July 11, 2025 – January 11, 2026
Vesterheim Norwegian-American Museum
Decorah, Iowa
My reviews of Vesterheim folk art exhibits over the years often include a complaint — there should be more weavings! But this year, in the new themed exhibit, The Past/Present/Future of Folk Art, there were a heartening number of fiber works in a variety of techniques. 21 textile-related works were chosen for the show of 103 items.
You can see all of the textile entries in a new article posted in The Norwegian Textile Letter, “A Vesterheim Norwegian-American Themed Exhibit: The Past/Present/Future of Folk Art.” I want to thank Lauryn Johnson at Vesterheim for supplying me with all the bios and art work descriptions to include in the article, because the stories deepen our appreciation and understanding of the pieces. Also, many of the pieces are for sale and displayed on the Vesterheim Store site.
I had a chance to see the exhibit for a short time, as I dashed to Decorah and back in a day. Marta Kløve Juuhl came to the U.S. to teach warp-weighted loom classes at Vesterheim. I picked up her at the airport and brought her down the next day.
Sandra Somdahl had a marvelous rutevev [square-weave] tapestry in the folk art exhibit, with sweet, squared-off bees and birds set within traditional lily motifs.
I loved examining the details in Sally Haugen Dereus’s embroidery, “1825 Story in Stitches.” Check out the tower of immigrant ancestor heads, and the stitched dragon-style “carving” on the church.
I was thrilled that Priscilla Lynch from Michigan submitted two beautiful tapestries in Frida Hansen’s wool open warp transparent technique. With my eagle, there were three weavings in the technique I love.
A personal non-fiber favorite of mine was a dragon fashioned of gnarly branches.
Want to see more of the exhibit? You should plan a trip before the end of the year. I plan a return visit with time enough to thoroughly absorb another Vesterheim special exhibit, 200 Years of Norwegians in America.