Career Development Grant

My goal is to explore in-depth the art and craft surrounding one of Minnesota's most unique and valuable natural resources, wild rice. Using nothing but materials I gather myself – birch bark, spruce root, pine pitch, and various species of wood – I will assemble them into the traditional tools used to harvest wild rice. As an artist and craftsman, I aim to not only create these tools, but to explore the beauty held in their function, to bring out the inherent elegance of the materials and transform them into works of graceful art. The measurable outcome will be a finished birch bark ricing canoe, paddles, knockers, and a push pole. The success of the project is based on the creation of traditional tools and equipment that are not only functional and historically accurate, but have been molded by the art of fine craft. An inspiration for me is in one of my mentors, Steve Cayard of Wellington, Maine, who builds birch bark canoes that not only work better than any others, but are so finely made that you can't help but feel a sense of awe when you sit in one. Through sophisticated design and detail, I am working towards creating wild rice harvesting tools that elicit that same sense of wonder and reverence in their use. For functional evaluation, I will be harvesting wild rice in the fall and seeing firsthand how the tools perform. For historical accuracy, Mark Hansen, founder of the North House Folk School and master craftsman, and Erik Simula, a long time demonstrator at Grand Portage National Monument and a maker of traditional wild rice harvesting equipment, will be advising me in the building of the canoe and in researching the traditional techniques of our region used to make the various implements.