Amish Rocking Chairs, Footstools, and Tables
Roy Yoder (Ovid, Michigan)

Businesses based at home are common among the Amish; there they can more readily adhere to the practices dictated by their religious beliefs. Many earn or supplement their living by making and selling directly out of their homes or from their horse-drawn buggies or stands along the roadside. Especially popular items are quilts, lawn ornaments, jams, baked goods, and furniture. A number of Amish craftsmen in the Midwest specialize in rocking chairs made of hickory and hardwoods such as cherry, walnut, or oak. Roy Yoder got his patterns for rocking chairs, footstools and tables from his father-in-law, who also taught him the art of steaming and bending the hickory. Roy, in turn, has taught these skills to his son Merle.


Belgian-American Darts and Targets
Arthur VanHoutteghem (St. Clair Shores, Michigan)
Donna VanHoutteghem (Yale, Michigan)
James VanHoutteghem (Bad Axe, Michigan)

In 1928, when Belgian immigrants Arthur and Julia VanHoutteghem could not get handmade targets and darts from Belgium, they started the Standard Target and Dart Company in Michigan. They passed on the art of making darts and targets to their son Julian, daughter Violet Thompson, and daughter-in-law Donna.
The 7- or 9-inch targets are made of end-grained basswood and painted red, white, and blue. The darts are made of birch wood and turkey feathers dyed in the colors of the Belgian and American flags. Belgian-Americans not only in the Detroit area but also throughout the United States rely on the VanHoutteghems, who are possibly the only people still making the specialized equipment needed to play Belgian darts in North America.


Black Ash Basketry
Marge Bekins (Grand Haven, Michigan)

According to Ojibway tradition, black ash basketry involves a long and difficult process that was given in a vision from the Creator to an Anishnabe man named Black Elk. Black Elk was nearing the end of his life and wanted to provide for his family and teach them patience. The Creator told Black Elk to have the people burn his body when he died and bury the ashes in a sacred place. Out of his ashes grew the black ash tree. Today, basket makers carefully select a black ash tree in the swamps of the northern woods. They strip off the bark with a draw knife. Then they cut a gash into the wood the width of their basket strips and pound the log until the growth rings peel away in bands.
Marge Marie Bekins is a member of the Sault Ste. Marie Chippewa Tribe. After a severe car accident left her unable to continue working in the automobile industry, she turned to her artistic heritage, making black ash baskets, beadwork, and jewelry. In 1996 she apprenticed with Charles Shedawin, a master basketmaker who was awarded a Michigan Traditional Arts Apprenticeship. Today her work is in the collection of the Nokomis American Indian Learning Center and museums across the state of Michigan.


Books
Michigan State University Press (East Lansing, Michigan)

The MSU Press is the scholarly publishing arm of Michigan State University. The Press strives to meld Michigan's heritage and cultural future into a collage of poetry and prose meant to inform and enlighten. By providing the public with voices of regional, folk, and Native American authors, it is the press’s hope that their writing will impact people of today, as well as the children of tomorrow.


Box Sculptures
George Thomas (Idlewild, Michigan)

Born in Atlanta, Georgia in 1940, George Thomas was raised in a family of eight children who moved to Detroit and finally to Idlewild, Michigan, where he now lives. Using weather-beaten wood, old bed sheets, wire, plaster of Paris, and other miscellaneous found and scrap objects, he creates framed three-dimensional sculptures. He depicts memories of his childhood in Georgia—for example, children in a one-room schoolhouse learning about African-American history, a woman quilting on the porch, a family at the supper table, a church congregation listening to a preacher.
George uses his "box sculptures" to help others recognize the importance of African-American heritage. He has participated in youth education programs in East Lansing and Idlewild where he enjoys talking about his art and encouraging young people to make their own memory boxes.


Braided Rugs
Jennifer Lantrip and Julie Sullivan (Lansing, Michigan)

As is true of many folk arts, braided rugs, made of readily available and often recycled materials, are both practical and decorative. Because wool is durable and stain resistant and the color variations in the braids hide spills, braided rugs are practical to use in any room. From their first use by early European settlers in America to today, braided rugs are an American folk art.
Hand-braided wool rugs are a family tradition for Julie Sullivan and daughter Jennifer Lantrip. Julie learned to braid from her grandmother and then, in 1999, taught Jennifer. Using pure wool, needles, and bodkins [a special awl-shaped tool], they braid strips, lace the braids together, and butt the braid ends to each other to create a seamless ring. They use the rugs in their own households and as gifts for others.


Cedar Fans
Glen VanAntwerp (Cadillac, Michigan)

When he is not working as a computer systems specialist, Glen VanAntwerp makes cedar fans, a skill he learned from his father, Stan VanAntwerp. According to Glen, "As a child, Pa taught me to make cedar fans. I rather think that Grandpa Van learned it from his dad too, who was a Michigan lumberjack." The technique is relatively easy. As Glen once said, all that is needed to make fans is "a block of cedar wood, a sharp-bladed knife, perhaps some water, a little skill, a lot of patience, and a desire to either pass the time or to make something beautiful."
Glen is well aware of the historical, ethnic, occupational, and family origins of his own carving skills. He passed on his knowledge of cedar fan making to his son Jeremy and daughter Sara when they were children. When Sara was married, each of the bridesmaids carried a carved fan in lieu of a floral bouquet. Now adults, Sara and Jeremy continue to make fans and plan to teach their own children.


Chinese Cord Jewelry
Hsui Chin "Angela" Lin-Welti (Harrison, Michigan)

Jewelry made from tied cords and semi-precious stones is a traditional Chinese art that is more than 2,000 years old. It incorporates good luck symbols into the silk cord designs and the carved jade, amber, amethyst, tiger eye pearl, olive pit, or linden root beads. Larger pieces are used as decorations in households or temples. Intricately designed cords with an attached piece of jade are considered a special gift and are handed down from generation to generation. They are also given as gifts when babies are born.
Hsui Chin Angela Lin-Welti was born and raised in Taiwan. She began tying cords when she was eight years old. In 1993 she married her husband, Jeff Welti, who was an English teacher in Taiwan. They now live in Harrison, Michigan, where Angela continues to make jewelry. It takes her up to nine hours to complete one cord.


Clay Tiles
Earthen Craft Pottery/Katie Hobson (Suttons Bay, Michigan)

Katie Hobson began making clay tiles when she was 12 or 13 years old as an apprentice with tile makers in Suttons Bay, Michigan. Made with designs of natural scenes and geometric patterns, the clay tiles are used primarily as ornamentation on walls and floors of private residences and public buildings.
Katie makes tiles from stoneware clay which she rolls into even slabs and then presses the slabs into hand-carved plaster molds using a tile press she made herself from a design that has been in use since 1876. The tiles are dried for a week and then fired in a 2,000 degree kiln. After the tiles have cooled for at least 12 hours, Katie glazes them with materials such as potash, flint, and kaolin, which provide color, and then fires the tiles again at 2,000 degrees.

Dulcimers and Canjos
J-Folks/The Folkertsma Family (Grand Rapids, Michigan)

For the Folkertsma family, making dulcimers and other musical instruments is a family tradition, a rewarding way to spend time together, teach younger generations, and put woodworking skills to practice. The Folkertsmas learned to play dulcimers by being around them all the time; they learned songs from their parents and their large extended family. For more than a decade, the Folkertsma family members have been the only northerners (and women) invited to demonstrate dulcimer making at the Museum of Appalachia in Norris, Tennessee.
Their instrument making skills stem from the woodworking, furniture making, and millwork heritage of the Grand Rapids area. Mother Shirley learned to use a scroll saw from her own father while in elementary school. Her husband, Jack, was a fourth generation woodworker who took inspiration working alongside his father-in-law and who built over 3,500 dulcimers in his lifetime. Their children, John, Jill, and Jan learned how to drive nails and screws and use a sander, drill press, and saw when they were children.
Two weeks before Jack died, he walked each of his children through the process of dulcimer making. Now dulcimer making has become a way to honor him.


Finnish-American Rag Rugs
Finnweavers (Farmington Hills, Michigan)

Rag-rug weaving is an unbroken tradition in Finnish-American culture, as it is in Finland itself. Immigrants brought knowledge and skills of this craft with them to America and have been making rag rugs ever since. Rag rugs are well integrated into the everyday life of Finnish-Americans, and communities participate in the production and use of them. Neighbors donate old clothing; family members and friends help prepare the rags; husbands, uncles, and nephews maintain the looms and make improvements on them; neighbors and friends buy the rugs. In some regions, such as the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, rag rugs have come to be associated with Finnish-Americans.
The Finnweavers is a guild of Finnish-Americans who meet on a regular basis at the Finnish Center Association’s cultural center in Farmington Hills, Michigan to help each other with new weaving techniques, to assist beginners, to socialize, and to coordinate annual bazaars. Some of the members have been awarded Michigan Traditional Arts apprenticeships to teach rag rug weaving to other Finnish Americans.


Fishing Lures
Chris and Clare Luz (East Lansing, Michigan)

Anglers use artificial lures to attract the attention of fish by simulating the water disturbance, color, noise, and shape of the fish’s natural food. Chris Luz comes from a family of lure makers. His grandfather, Christian, whittled wooden plugs and tied flies as a recreational fisherman. Christian taught his son, Bob, the art of lure making in Ionia, Michigan and Bob worked most of his life in the sport fishing supply industry.
Around 1980 Bob invented a unique lure with a patented hinged bill that, unlike other lures which move side to side, simulates the up and down movement of an injured fish which is easy prey. He named his lure the Billfish in honor of its special hinge and spent countless hours developing it in lakes and motel swimming pools. Bob’s son Chris and his other children began fishing with their father at an early age and helped him make the Billfish when Bob first introduced it commercially.
After Bob’s death in 1995, Chris and his wife Clare decided to continue to make and market the Billfish as a functional, hand-crafted art form. Today their Billfish lures are made of hand-turned sugar pine. Each piece is hand painted and sprayed with several coats of urethane. Chris, Clare and their two children assemble each lure using 12 different components. The lures can be collected or used for catching bass, walleye, trout, and more.


Fudge
How Sweet It Is (East Lansing, Michigan)

Fudge is a popular American treat for family gatherings and holidays like Christmas. There are several flavors of fudge, and recipes are often closely guarded secrets. In the nineteenth century, for example, women’s colleges had their own distinctive recipes for fudge. Across the United States, fudge also became associated with resort towns; in Michigan, "fudgies" is the term used by locals to describe tourists in such lakeshore towns as Mackinac and Traverse City.
Joe and Patty Cusenza’s first public forays into fudge making were at county fairs, to which they hauled their marble tables so they could demonstrate on site. In 1994, they opened the How Sweet It Is fudge shop in West Branch, Michigan. They opened a second store in East Lansing in 1997. Joe and Patty have retired, but their son Lenny Cusenza and his partner Lisa Dula still make fudge and gourmet chocolates by hand.


Handspun Yarns and Handwoven Items
Jacqueline Vaughan (Lansing, Michigan)

Like many other traditional artists, Jacqueline Vaughan was exposed to her art form within her family. At the age of 8 1/2 years, her mother presented her with her first loom and spinning wheel and taught her the arts of knitting and crocheting. However, it was not until Jacqueline finished college that she truly began to develop her spinning and weaving skills. Wool, fleece, silk, cotton, and alpaca are just a few of the materials she uses. She prepares the fibers, dyes them, and designs original patterns for the many fiber arts in which she is skilled.
Although Jacqueline is particularly interested in the connection between West African textiles and African-American textiles through pattern, color, and function, she believes that textile traditions link and identify all cultures. She is the program director of the Mid-Michigan Knitters Guild, has been featured in Spin-Off magazine, and is involved in the public presentation of this art form and related historical and cultural aspects to public schools, guilds, and art centers throughout the Great Lakes region.


Hmong-American Textiles
Ia Her (Lansing, Michigan)
Teng Yang (Warren, Michigan)

Like their relatives in their homeland of Laos and in communities scattered throughout the world, Hmong-Americans begin to learn how to make paj ntaub (flower cloth) at a very young age. A variety of patterns, motifs, and needlework techniques, including appliqué, reverse appliqué, and embroidery are used in creating the colorful textiles. Mastery of the techniques and expansion of the repertoire of designs and motifs usually takes years, and expert craftsmanship is valued within the community.
While certain types of paj ntaub are still made for traditional uses (such as baby carriers, baby hats, funeral collars, and wedding apparel), most paj ntaub made in the United States today are sold to non-Hmong. Bedspreads, purses, eyeglass cases, pillow covers, wall hangings, and articles of decorated clothing are among the items now produced.


Honduran Coffee
Amy and Armando Contreras/Honduras Coffee Company (Wyoming, Michigan)

In Honduras, coffee cultivation is passed down through the generations. Armando Contreras is the 4th generation in his family to grow coffee. In fact, he was born on his family’s coffee farm. As a young boy, he loaded heavy sacks of coffee on the back of a burro to carry it to the markets in San Antonio La Cuesta. By age 14, when his father passed away, Armando was in charge of the family coffee operations. Today he and his wife Amy, a biologist from Michigan, split their time between Honduras and the United States. They cultivate shade-grown, organic coffee between 1,000 and 1,800 meters above sea level in the Comayagua Mountains; then they bring it back to Michigan to roast. Their coffee production is a family affair. Armando’s grandfather, Anastacio, is in his late eighties and still tends to his coffee farm in the mountains. Amy’s parents, Dale and Melanie Firebaugh, are partners in the family’s Honduras Coffee Company.


Ice Fishing Decoys
Dave Kober (Bear Lake, Michigan)

Dave Kober, a 1990 Michigan Heritage Award winner, carves and paints ice fishing decoys. An avid fisherman himself, Dave learned basic decoy-making skills when he was ten years old from his uncle Myron Ballard and maternal grandfather Lester Ballard. In turn, he has passed them on to his son Travis. By the time Dave was an adult, he was regularly carving and painting decoys both for his own use and to sell to others. At one time he fit his art making in between construction jobs. Now he makes decoys full-time in his shop next to his home in Bear Lake, Michigan.
Not content with just making the simple shape needed to attract fish, Dave has developed a unique style that closely mimics the look and actions of individual fish species. He paints the wooden decoy with nearly transparent coats of paint. The distinctive pattern of grain of the wood shows through, mimicking rows of fish scales and contributing to a naturalistic look for the decoys. They are avidly collected for both functional and decorative uses.


Lace
Capital Area Lace Makers (CALM), East Lansing, MI

Lace is an art form with clearly identifiable characteristics of execution,
form and beauty. It can often take on meanings of ethnicity, class, or
gender, too, when placed on specific items of clothing--bridal gown, for
example, or a collar worn by George Washington.

In the early 1980s, the wife of a visiting Michigan State University
Professor from Holland offered lace making classes in East Lansing. After
she left, a number of her students formed the Capital Area Lace Makers
(CALM) to teach and sponsor workshops. The group has grown to 28 members
who meet twice a month. They have brought teachers from around the world to
provide English, French, and Dutch lace classes. Members of the group have
also studied lace making abroad. Several CALM members are particularly
interested in Withof Lace, a twentieth century style based on classic
Flemish and Dutch styles. Three members of CALM have been awarded
certificates of expertise for Withof lace mastery. This is a great award
that has been granted to only one other American.


Metal Spinning
Thomas Pierson (Burton, Michigan)

When employed as a spinner of metal engine parts for General Motors, Thomas Pierson started experimenting with spinning small objects from inexpensive metals like aluminum. He enjoyed his work so much that he purchased a lathe from GM and began making aluminum and pewter bowls, beer mugs, candlestick holders and vases at his home in Burton, Michigan.
Thomas’s artwork relies heavily on the materials, tools, and processes of his occupation as an autoworker. To make spun metal objects he positions a thin, flat disc of sheet metal on a lathe spindle. Pressing a tool against the metal disk as it spins, he forces it against a "chuck" made in the shape the metal will eventually assume. It is a difficult and dangerous process since the spinning metal is as potent as a buzz saw. If he applies his tool too hard it will puncture the metal; if he applies it at the wrong angle, the metal will wrinkle. The antique tools Thomas uses to shape the metal have been passed from teacher to student for at least three generations; he bought them from the man who taught him metal spinning at GM in the 1970s.


Musical Instruments
Michael Sanderson (Harbor Springs, Michigan)

Both sides of Michael Sanderson’s family, which have been in Michigan for at least five generations, practiced various types of woodworking. Michael began woodworking at an early age with his father and grandfather and they taught him every aspect of woodworking from logging to the finished product.
Michael spent two decades as a furniture builder, cabinetmaker, and finish carpenter before focusing on the musical instruments important to his region. Today he makes fiddles, guitars, mandolins, dulcimers, and special wood-topped banjos. He builds and repairs instruments for local musicians who keep traditional music alive in his community. His instruments are used in local church services and for the winter square dances held in the same hall where his grandfather was a square dance caller.


Native American Traditional Arts
Nokomis Learning Center (Okemos, Michigan)

The Nokomis Learning Center is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the preservation and presentation of the culture and tradition of the People of the Three Fires (Ottawa, Potawatomi, and Ojibwa). The Nokomis Learning Center offers a wide variety of exhibitions, educational programs, special events, and publications. Recent activities have included, in partnership with the Michigan State University Museum, exhibitions and publications on Great Lakes Indian women artists, dance regalia makers, basket makers, and quill-box makers. The Nokomis Learning Center gift shop specializes in selling crafts made by Native artists from the Great Lakes region.

Norwegian Knitted Sweaters
Trude Rodli-Culver (Lansing, Michigan)

The traditional Norwegian sweaters and hats that Trude Rodli-Culver knits are a direct result of her Scandinavian upbringing. "Almost every young girl in Norway knew how to knit. I discovered after I came to the USA how this art is almost lost to my generation. Women of all ages always stop to admire what I am doing, but few know it as knitting."
Like many knitters worldwide, Trude learned her craft through exposure to her mother’s and grandmother’s work, and for as long as she can remember, she has worn knitted garments they made for her. Learning how to make socks at age 11 prepared her for the complexity of knitting in the round, a technique that results in the characteristically seamless Norwegian sweater. Reindeer and snowflakes are popular motifs for these traditional garments, which are worn year-round in Norway. Trude has lived in the Lansing area for nearly 20 years.

Ornamental Ironwork
Perry Ornamental Iron/Roberta Millis Schneiderman and Mark Millis (Perry, Michigan)

The Millis family has been welding iron for three generations. As children, Mark and Roberta worked with their father in his shop making trailers and railings and then, using leftover steel fragments, creating ornamental objects. Like his father and his grandfather, Mark Millis made his living as a journeyman erecting steel high rises around Michigan. All three generations of the family also used their welding skills to make iron tables, railings, and gates.
In 1997 Roberta and Mark started doing custom ironwork through their company, Perry Ornamental Iron. Some of the traditional tools they use to craft their designs are a coal forge to heat metal rods and an iron anvil to help bend them into shapes. They also use modern welding equipment like torches and plasma cutters that combine compressed gases to "cut out" figures and designs.

Peach Seed Carving
Roger Smith (Culleoka, Tennessee)

Roger Smith is a meter man for Duck River Electric Company by day, a farmer by night and weekends, and a carver anytime. Using only a pocketknife, a peach seed, and an idea, he sculpts intricately carved figures—a miniature person, a car, a basket, or a house. These individual carvings can take up to 8 hours to create. Sometimes, though, Roger carves entire scenes, like the one he did of a baseball game in progress, including detailed figures of spectators and players complete with hats, gloves, and bats. His work has been exhibited at the Maury County Fair, the Tennessee Arts and Crafts Fair and the National Black Arts Festival in Atlanta. His peach seed Santa is a permanent part of the White House Christmas collection.


Pickles and Preserves
Austin House Jams and Jellies (Conyers, Georgia)

Canning and pickling are practical means of preserving foods during seasons when they are most abundant for times when they are scarce. Locally available fruits, vegetables, and seasonings give preserves regional flavors, and many families hand down recipes from generation to generation. Across the United States, county and state fairs and local festivals are traditional venues for rewarding the skill and artistry of preserve makers.
The Austin House Jams and Jellies got its start in Conyers, Georgia. Both Pete and Mary Lynn Austin started making products at a very early age with the help of our grandmothers and mothers. They often gave gifts of their creations to friends and relatives, and soon their family tradition became a thriving business. Today the Austin's have won over 600 awards, ribbons and medals, including Awards of Excellence and Best of Show, at local, state, and national competitions.


Polish Wycinanki
Krystyna Rosas (Grand Rapids, Michigan)

Krystyna Rosas’s parents were born and raised in Poland, but Krystyna was born in England and immigrated to the United States with her family when she was 5. Her father was a potter, woodcarver, painter, and sculptor. Their home was decorated with many beautiful Polish objects: pottery, amber, weavings, carvings, and of course, wycinanki (papercuttings). Krystyna’s father taught her how to duplicate and design wycinanki when she was a small child; at an early age she recognized that these pieces were a special part of the way she thought of herself and her heritage.
Wycinanki originally decorated walls, ceilings, beams, and furniture in rural homes. The brilliant colors, charming traditional themes, and beautiful designs of the paper-cuttings eventually came to symbolize Polish folk art. Today, different regions of Poland produce distinct styles of wycinanki.

Quilting Supplies and Books
Country Stitches (East Lansing and Jackson, Michigan)

Two of the nation's largest quilting supply stores, Country Stitches carries hundreds of fabrics, books, patterns as well as three major lines of sewing machines and sewing machine furniture. Offering over 2500 classes covering all areas of quilting and with a professional staff ready to assist both beginning and experienced quilters, Country Stitches plays a major role in sustaining traditional quilting activity in this region. In addition, Country Stitches supports local broadcasting of quilt shows on WKAR-TV, guild activities at the East Lansing Art Festival, and a variety of activities at the Michigan State University Museum, including the Adopt-A-Quilt program and the "Great Lakes, Great Quilts" program at the National Folk Festival. At the festival, Country Stitches will offer for sale a variety of items including millennium print fabrics, archival supplies, and quilt-related children's books.

Roll-top Desks
Roy Mast (St. Johns, Michigan)

Businesses based at home are common among the Amish; there they can more readily adhere to the practices dictated by their religious beliefs. Many earn or supplement their living by making and selling directly out of their homes or from their horse-drawn buggies or stands along the roadside. Especially popular items are quilts, lawn ornaments, jams, baked goods, and furniture. A number of Amish craftsmen in the Midwest specialize in making furniture of hickory and hardwoods such as cherry, walnut, or oak.
Roy Mast was raised in an Amish family in Millersburg, Ohio. When he was 20, he learned woodworking in the furniture shop of a friend. He recently moved to St. Johns, Michigan, for spiritual reasons and is part of the community of about 25 Amish families there. His oak roll-top desks include pigeonholes and drawers of multiple sizes.


Scherenschnitte
Marie-Helene Grabman (Charlotte, North Carolina)

Scherenschnitte is a paper-cutting art developed in Switzerland and Germany that immigrants brought to America beginning in the 1700s. In both Europe and the United States, scherenschnitte enhances and embellishes religious and legal documents, decorates shelving edges and windows, and commemorates special events like births and weddings.
Marie-Helene Grabman began making scherenschnitte when she was 6 or 7 years old. Her German, maternal grandmother used embroidery scissors to cut out illustrations to the folk tales she told. She encouraged her granddaughter to make paper cuttings and used them to decorate the "children’s Christmas tree" in her home. As an adult, Grabman continued the custom. One year, her tree was included as part of a Christmas home tour. Her paper cuttings were so popular that she was invited to enter a craft show the following month. Later, she was one of 12 Americans included in the Swiss National Museum’s exhibit "Going West: Swiss Folk Art in America." Her scherenschnitte also decorated the White House Christmas Tree in 1999.


Slovak Straw Plaiting
Sidonka Wadina (Lyons, Wisconsin)

Straw plaiting involves the hand-weaving of wheat straw into designs based on harvest mythology and traditional Slovak folk symbols of abundance, good fortune, and health. The pieces, which have religious significance, are used as gifts and household decorations. Some of the weavings serve as talismans against hunger and want; others are symbols of thanks for a bountiful harvest.
Sidonka Wadina learned to weave straw, decorate eggs, and paint woodenware from her two Slovak grandmothers. She first practiced with traditional straw ornaments and then experimented with more complex grains and patterns. Her ornaments have decorated the Christmas trees of three Wisconsin governors and were specially selected by Hillary Clinton for the White House tree. Sidonka’s work has also been exhibited at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival, the Wisconsin Folklife Festival, and in exhibits around the country. For Sidonka, wheat weavings represent the customs of her people, their desires in life, and their faith and hope for the future.


Twig and Log Furniture
Ron Rademacher (Dewitt, Michigan)

As far back as anyone can remember, the Rademachers and others on nearby farms in Dewitt, Michigan, used logs and twigs to build utilitarian items like furniture, pole barns, milk stools, and fence posts. Ron Rademacher began woodworking with his father at an early age; and Ron’s father learned from his own father too.
Like the other members of his family, Ron Rademacher harvests hardwood from the family farm and gathers logs, twigs, and shrub wood from the local area. Neighbors give him fruit and nut woods, and he recycles slab wood from a local sawmill. He bends, dries and cures the wood; strips the bark; and carves and whittles the piece shapes, joints, and decorations to create tables, chairs, mantle pieces, quilt racks, and milk stools.


Ukrainian Embroidery and Gerdans
Eugenia M. Worobkevich (Warren, Michigan)

Traditional embroidery plays an important part in public events, celebrations, and special occasions of Ukrainian-American communities. For festive events, women may wear embroidered blouses and men wear embroidered ties. Embroidery appears on pillows, table linens, cloths placed near household religious icons, and in Easter baskets.
Eugenia M. Worobkevich is a master artist of Ukrainian embroidery. She became a citizen of the United States in 1955 after emigrating from Lviv, Ukraine. In 1973 Ms. Worobkevich’s favorite aunt sparked her desire to learn traditional embroidery. In 1985, she met Oksana Tkachuck, a master designer in Ukrainian nyzynka technique, and became her apprentice. In 1996, Eugenia was granted a Michigan Traditional Arts Apprenticeship Award to teach traditional embroidery to others. Eugenia also became involved in making beaded "gerdan" collars in 1988 because they contain the same elements of color, texture, and form as traditional embroidery.


Ukrainian Pysanka
Roman Seniuk (Detroit, Michigan)

Roman Seniuk’s earliest memory of pysanka is seeing the intricately decorated eggs in church on Easter Sunday. They were the most beautiful things Roman had ever seen, so his mother helped him learn how to make pysanka himself from various kinds of eggs, bee’s wax, a kistka stylus, a candle, and dyes.
The word pysanka stems from the word pysaty, "to write", because the designs are drawn upon the eggs in a prescribed and meaningful manner. Pysanky symbols include geometric motifs, the sun, the cross, the triangle, endless lines, the tree of life, the church, and fish (symbolizing Christianity). The colors of the dyes are also symbolic.
The tradition of pysanky decorating precedes Christianity and reflects ancient myths in which the egg symbolizes life, the sun, and the universe. The eggs have been used as talismans to protect against evil, and they serve a variety of social and religious occasions.

Willow Basketry
Bonnie Gale (Liverpool, New York)

Liverpool, New York, was a major center of willow basketry in the nineteenth century, a period when the whole central New York region was involved in growing willow and in making and marketing baskets. Willow baskets are still integrated into the day-to-day living in the region and take many forms, from laundry hampers, to shopping baskets, to furniture.
Bonnie Gale is a British immigrant to the Liverpool area, as were most of the early basket makers in this region. Originally trained under European willow basket makers in England, Bonnie studied with Frank Selinski, a fourth-generation Liverpool basket maker, when she moved to New York.
In addition to growing willow and making baskets, Bonnie is very involved in keeping Liverpool’s basketry traditions alive in other ways. She has organized Liverpool’s first Willow Day celebration, is the founder of the American Willow Growers Network, conducts community basketry workshops, and documented Liverpool’s baskets, basket makers, and basket shops for the New York State Council on the Arts.


Woodland Indian (Odawa) Pottery
Frank Ettawageshik (East Lansing, Michigan)

Frank Ettawageshik, a member of the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa, is almost single-handedly responsible for the resurgence of interest in Woodland Indian pottery in Michigan. He is not only a potter, he is also a teacher and a resource about Woodland pottery's history and techniques.
For over 3,000 years, people in the Great Lakes area have made clay pots for cooking, ceremonies, and storage. Frank uses the same methods his ancestors used centuries ago, including gathering the necessary poplar wood, clay, granite, basswood, and dried grasses, leaves, and pine needles. To honor the balance between taking and giving, when he takes these things from Mother Earth, he also gives something back to her, usually in the form of tobacco. Frank signs all of his pots with the stick figure of Pipigwa, or sparrow hawk, which is the symbol of his clan.