“Weaving in the UP:  the Legacy of Immigrant Finns Lives On” with Phyllis Fredendall

With images and stories from the Copper Country and Finland, Phyllis will share a weaving journey including the development of the fiber and fashion design program at Suomi College through to the survival of its dynamic fiber studio as the anchor of the Finnish American Folk School.

Phyllis Fredendall was born in the Upper Peninsula and studied weaving and the fiber arts in Wisconsin and Michigan.  From 1993 she taught fiber and fashion design at Suomi College/Finlandia University and retired as professor emeritus in 2020.   Phyllis has had artist residencies on Isle Royale and in Finland and was a fellow of the American Scandinavian Foundation studying weaving traditions in Finland in 2023.  She currently teaches weaving and other fiber processes for the Finnish American Folk School in Hancock, Michigan.