Elements of Craft

Elements is a series produced between WTIP and North House Folk School to promote interest in the folk arts. Each month, the series looks at a different natural material and its use in various traditional crafts. This episode, the first of 2018, looks at wool, sheep, and natural dyes.

Northeastern Minnesota has been an epicenter of logging for generations, thanks to the lush forests that coat the region. And now, the heritage of those who first settled along the North Shore returns to the area through traditional craft.

In this edition of Elements, we take a look at the regional timbers that are harvested from the woods and used for building traditional homes and structures through North House Folk School, and how differing landscape and time changed how they were used.

In this installment of Elements of Craft, we take a look at iron and its transformation by humans to steel. North House instructors and students tell how blacksmithing and smelting were integral to communities throughout history, and how ore from the earth in our own area can be used to make metal tools. 

Elements is a new series produced in conjunction between WTIP and North House Folk School exploring natural materials found in our area, and the culture that surrounds them. This episode, we focus on the harvesting and many uses of birch bark.
 

Elements of Craft is a new series made in collaboration between North House Folk School and WTIP. It explores the natural materials in our area and how they apply to traditional craft. This first installment explores the concept of material culture - how the objects people create reflect their culture and environment- and finds out how some people find meaning in making things.