July 18, 19, 20, 2008
Special Events
Karin Larsson
Karin Larsson, the granddaughter of Sweden's most famous painter Carl Larsson
will be joining us at this year's Festival.
Karin will present programs about her Grandfather Carl, talk about the pictures on exhibit
and be available to talk with those attending the Festival.
Karin standing next to portrait of her Grandmother Karin.
This portrait is located on a sliding door to the original workshop at the family home in Sundborn, Sweden. Of the portrait, Carl Larsson said "I have painted my idol on the sliding door."
Carl Larsson often painted pictures of his children in his paintings including the mother of our guest.
Karin will talk about her family as included in the displayed Carl Larsson prints.
Another topic that Karin will present is "The Scandinavian artist-colony in Grez-sur-Loing." Grez-sur-Loing, a little village south of Paris, is where Carl and Karin Larsson fell in love. Grez-sur-Loing also became their home for the first three years of their marriage. A slide presentation will include several of the paintings that Carl Larsson completed while in Grez-sur-Loing.
We are most grateful that Karin and her husband David William-Olsson have chose the Scandinavian Folk Festival as her first visit to the United States.
Carl Larsson Art Gallery
Enjoy over 20 framed prints by Carl Larsson in our special exhibit.
In the United States, Carl Larsson is the most famous Swedish painter.
Many of his watercolors depict daily life of his family around their home in Sundborn located in Dalarna in Sweden. Copies of the prints will be available for sale.
Scandinavian Art Exhibit
This year's Festival is celebrating the artistic expressions of internationally recognized and local artists.
There will be three major exhibits located in the Weeks Gallery, the Weeks Conference Room, and the Exhibit Hall.
A). In JCC's Weeks Gallery will be three diverse exhibits.
Albert Johnson, a Scandinavian American artist,
painted romantic landscapes of Sweden and Chautauqua County. One of his most spectacular images is of Celoron Park, Celoron, New York; the vibrant color and luminous sunset atmosphere in this spectacular image have inspired audiences - young and old. We are pleased to announce that three of the Johnson's paintings (including Celeron Park) were just purchased by the SFF, Scandinavian Studies, the JCC Foundation/Weeks Gallery, and an anonymous donor.
Johnson, was born in Sweden in 1870, moved to the United States in 1891, and died on January 31, 1931. Pastor Carl G. Girelius presented Johnson's eulogy and said, "His life was unpretentious.......he was not rich, he was poor. Nevertheless, there was in his life a rich soil, out of which grew flowers of exquisite splendor…. In Johnson, I discovered an inherent refinement in taste, an artist's sense, a poet’s vision of life, a deep religious tendency, and an unsatisfied yearning. This life was in truth like mining, where a pure gold vein had still to be discovered."
John Kimmich-Javier, presents From the Silence to the Light: Photographs of Swedish Architecture and Sculpture. The silence refers to the quiet, vacant rooms, and the light symbolizes John’s revelation of Sweden’s remarkable architectural history and the significance of light to Baroque art, chiaroscuro effects, and modern photography. In addition, Kimmich-Javier’s stunning panoramic, color photographs of the architecture and people of Stockholm add color and variety to his exhibition.
Kimmich-Javier is a full professor at Iowa University’s school of journalism. Assignments have taken him to Sweden to photograph palace interiors for his series From the Silence to the Light: Photographs of Swedish Architecture and Sculpture; to Cairo, Egypt to record an ancient ceramist community; and to Spain to document architecture and cultural events. He has exhibited in prestigious galleries and museums across the nation and around the world and has received a number of international awards and grants, including several first place awards for the National Press Photographers Association Picture of the Year Competition.
Marion Belanger presents Continental Drift. "In Iceland, the North American Plate is moving westward, creating new crust as magma pushes up from the mantle.
Geologically, this place marks a divergent boundary, characterized by splitting earth, steaming hot water and a young lava landscape almost devoid of trees. The land is unstable and raw. Geodesic domes and geothermal greenhouses -structures created to hold the thermodynamic forces for heat and electricity - dot the countryside,” writes Belanger. Her images document the social landscape with a surreal, postmodern vision.
Belanger was the 2006 recipient of the American Scandinavian Foundation Fellowship (ASF) to photograph Iceland’s geothermal sites, and received Yale’s John Simon Guggenheim Foundation Fellowship for the same project. Belanger received her Master of Fine Arts degree from Yale and her undergraduate degree from Alfred University. Her photographs are included in many permanent collections including the Library of Congress, the Corcoran Museum of Art, the Yale University of Art, the New Orleans Museum of Art, and the International Center of Photography.
B). In JCC's Weeks Conference Room will be the Carl Larsson
exhibit as described above.
C). In the Exhibit Hall located in the Carnahan Jackson Center
will be another major display of artwork.
Anders Beer Wilse, 1865-1949 was a Norwegian photographer whose photography visually documented Norway in the early to mid 20th century. In addition, he spent 17 years of his life in the Seattle, Washington area and took many photos of the Indians of the Pacific Northwest. Most of his negatives are preserved at museums including the Norsk Falkemuseum, Oslo Bymuseum, the National Library of Norway and the Norwegian Maritime Museum. Over 100 of his photos will be displayed at this year's Folk Festival. There will also be a lecture presentation on his life.
In addition, the Exhibit Hall will include original paintings by local artists including Roger Tory Peterson and more of Albert Johnson's works. Other local artists to be featured include Gerald Heglund.
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Ole Oleson - Norwegian Immigrant
Roger R. Hellesvig, from Minneapolis, MN, is a living history reenactor/educator who portrays a 19th Century
Norwegian immigrant named Ole Oleson. Using an immigrant trunk as a focal point, he will tell what it was like to immigrate,
to America, in the mid 1800s. He discusses the choices that immigrants had to make when coming to this new land. He will also
talk about some of the traditions that go along with the items in the trunk. Several of his presentations will be for children. At other times he will share his role playing for an adult audience. Ole will only be at the Festival on Saturday.
Anni Holm - Knitting in a NetWorking Project
Anni Holm, a performance artist who was born in Denmark and now resides in Chicago, will present NetWorking at the Sarita Weeks Gallery on Friday and Saturday of the Festival.
Anni explains, "NetWorking is an ongoing knitting installation/performance art piece that was originally created by Nyok-Mei Wong (Malaysia) & Anni Holm (Denmark) in 2006. The NetWorking project physically demonstrates how a network is constructed and constantly changing."
What is NetWorking, exactly? It is a cooperative art-project (comparable to a quilting bee) that includes small knitting groups who complete individual sections of a mult-armed piece Men and women (young and old) all physically knit together; but it's much more than that - the participants tell stories, share life experiences, relay histories, reveal secrets, and tell jokes and laugh. The collaborative artwork and beautiful tapestry of lives are knitted together. James Colby, JCC’s director of the Weeks Gallery, comments, "I recently witnessed Anni's Networking at a Society of Photographic Educators National Conference in Denver. She immediately drew a crowd of enthusiastic participants; they were having fun knitting and sharing lively conversations. Tell your friends, join us, be part of this rare and unusual art happening."
Traditional Midsummer Celebration
Highlights:
Marching in of Midsummer Pole
Accompanied by the Festival's musicians
Ring dancing around the pole.
On Friday there will be a workshop on decorating the midsummer pole.
The traditional Midsummer celebration will begin at 11:00 AM on Saturday
with the grand parade of the flags of Scandinavia and all of the Festival musicians.
After the pole is raised in the Midsummer court, everyone will have
the opportunity to participate in ring dances around the pole.
Midsummer is a celebration of sunlight and nature.
For Scandinavian people this is especially important because of the many dark days of winter.
This is an opportunity for today's families to celebrate as our ancestors have done for generations.
Loppis
A Loppis is a Scandinavian flea market. At the Festival we will offer a Loppis market
of new and used Scandinavian items. Are you looking for some Swedish glass including Orrefors and Kosta Boda, books, antiques, paintings? Will you find something like grandma used to have?
Who knows what treasures will be sold this year!
Folk Art Chinese Raffle
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A number of items will be raffled during the Festival. One can purchase tickets at the Festival Information Booth and deposit them for a chance to win your selected items.
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Roger Tory Peterson
| Roger Tory Peterson was born August 28, 1908 in Jamestown, New York to Swedish immigrant Charles Gustav Peterson and German immigrant Henrietta Bader. This year the Roger Tory Peterson Institute and the Jamestown community are celebrating the 100th anniversary of his birth. Roger grew up and graduated from high school here in Jamestown. He became a world renowned ornithologist, naturalist, author, lecturer and artist.
| The Scandinavian Folk Festival, Scandinavian Studies Program and the Swedish Council in America have collaborated with the Roger Tory Peterson Institute to assist with his birth celebration. A film about Roger Tory Peterson is being developed and will be exhibited at the Festival. Some of his original artwork will be in the exhibit hall at the Festival.
The Roger Tory Peterson Institute, which is just a short walk down the road, will have special hours during the Festival in order to welcome Festival visitors.
The Institute will have a more extensive exhibit of his life.
www.rtpi.org
Fenton History Center to Provide Genealogy Research
at the Scandinavian Folk Festival
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Swedish genealogy resources are available for use by researchers at the Fenton History Center (FHC) in Jamestown, NY. During the Scandinavian Folk Festival, representatives from the Fenton History Center will be available to answer questions and assist in locating information about Swedish ancestors. The FHC booth can be found in the Festival’s Exhibit Hall. Visitors are encouraged to bring the information that they have such as names, birth dates, death dates and age at death, year of immigration, sibling’s names, parent’s names, place of residence in Sweden and in the United States and any other tidbits of information that may help identify the correct “John Johnson” in Sweden. At the booth, the FHC will have a number of research tools available.
The Center does have access to Genline, an online subscription service which provides the digitized Swedish Church records.
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Share The Culture
The Scandinavian Studies Program sponsors Culture Day at Jamestown Community College. Fifteen to twenty workshops around Scandinavian activities are held the first Saturday morning of each month from October through May. At the Festival, we showcase projects completed the previous year. We also hold workshops in order to "share the culture" and pass on our heritage to younger generations. Traditional handcrafts that will be taught this year include card weaving, chip carving, hardanger embroidery, making a midsummer head wreath. Besides the opportunity to learn these skills, one will be able to observe crafters in action. There will be demonstrations on loom and Swedish weaving as well as Norwegian knitting.
You will be able to make your own unique Scandinavian craft projects. One item to be offered is a wooden Hjärtkorg. This is a heart shaped basket which is very traditional at Christmas. These activities are only available at scheduled times so check the program schedule so as not to miss your opportunity. There is a small fee for these activities in order to cover the cost of the materials.
The Shire of Heronter,
a branch of the Society for Creative Anachronism, Inc.
Viking Village VII
Members of the Society for Creative Anachronism, Inc. will be living as ancient Vikings in the Viking Village. There will be a large pavillion for displays and craft demos. In addition to Viking age displays, there will be thrown weapons and the opportunity to play the Viking game Hnefatafl. The fourth annual Kubb tournament will be held in the Viking village. The Viking Village will have displays of armor and weapons, bone carving, chainmail, Viking clothing, jewelry and accessories. Other activities will include armored combat, thrown weapons, fingerloop braiding, mead tasting, and whipcord making.
Check out the Viking vendors in the Village.
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A type of horse called a Norwegian Fjord will be visiting the Viking Village.
He loves to have children sit on his back.
The Leif Ericson Viking Ship from Philadelphia will again be on display as part of the Viking Village.
This is a half size replica of an actual Viking Ship.
The crew of the ship will be dressed in Viking costumes and share their knowlege about the Viking era.
Leif Ericson Viking Ship, Inc.
Leif Ericson Viking Ship, Inc. will have their ship on display.
Sunday Worship Service at First Lutheran Church
120 Chandler St, Jamestown, New York
Festival musicians will provide music
during the Sunday morning worship service.
Music begins at 9:30am, worship begins at 10:00am.
(716) 664-4601
http://home.alltel.net/FirstJamestown
Highlights include:
 the Sanctuary
the Memorial Chapel
the stained glass windows of the Nave and Chapel
the Casavant organ
the original church's Andrews Tracker organ (now 133 years old)
the Historical Room
Members of the Hessel Valley Lutheran Church in Pennsylvania organized First Lutheran Church in 1856-1857. In the 1890's the original wooden church needed to be replaced to accomodate a growing congregation. The wooden church was moved to the back of the Chandler Street property and a stone church was built in its place. It is this church that still stands today. According to Swedish-American Landmarks (Winquist)
it is the only Swedish church in the United States that is designated a cathedral. The sanctuary, designed in the shape of a cross, was completed in 1901 and has a stained glass windows of Jesus, Martin Luther and King Gustavus Adolphus.
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