Finlandia Foundation National Lecturer of the Year to Speak in NYM

Frank W. Eld Lecture at Cultural Center on September 10

Frank W. Eld, Finlandia Foundation National Lecturer of the Year, will present “Finnish Log Construction—The Art” at the Cultural Center in New York Mills on Monday, September 10, 2018 at 7:00 p.m. This lecture/demonstration is free to attend and open to all.

The Finlandia Foundation National (FFN), the premier network of Finnish-American organizations in the United States, introduced its Lecturer of the Year (LOY) program in 2006 for the purpose of sharing the history and culture of Finland and Finnish America with audiences across the U.S.

Since its inception, FFN chapters have hosted LOY on topics ranging from the Winter War to Jean Sibelius, the architecture of the Saarinens, and folk music traditions. In honor of the 100th anniversary of Finland’s Declaration of Independence in 2017, five Centenary Lecturers spoke about a variety of topics related to Finland’s independence and identity.

Current FFN lecturers are James Ford Cooper, who was twice posted in Finland during his Foreign Service career, on the topic of “Finland in the Cold War;” and Frank W. Eld.

Frank Eld, the son of a Finnish immigrant carpenter, shares his passion for the unique method of building brought to North America from Finland in his presentation, “Finnish Log Construction—The Art.” That’s also the title of his first book, in which he describes the hewing, scribing and close fitting of the logs that eliminated most chinking between the logs. Through visuals and live demonstrations, Frank—dressed in authentic Finnish attire—shares the lost art of this construction method with his LOY audiences.

His mission is to educate and encourage the preservation of these buildings, which are tangible symbols of Finnish culture, especially when built as saunas. Traveling in his “Finnebago,” a pick-up truck outfitted with a log cabin in back, Frank scours the countryside across the U.S. and Canada, documenting structures to be featured in his second book on the subject.

Frank lives in Idaho, where his Finnish immigrant family members settled. He is currently lending his expertise to the construction of a replica of a savu sauna and tupa (smoke sauna and farmhouse) that will be installed as the Finnish classroom at the University of Pittsburgh Cathedral of Learning.

The Lecturer of the Year term begins in July of 2018 and runs through June of 2019. Frank’s stop in New York Mills precedes an appearance at Salolampi Finnish Language Village, a unique experience that immerses campers in a Finnish experience in Bemidji, MN.

Learn more about Finlandia Foundation, the LOY, Salolampi, and its other programs at the website: FinlandiaFoundation.org.

The presentation will take place at the NYM Cultural Center, 24 Main Ave N in New York Mills. This program is free to attend and open to all. Freewill donations will be accepted to support Mr. Eld’s work.

Questions? Call the Cultural Center at 218-385-3339 or visit us online at kulcher.org.

The Cultural Center in New York Mills is a rural hub for creativity, community vitality, and lifelong learning in the arts. We offer visitors intimate opportunities to encounter art and artists in our 80-seat concert listening room, two galleries in a historic building, a gift store featuring local artists, an artist residency program, a sculpture park, and a variety of opportunities to learn, grow, and thrive. Since our incorporation in 1990, we have been passionate about connecting people to artists and rich cultural experiences in rural Minnesota, celebrating the local and being a window to the world.