui Parle Valley Vineyard near Dawson, MN.
Lynette Swenson has been wheat weaving for over 20 years. She is a retired art teacher of 39 years. Presently, she farms with her husband by DeGraff, MN. Doing so allows her to grow her own wheat!
Carving & Working with Wood
Jock Holmen has been a professional woodcarver for over 40 years. He began his career at Baker Furniture in Michigan, and started his company, Norwegian Termite, in 1979 in Chicago. He won his first woodcarving award at the National Exhibition of Folk Art, Decorah, IA, to be followed by several other awards, including achieving his Gold Medal status in 2010. He has received training and tutoring from various American and Norwegian master carvers, including Hans Sandom, Phillip Odden, Bjarte Aarseth, and others. Specializing in design and hand carving in the Scandinavian traditions, Jock teaches classes in flat-plane figure carving, Norwegian acanthus, timber carving, lettering and other woodcarving techniques at North House Folk School (Grand Marais), Vesterheim Norwegian-American Museum Folk School (Decorah, IA), Colonial Williamsburg’s Cabinet Shop, and in his home studio. He co-teaches Introduction to Woodcarving as part of ISD 191 Community Education. Jock demonstrates woodcarving, drawing, and tool sharpening at various festivals, events, and retail outlets in the area.
Bill Jaeger, Anoka, has been figure carving in the Scandinavian traditional style since 1992. The last six years he has taught regularly at the American Swedish Institute in Minneapolis as well as other carving venues. A draftsman by trade, Bill has since taken many folk arts and craft courses here and in Sweden. Bill won the 2009 Gold Medal for wood carving at the Vesterheim Museum in Decorah, Iowa and demonstrated carving at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts’ Nordic oil painting exhibition.
Paul Linden is a sculptor and maker of things who lives in Minneapolis and works in the Art Department of the University of Minnesota. He has taught courses and workshops in sculptural woodworking, metal fabrication and metal-casting as well as traditional craft techniques. Paul has almost never met a tool that he didn’t like, and proves this by his ever-expanding collection. He takes great satisfaction from using self-made tools and is constantly modifying, remaking, and learning the use of old and new hand tools. Paul tries hard to spend all of his extra time either in the wood or metal shop, or outside with his kids.
Fred Livesay discovered his woodworking abilities at age 7 and later trained as a wheelwright and carriage builder. In college, he went on to study Scandinavian folk art and decorative arts. Fred is a restoration carpenter who also builds and repairs fine furniture, turns bowls, & weaves baskets. Fred is a founder of North House Folk School, has been a Slöjd instructor at the Waldorf schools in the cities, has studied hand craft extensively in Sweden and is a frequent and highly regarded instructor at Spoonfest held each year in England.
Steve Mullins began his woodworking career more than 30 years ago after earning a degree in carpentry and woodworking from Alexandria TCC. He started Mullins Woodworks in 1985 and specializes in turning wooden bowls and wood art on the lathe. His work has been sold across the country and around the world. Steve is a lifelong resident of west central Minnesota and lives in New Prairie township near Cyrus.
Jim Paulson has had a passion for artistic expression most of his life and some of his work has been published in magazines. A woodcarver since 1981, Jim acquired skills with world renowned carvers beginning in the mid 90’s, and he has focused on Scandinavian carving in its different forms, flat plane figure carving, low relief and chip carving, and acanthus. More recently, he has become an accomplished carver of Norwegian Ale Bowls. A pastor at St. Olaf Lutheran Church in Devils Lake, ND, he has taught classes on carving, including chip carving and carving Norwegian ale bowls. The recipient of awards by the North Dakota Council on the Arts to preserve and innovate on the cultural tradition of carving ale bowls, he has made numerous presentations to teach about ale bowl carvings. Jim is also an active member of the Lake Region Woodcarvers.
Harley Refsal has taught Scandinavian-style figure carving throughout the U.S. as well as in Norway, Sweden and Iceland. A professor of Scandinavian Folk Art at Luther College in Decorah, Harley regularly demonstrates and gives presentations on Norwegian folk art and traditions, and has authored several books and numerous articles on Scandinavian figure carving.
Ty Thornock has been kolrosing intensively for the past two years. He has written a book on kolrosing available for free download and currently has work on display in the Vesterheim Museum (The National Norwegian American Heritage Center and Museum).
Painting & Sketching
Michele Steffen has been a professional freelance artist for over 30 years. She draws and paints in a wide variety of mediums creating works for private collectors, designers and public art projects. Michele touches the lives of several hundred budding artists each year with her signature warm and encouraging teaching style during school residencies, private and group lessons and workshops for all ages. Her studio is located in Spicer, MN.
Prairie Living
Maureen Hark lives with her family on a small urban farm in St. Paul, MN, where she specializes in growing garlic and a variety of peppers. She teaches at and is the cofounder of Growing West Side, an organization that promotes building community connections through a shared interest in gardening. Maureen has been baking her whole life with a particular fondness for breads both yeast and quick.
Brian Wolf began picture framing as a part time job as a student atIowa State University. In his shop he developed the decorative matting techniques that he has been teaching to other picture framers around the world since 1979. In 2002 Brian started work with Wizard International where he works with the computerized mat cutter and continues to contribute articles on framing design to industry publications.
Hua Yang lives and works in St. Paul. She loves to cook with others and share her family’s Hmong food traditions with children and adults alike.
Eggs, Glass & Weaving
Kim Bakken-Parr began her career as a high school chemistry teacher who loved to work in the lab. Her love of chemistry and teaching has continued as she shares her passion for the creative medium of Precious Metal Clay jewelry. Her husband, Lee Parr, has been involved in arts and crafts for years and they make a great teaching team. They are active in the White Bear Center for the Arts.
John Rajtar is a Folk Artist living in Minneapolis, where the Polish language, culture and traditions have always been a part of his life. He has a Fine Arts degree from Winona State University. He’s involved with Polish Folk Art – demonstrating, teaching, exhibiting at the Festival of Nations, Polish Festival Minneapolis, Polish Festival in Milwaukee, Carpathian Festival St. Paul, MN State Fair, Polish Cultural Museum of Winona. He receive Best of Show at the 2016 Powderhorn Art show and his Pisanki have been at The Minneapolis Institute of Arts Museum Shop. He currently teaches at The Ely and Duluth Folk Art Schools.