Finlandia News

This morning I woke to some hopeful news. Finlandia University’s Finnish American Heritage Center, folk school, North Wind Books, the paper the Finnish American Reporter, archives and art gallery will be managed by Finlandia Foundation National, Inc. The foundations is based in California recognized the importance of the center and the importance of it to the community.

I’m grateful for this news and feeling bit lighter.

Read the full news report here.

The Closing of Finlandia

News broke yesterday that Finlandia University in Hancock, Michigan would close after the spring semester. Founded in 1896 as Suomi College, an institution founded by Finnish Americans. The news is devastating on some many fronts – for the faculty, staff, students, town, and region. Hancock is in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, an isolated and beautiful place. My own family has ties there in the past and some of our records are contained in the Finnish American Center’s archives.

I visited the area before my final year of grad school and the experience was transformative. It was the first place that I could visit to trace my family roots to the Finnish American community there. We visited the Suomi Restaurant (located in Houghton – just across the lift bridge from Hancock) that serves Finnish foods and is a meeting spot for many in the town. Nearby street signs are in English and in Finnish. The university’s gallery space and even center was filled with historic Finnish textiles. My first exposure to many of the weaving traditions of Finland that would keep me busy to this day researching them. A visit to the university bookstore sent me home with a rich selection of reading to begin my research.

Ryijy (Rya Rug) hanging in the Finnish American Center.

Suomi Restaurant

I knew I would return one day to explore more, but with life and the pandemic those plans were halted many times. What happens with a small university town when that school closes? My heart feels heavy in contemplating how things will change.

I am currently auditing a class through Finlandia – a class on the Kalevala the national epic of Finland. The class has been so fascinating with Finnish history woven into the lectures as well as history of the Upper Peninsula and the Finnish Americans. I have so much to learn about my heritage, and I am so grateful of the chance to learn. I had no idea how fleeting this opportunity would be.

Ryijy - Heroes of the Kalevala. Woven in Kajaani, Finland in 1936. Hanging in the Finnish American Center.

On Being at the Great Northern Festival

The Great Northern Festival in Minneapolis is a two week annual winter festival to celebrate the cold, dark times in the north with programming about art, creativity, food, culture and to spotlight climate concerns.  Yesterday as part of this festival, I had the chance to attend a live podcast recording of On Being with Krista Tippett. Tippett was interviewing biologist, writer and consultant Janine Benyus. I wasn’t familiar with Benyus before this event and I’m surprised that I’ve missed her work. Benyus popularized the term “biomimicry,” a discipline to use nature as a mentor to create designs and processes to create a more sustainable planet. You can watch her excellent TED talk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k_GFq12w5WU to learn more. I plan on reading her book Biomimicry: Innovation Inspired by Nature. 

The conversation took place in an intimate auditorium at the Minneapolis Art Institute. Folks braved our latest air blast to attend the hour and fifteen minute conversation. I took notes throughout and I’m still processing the conversation. It is one that I won’t soon forget. 

Sunset in the city through the window of the MIA.

Benyus spoke of a childhood spent observing her neighbors, the non-human neighbors, on the “wild edge of the suburbs.” I’ve heard similar statements from other biologists and artists. This is certainly true in my own life. She offered up the concept of nature as a mentor. This statement caused a murmuring in the group. It certainly resonated with me as well. Nature as a spiritual place, as mother, as mentor and as a home.

So much of the conversation reminded me of the work of Robin Wall Kimmerer who was also a guest on On Being. I’ve been following Tippett’s early radio show, Speaking of Faith, that evolved into On Being and is now a podcast for as long as I can remember. She has interviewed so many artists, scientists, writers, and thoughtful people. Some of them I knew and many of them I discovered through Tippett’s thoughtful questions. I’ve often wondered how she is able to draw people into rich conversations? Tippett is able to link a lifetime of work into a conversation that seems to at least touch on everything, but highlights the through line that connects it all. I think this simple complex answer is that she researches deeply into people she interviews. Benyus wasn’t the first person to express surprise at what Tippett had in her notes to ask about.

A few other On Being episodes that have impacted my thinking and my studio work - not a complete list: