CARVING OUT A NEW TYPE OF COLLEGE COURSE
Luther College art students sorting through the tree limbs and brush at the Decorah city dump are not skipping classóthey are skipping the long lines at the bookstore as they "shop" for school supplies.
The supplies they seek are uniquely shaped pieces of wood, and their search is directed by Harley Refsal, resident fellow in Scandinavian folk art and Scandinavian studies at Luther. Refsal is an internationally recognized expert on Scandinavian flat-plane woodcarving, a "lost" folk art of earlier centuries.
The students and Refsal rummage through the dump in search of raw materials to use in folk art creations they will carve for a new cultural studies course: Fine Handcraft Scandinavian-Style. Taught by Refsal and Kate Martinson, professor of art at Luther, the course is an option for January term.
Keeping with the Scandinavian folk art tradition, students in the class will use exclusively natural materials in their projects, Refsal said. He said utilizing the city's dump for raw materials is an environmentally sound solution as well as a way to retain the authenticity of the folk art.
Refsal is best known for his carvings of the rough-hewn rural people who emigrated from Scandinavian countries to the United States a century ago. His art is influenced by the Norwegian-American people of the Minnesota community where he grew up and the northeast Iowa community of Decorah where he has lived and worked for nearly three decades.
The flat-plane carving style that is Refsal's specialty had nearly disappeared as a folk art in Norway before he revived it in the United States as an immigrant art tradition. His skill as a wood carving artist and his research of the folk art has attracted the interest of artists both international and local. Refsal has lectured on and demonstrated the art in Norway, the United States, and Mexico. His award and honors include the Iowa Arts Council 1986 Outstanding Achievement Award and the America-Norway Heritage Award in 1989. He was honored last February by Norway with the presentation of the St. Olav Medal for his work in promoting Norwegian folk art and teaching the "lost art" of flat-plane woodcarving.
For more information contact Harley Refsal ([email protected]) at Luther College at 319-387-1328 (office), 319-382-9383 (home), or email, or try Jerry Johnson ([email protected]) in the college news office at 319-387-1865
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