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Heritage Tent

Artists featured in the Heritage Tent have been recognized as masters by their respective states, regions, and national organizations. They have participated in state apprenticeship programs or have been honored as heritage awardees. During the festival, these heritage artists will demonstrate the intricacy, skill and enduring traditions of a variety of art forms. (Click here for details on the Michigan Heritage Awards program, honoring Michigan's tradition-bearers.)

Karen Jenson
Milan, Minnesota
Scandinavian Decorative Painting

Norwegian Americans constitute the majority in southwest Minnesota, where Karen Jenson has always lived. Norwegian rosemaling and Swedish dalmaling on murals, furniture and numerous smaller items are Karen’s art forms. Although many individuals—Norwegian Americans and non-Norwegian Americans alike—have learned and practice the art, Karen’s rosemaling is really in a class by itself. Insiders say with a smile that there is Telemark-style rosemaling and then there is Karen Jenson–style Telemark rosemaling. Karen is widely praised both for her exalted technique and the high level of expression she attains. She has been painting Scandinavian folk art for 30 years and never tires of working with color. She finds it exciting to see a beautiful piece of furniture and mentally figure out which colors to paint it and in which directions the designs will flow. Through her work, Karen draws connections between herself and the Norwegian- and Swedish-American communities she serves. In Karen’s words, “I’m thankful I’ve been able to work at something that gives me joy.” (For more info, see http://www.mnfolkarts.org/karen_jensen/karen_jensen.html)

Borka Kljajic
Madison, Wisconsin
Bosnian artwork lace and traditional arts

Borka Kljajic was born in 1934 in Sekovici, a village to the east of Sarajevo. With the outbreak of war in 1941, her parents, Jakov and Mileva Lukic, left to join the Partisans. Borka and her grandmother were forced out of their home during the war and had to travel as refugees, trying to stay in Partisan-controlled areas, and were captured twice and kept in prison camps until they were exchanged for prisoners of another warring faction. After World War II, Borka went to a boarding school in Sarajevo. Upon graduation she worked for 35 years for a department store in central Sarajevo, married, and had two children. Borka was active in civil defense during the siege of Sarajevo from 1992 to 1994, dodging snipers’ bullets and shells, helping to organize efforts in her downtown Sarajevo neighborhood to aid her neighbors to survive the siege. In the summer of 1992 Borka’s daughter Dijana Dzamonja had managed to escape from Sarajevo with her daughter Nevena. They came to Madison, Wisconsin, where they had relatives. With the assistance of Wisconsin’s U.S. Senator Russ Feingold, Dijana arranged for Borka to be evacuated from Sarajevo on a United Nations UNPROFOR flight and eventually she was able to settle in Madison. In August, 2000 Borka was proud to become a U.S. citizen.
Borka learned a host of traditional skills from her grandmother. She learned to prepare traditional Bosnian cuisine and is adept at stretching dough into paper-thin layers for the famous Bosnian dish burek. She is adept at knitting, embroidery and the making of cut-work lace, and always has multiple needlework projects in process.

Stephanie Lemke-Vuljanic
Mazomanie, Wisconsin
Croatian Pisanica and Memory Paintings

Stephanie grew up in Ozalj, Croatia, and learned the intricate art of decorating eggs with wrapped thread from her mother. Stephanie has maintained this generations-old tradition since moving to Wisconsin,and has expanded into memory painting as well. Her paintings focus on scenes from her life in Croatia. She loves to help people imagine Croatian culture while exploring their own traditions and dreams. She leads children in pisanica, “keeping their hands busy doing something that looks impossible for some.” Stephanie participated in the Smithsonian Folklife Festival, Washington, D.C., in 1998.

Adell Beatrice Raisanen
Hartland, Michigan
Finnish-American rag-rug weaver

Adell Raisanen, known as Bea, is a master rag weaver in the Finnish-American tradition. She was born in 1917 and grew up in a Finnish-American community in Minnesota where rag rugs were used in homes and weaving was a skill brought by immigrants from Finland. Bea’s mother taught her to weave, but like most women of her generation, it was many years before she returned to this tradition. In the interim, Bea moved to Detroit where she held several jobs, including a position in an aircraft factory during World War II, and she raised a family. In 1958 she purchased her first rug loom, and since then she has been recycling old clothes, blankets, sheets, towels, etc., into beautiful, highly coveted rugs for her home, gifts, and occasional sales.

Bea’s technical perfection and use of breathtaking colors are the result of many decades of weaving. Weavers refer to Bea’s loom as “the canvas of a great artist.” “There is no suggestion of randomness in her choice of materials; everything is integrated into a complete picture.” With her mother’s instructions, occasional reference to books and other weavers, visits to Finland where rag weaving is also highly prized, and her husband, Arnold, who keeps her loom in top working order, Bea continues to excel in her art and to attract admiration and praise.

She has taught her weaving skills and techniques to apprentices through the Michigan Traditional Arts Apprenticeship Program (1994, 1996, 1998–2000), infecting her apprentices with the love of weaving and reinforcing the tradition in the greater Detroit area. Bea is an active member of FinnWeavers, a group affiliated with the Finnish Center Association in Farmington Hills. She has also displayed her work at the national FinnFest, demonstrated weaving at the National Folk Festival, and has received awards from the Michigan League of Handweavers and at the Michigan State Fair. Despite all the attention, Bea continues to give generously of her time to help weavers with their problems and to teach her “tricks of the trade.”