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Norwegian Wood Carving
Barronett, WI
Vocabulary
Ancestors: Earlier generations of a family, like great-grandparents.
Bunader: (sounds like, BOO-nard) The national costumes of Norway.
Handcraft: A skill or art done without power-driven machines.
Mangel board: (sounds like, MANG-uhl) Long, carved wooden board with a handle. In Norway, they were used to press wrinkles out of clothing. It was common for a man to give one to a woman if he
wanted to marry her.
Norwegian-American: People in America who have ancestors from Norway.
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Journal Questions
 Have you ever planned a project in your head before actually starting it?
Would you like a career as a professional artist? Why or why not? What art would you
do?
Else and Phil make items that are both beautiful and useful. Look
around your house. What do you have there that is both beautiful and useful? Choose one object. Describe the who, where, when and why of how it’s used. Explain why it’s beautiful.
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Resources For Teachers
 Norsk Wood Works is Phil and Else’s website, with lots
of good information. They give details on their co-authored book, Treskjaererkunsten (1996).
This article by Trond Gjerdi on
Norwegian Folk Art gives
insights to the genre.
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Resources For Students
 Artists of Handcrafted Furniture at Work
By M. Rosenberg, 61 pp.
Looks at the work (design, inspiration, tools, techniques) of four US artists. Photo ill.
The Scandinavian-American Family Album
By Dorothy and Thomas Hoobler, 127pp.
One of a series, this book begins with looking at the Scandinavian countries. It then traces a family coming to the US, finding a job and putting down roots. Page 16 features Phil Odden!
Odin, the website for the
Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, has “Introducing Norway,” a set of pages for kids on Norway.
Up for a fieldtrip? Just 60 miles from LaCrosse, Wisconsin, you can visit the Norwegian-American
museum, Vesterheim (“western home”) in Decorah, IA. You can order young-reader books from their
gift shop.
The Sons of Norway
is a large, national organization for the celebration of Norwegian heritage.
You can find a lodge near you in their
lodge directory.
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Credits
Text written by Jamie Yuenger, edited by Anne Pryor.
Sources consulted include tape recorded interviews with Phillip Odden and Else Bigton by Michael Kline (7/4/98) and Ruth Olson (8/01), with the tapes housed at the Wisconsin
Arts Board; and the website
www.norskwoodworks.com.
Video footage from Wisconsin Folks, 1998, produced by Dave Erickson for Wisconsin Arts Board and Wisconsin Public Television.
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