Letters

NATIONAL HERITAGE FELLOWS NAMED

Karen Ann Hoffman Wayne Valliere

Two Wisconsin residents recently have been named National Heritage Fellows by the National Endowment for the Arts: Karen Ann Hoffman of Stevens Point and Wayne Valliere of Lac du Flambeau. America’s highest honor for folk and traditional artists, the National Heritage Fellows award recognizes artistic excellence and extraordinary contributions to our nation’s traditional arts heritage.

A member of the Oneida Nation, Hoffman is being recognized for her Iroquois raised beadwork, which is characterized by lines of beads that arch above the textile surface for a three-dimensional effect. Hoffman uses raised beadwork to produce contemporary art such as vases, pillows and placemats. She often incorporates her tribe’s history into her work, and teaches this traditional form in Wisconsin and nationally.

Valliere has been building traditional Oneida birchbark canoes since he was a boy. A member of the Lac du Flambeau Ojibwe tribe, he’s one of only a handful of Native birchbark canoe builders in the United States today. Valliere is being recognized for both his dedication to his craft and for carrying forward his culture by teaching traditional arts such as canoe-building at schools and through apprenticeships.

Hoffman and Valliere were selected from a field of 100-plus nominations to receive the 2020 awards, which, in addition to the public recognition of their excellence, provide recipients a one-time payment of $25,000. Hoffman and Valliere join the ranks of eight previous National Heritage Fellowship recipients from Wisconsin, including Sidonka Wadina, a Slovak wheat weaver and egg decorator from Lyons (2015); the Oneida Hymn Singers of Wisconsin (2008); and Ron Poast of Black Earth, who plays and builds Swedish fiddles in the style of the Hardanger region (2003).

Including the 2020 class, the Arts Endowment has awarded 449 National Heritage Fellowships, recognizing American artists working in more than 200 distinct forms.

NEW WRITING CENTER

When Write On, Door County artistic director Jarod Santek and managing director Lauren Bremer led the groundbreaking ceremony for their new Writing Center in August 2019, the two never imagined that the grand opening the following year would be virtual.

Since 2013, Write On, Door County has been hosting visiting writers in its primary residence, a converted home just outside of Fish Creek, as well as holding writing classes and workshops at local schools and libraries, community centers, and prisons. The new Writing Center, which opens October 9, 2020, will both deepen and widen the impact the nonprofit has on the local and national literary community. Featuring a large gathering space for writing classes, workshops, and presentations, as well as a book-making station, the new center also provides dedicated office space for Santek, Bremer, and other staff whose offices were located on the main floor of the primary residence.

In their quest to be, as Bremer says, “locally loved and nationally recognized,” Write On will continue to host one- to four-week residencies for visiting writers from near and far to hone their craft alone and with each other while connecting with the Door County community at large. According to Santek, the residency is popular because of the cozy accommodations, 39 wooded acres, and, perhaps most importantly, a high acceptance rate. Unlike many residencies, Write On isn’t genre exclusive, and Santek and Bremer encourage applications from writers of all stripes, even literary arts administrators.

But you don’t have to be working on the next Great American Novel to take part in the the dozen or so monthly virtual workshops and events Write On, Door County currently offers for little to no cost. Open to the public, the virtual opening of the Writing Center on October 9 will feature video tours of the space, special readings, music, and other fun events. Learn more at writeondoorcounty.org.

Lauren Bremer