Festival Ruska 2022 at the Finnish American Folk School will feature two visiting artists during September and October. Randy “Da Bones Man” Seppala will teach students how to make and play rhythm bones. Fiber artist Anita Salminen Jain will offer two public presentations as well as two nuno felting workshops. Most of these events require advanced registration, so please check out the links below and reserve yourself a spot.
Make and Play Rhythm Bones
Instructor: Randy Seppala
Saturday + Sunday, September 24-25, 2022
10am-4pm
Jutila Center Model Shop, room 102
Class fee: $120
Materials fee: $20 (paid to instructor)
Registration is now closed. If you’re interested in a future bones making workshop, please email clare.zuraw@finlandia.edu for more information.
Rhythm bones playing is an old tradition here in the Upper Peninsula, and students can continue that tradition by learning how to craft and play their own set of bones. During this two-day workshop, participants will make a complete set of four bones beginning with cherry wood blanks provided by the instructor. After the completing their set, students will learn the basics of playing the instrument. No woodworking or musical experience is necessary. Open to ages 16 and up. Registration closes September 20th or when sold out.
Randy “Da Bones Man” Seppala is a percussionist who is well-known for making, playing, and teaching the rhythm bones. He trained with bones master Johnny Perona, participated in Michigan State University’s Traditional Arts Apprenticeship Program, and was a 2020 Upper Peninsula Folklife Awardee. He has performed with many musical groups including UP Gumbo, Lumber Jakki, “Hart, Harp and Bones”, The Finnish American All-Stars, and many blues artists and groups in Mississippi.
Nuno Felting – A Playful Introduction
Instructor: Anita Salminen Jain
Wednesday September 28, 2022
1pm – 5pm
Jutila Center Fiber Studio, room 105
Class fee: $60
Materials: $10 (paid to instructor)
Registration closed.
Nuno is a wet felting method that magically merges fine silk cloth with merino wool roving forming a solid bond. With this method you can create large, small, solid or translucent pieces of art, or wearable cloth.
In this class students will create a beautiful, fashionable piece of fiber art for the wall. We will discuss a few ways that fiber art maybe displayed to its best. Felting requires standing while designing the piece with dry felt on silk, some hand and arm strength while wet felting the piece, and you may get a little wet. No experience necessary. Open to ages 16 and up. Registration closes September 20th or when sold out.
Anita is a fiber artist whose work is inspired by Finnish nature and folklore. Anita was born in Finland. Both of her parents worked in the field of fiber and design, so one could say Anita was born in fiber. Anita creates large, detailed works depicting nature and nearly abstract characters of folklore through her Nuno Felting technique, wet felting merino wool on silk. Some pieces are enhanced by free machine stitching. Every work is born with a story. Anita Salminen Jain lives in Maple Grove, MN, with her husband.
Nuno Felt a Breezy Tunic
Instructor Anita Salminen Jain
Saturday October 1, 11am -4pm + Sunday October 2, 11am – 2pm
Jutila Center Fiber Studio, room 105
Class fee: $100
Materials fee: $ 30 (paid to instructor)
Registration closed.
Nuno is a wet felting method that magically merges fine silk cloth with merino wool roving forming a solid bond. With this method you can create large, small, solid or translucent pieces of art, or wearable cloth.
In this class students will create a beautiful light fabric for their own very simply constructed tunic, which we will finish on the second day when the fabric is dry by using a few hand stitches and scissors. Felting requires standing while designing the piece with dry felt on silk, some hand and arm strength while wet felting the piece, and you may get a little wet. No experience necessary. Open to ages 16 and up. Registration closes September 20th or when sold out.
Banner Making with Anita Jain
Friday, September 30, 2-5pm
Jutila Center Fiber Studio, room 105
Free, no registration required
The Finnish American Folk School needs a banner! Help Anita Salminen Jain and Phyllis Fredendall make a felt banner for the Folk School, or just come to watch the process. Either hands-on or just “eyes-on” it will be a lot of fun.
Nuno Felting Presentation with Anita Jain
Tuesday, September 27, 2-3pm
Finnish American Heritage Center
Free, no registration required
Join Anita Jain to learn about nuno felting technique and her work as a fiber artist.
Making and Creating With Natural Inks
Instructor: Terri Frew
Saturdays October 8 + 15, 2022
1pm-4pm
Jutila Center Fiber Studio
Class fee: $70
Materials fee: $7
Click here to register
Historically, one couldn’t simply run down to the art store to pick up materials to create with. Using materials from the natural world, artists were part scientist and part artist in producing media used to realize artworks. Join us to learn the traditional art of ink-making using natural plant materials harvested in your own backyard. Lessons on gathering and preparing the raw materials, safety in the studio, preservation, and storage will be taught. In addition to making ink, this course will also cover basic applications of your custom inks in the art studio.
No prior experience required. Please bring at least one cup of non-toxic plant material to make ink from. Some great choices are berries, acorns, avocado pits, red onion skins, purple grape skins, red cabbage, goldenrod flowers, marigold flowers, hibiscus flowers, beets, indigo leaves, grass, kale, and/or moss. A quantity of locally harvested walnuts will be provided by the instructor to make a shared ink. Please also bring clean glass jars to take your ink home in. Open to students age 16 and up. Registration closes October 5 or when sold out.
Terri Jo Frew is a practicing contemporary artist and Lecturer with the Visual & Performing Arts Department at Michigan Technological University, Houghton. Originally from Canada, she holds an MFA degree from Concordia University (Montréal), and exhibits her art internationally. Always working conceptually, her favorite methods of expression include (but aren’t limited to) embroidery and drawing.
Finnish-American Church Music: How on Earth Can It Be Interesting?
Lecture + Music by Dr. Samuli Korkalainen, University of the Arts Helsinki
Wednesday, October 5, 2022 – 4pm
Finnish American Heritage Center
Free, no registration required
In his post-doctoral research project, Dr. Samuli Korkalainen from Helsinki, Finland is focusing on Finnish-American church music from the late 19th century onwards. He has found hymnals, spiritual songbooks, and other printed and hand-written music written, composed, and edited by Finnish immigrants in the US and Canada – as well as interesting personalities, thoughts, and ideas behind them. Dr. Korkalainen has been collecting material both in Finland and North America; on this side of the Atlantic Ocean, in Minneapolis (Minnesota), Thunder Bay (Ontario, Canada), and here in Hancock, at the Finnish American Historical Archive. In this lecture, he will introduce his discoveries so far and explore why this topic is interesting and worth exploring. The lecture will include music and we will sing together.
The event is sponsored by the Finnish & Nordic Studies Program, The Finnish American Folk School, and The Finnish American Heritage Center.