Self-Taught Artists, Self-Told Stories a folk art exhibit is open through Nov at the NWMAC Gallery in Thief River Falls

Self-Taught Artists, Self-Told Stories

A folk art exhibit

Open Now Through November

NWMAC Gallery

Northland Community and Technical College

1101 State Highway 1, Thief River Falls

Artist Reception TBD

 The Northwest Minnesota Arts Council (NWMAC) is pleased to announce our latest exhibit – Self-Taught Artists, Self-Told Stories: a folk art exhibit - at our gallery at Northland Community and Technical College, 1101 Highway 1 East in Thief River Falls. This exhibit will run through November 2026 and includes 110 pieces of folk art, including indigenous beading, acrylic, oil, wood carving, pottery, duck decoys of wood and cork, pen and ink, fiber art, weaving, metal work, lino cut, felted wool, wool and sheep leather, recipes, and music. Some of the indigenous pieces include dentalium shells, white buckskin leather, nylon thread, sweetgrass, mop floral, shell beads, green gems, birchbark, porcupine quills, nylon, brass, and acrylic paint. Twenty-seven artists, most from NW Minnesota with a few submissions from the Missouri Ozarks, contributed to this show. Some pieces of art are available for sale, including Christmas ornaments. One wall is dedicated to Middle River musician and radio host Cathy Erickson and her music career. 

What is folk art? Folk art reflects culture, history, and daily life. It embodies the history, heritage, traditions, or identity of a community, region, or country. Pieces are typically created by self-trained artists for everyday use or community performance. They can be utilitarian and/or decorative. Folk art is created with skills and traditional designs that are passed down orally and practically. Examples include duck decoy wood carving, bead work on Native American clothing or jewelry, painting such as rosemaling, music such as mariachi and polka, storytelling of community lore, and Fraktur calligraphy writing.  

Roseau Fiber Artist Aliza Novacek-Olson explained, “Folk art is a way of connecting to the past on a deeper level. It helps us understand not only the purpose behind an object, but also the social and cultural practices of the people who made and used it. When I create, I am not simply preserving traditional techniques. I am experiencing, in a small way, a way of life that is no longer part of our everyday world. Working with my hands allows me to slow down and consider how people once created what they needed, using the materials and knowledge available to them. In that process, the past feels a little closer. I submitted these fiber art pieces to highlight the importance of folk art. Through their handmade textures and traditional textile techniques, they evoke the clothing and household goods that might have been created by hand in a log cabin two hundred years ago. I hope they encourage visitors to experience the gallery and connect with this history firsthand.”

Fosston Artist Steph Anderson shared, “I have been knitting ever since my grandmothers taught me to knit more than 50 years ago. More recently I have been deep diving into Norwegian knitting as well as many other Scandinavian handcrafts.” Steph contributed other items for the exhibit including a red and white embroidered pocket. She explained, “Made from a damask napkin, red hand dyed wool yarn, and red bias tape. Before women had pockets sewn into their clothes, they wore their pockets tied or clipped onto their waist. The pockets were sometimes worn above their skirts and sometimes they were worn below their skirts - with a slit in the skirt to access the pocket. These pockets allowed women to decorate their pockets in their individual style. My pocket has a heart in the middle of a red snowflake with vines to coordinate.”

Crazy quilt created by Betsy Saurdiff

About her quilt in the exhibit, Betsy Saurdiff of Grygla said, “This crazy quilt incorporates fabric scraps, including material from my mother's wedding dress and my grandmother's fanciest Sunday dress. I studied and used many embroidery stitches, fascinated by the different techniques. The tactile feeling of the velours, silks and brocades, combined with the embroidery stitches is inviting to touch and see.”

Lillian Kuznia is a self-taught artist with no formal training. Her son Chris shared, “Painting, in particular, became a source of comfort and a way for her to capture the life around her. As a wife and homemaker raising a family on a farmstead, much of her work was inspired by things she could see and experience firsthand—the landscapes, buildings, animals, seasons, and everyday scenes of rural life. Other paintings came from memory rather than something directly in front of her. She would look back on places and moments that were important to her and recreate them through her art. Her painting of her childhood home is a good example of that—something painted later in life from her memories of growing up there. While she has no formal training, her artwork really reflects a lifetime of observation, memory, rural life, and teaching herself how to put those experiences onto canvas.”

NWMAC Folk Art Exhibit

Take a virtual walk through of this exhibit at https://youtu.be/faUB5l8dGLE (on the NWMAC YouTube page). The video is also available on our website under the exhibits tab on the top of the homepage.

An Artist Reception will be held at the gallery this fall. Watch our social media and website for details and an announcement.

The NWMAC Gallery at Northland Community and Technical College in Thief River Falls is at 1101 State Highway 1, Thief River Falls 56701. The gallery is open during Monday-Friday from 8 – 4:30 PM and at other times when events are held at the college. Please call to make sure the college is open before making a special trip. Hours can change. Enter through Door B, which is right next to the gallery. Visitor parking is free. 

For more information about this exhibit, visit our website at NWArtsCouncil.org, or if you are an artist interested in exhibiting a body of work with NWMAC, please contact Trey Everett at (218) 280-4917. Please sign up for our e-newsletter on our website home page to see the latest news and grant announcements. Email NWArtsCouncil@gmail.com or call 218-745-8886, ext 1 to reach our office during regular business hours.