The Wille Sundqvist and Bill Coperthwaite Slöjd Fellowship
is awarded to craftspeople to further deepen the meaning, skills, and connections among those passionate about simple living and handmade objects. The Fellowship provides financial support to green woodworkers and other craftspeople to travel from their home country and share their thinking about handcraft, showcase their skills and design work, further their own research, and extend the international community of interest.
Plymouth CRAFT is honored and delighted to have been associated with the The Wille Sundqvist and Bill Coperthwaite Slöjd Fellowship since its inception, with Greenwood Fest serving as the sometime locus of the conferring of the awards.
The Wille Sundqvist and Bill Coperthwaite Slöjd Fellowship is named for and recognizes the lifelong contributions of these two individuals to inspire a global community of interest in handcraft. Wille Sundqvist of Bjurholm, Sweden, now in his nineties, has devoted his life to teaching, mentoring and furthering the importance of handcraft in our social and cultural traditions. He has traveled extensively, written several books including Swedish Carving Techniques, and has inspired countless people around the world to explore slöyd and to learn and work together. Bill Coperthwaite, who died tragically at age 83 in 2013, was a homesteader in coastal Maine, a visionary social critic, architect, author of A Handmade Life, and proponent of "democratic living," where handcraft and simple living encourage us to seek, experiment, create and dream together toward building more meaningful community and a better world.
Wille Sundqvist and Bill Coperthwaite Slöjd Fellowship Recipients
2016
The inaugural Wille Sundqvist and Bill Coperthwaite Slöjd Fellowship recipient was recommended by Plymouth CRAFT of Plymouth, MA, USA and awarded at Greenwood Fest 2016 to Beth Moen of Siljansnäs Dalarna, Sweden. Beth has worked with wood for 35 years, both furniture and green wood. Since 1989, she has been a partner in a business called Norea Form Och Snickeri making shaving horses, "Gråben," furniture, crafts, and sloyd. She teaches Sloyd and traditional woodcraft at Sätergläntan, Sweden's institute for sloyd and craft. Beth says, "I love and respect the big trees that have grown for ages, before they become my material. I am fascinated with simple tools and what you can do with them. My favorite tool is absolute the axe, so I am very happy chopping bowls!"
JoJo Wood of the UK was the second recipient of a Slöjd Fellowship at Greenwood Fest 2016. JoJo is a second generation green woodworker, who spent her early years traveling the world with her father, meeting craftspeople and amassing woodworking skills, building the perfect foundation for mastering her chosen crafts.
The third and fourth Slöjd Fellowships were recommended by the Swedish Craft Society of Santäglantan, Sweden in partnership with North House Folk School of Grand Marais, MN, USA and awarded at Täljfest 2016 to Peter Follansbee of Kingston, MA, USA and Jarrod Dahl of Wisconsin, USA. Follansbee began his training as a woodworker in 1978, learning chairmaking, coopering, basket-making, spoon & bowl carving, timberframing and more. For over twenty years he has specialized in making carved oak furniture based on 17th examples from England and New England. Dahl has been working with wood and birch bark professionally since 1996 and sells his handcrafts online under the business name Woodspirit. An additional contribution toward the third and fourth Fellowships was received from Norman D. Stevens of Storrs, CT, USA. Stevens is an avid and noted spoon collector.
2017
The fifth Slöjd Fellowship was awarded at 2017 SpoonFest, England to Jane Mickelborough of Pempoulrot. France. Jane is a longtime handcraftswoman most recently specializing in the historic folding spoons of Brittany.
2018
The Awarding of the Slöjd Fellowship returned to Greenwood Fest, as Robin Wood and David Fisher were honored.
The Wille Sundqvist and Bill Coperthwaite Slöjd Fellowship was established by Peter Lamb of Kittery Point, Maine, USA in collaboration with Jögge Sundqvist of Umeå, Sweden. Jögge is Wille's son and a pro-slöyder in business since 1985, who teaches Scandinavian craft around the world. Peter is a greenwood and handtool craftsman and a member of the Dickinsons Reach Community, stewarding Bill Coperthwaite's homestead property and legacy of simple living, a hand-built life and social justice.
Funding for the Fellowships have been provided by Peter Lamb through his family’s Ralph E. Ogden Foundation. Additional contributors to the Fellowship are Norman D. Stevens of Storrs, Connecticut, USA. Stevens is a noted spoon collector and author of several books related to his collection; and Laurence A. Becker of Austin, Texas, USA. Becker was a close friend and collaborator of Bill Coperthwaite and has been a long time champion for savant artists with autism. North House Folk School of Grand Marais, Minnesota is the non-profit organizational partner for the Slöjd Fellowships and an invested restricted fund is held there to provide ongoing support for the Fellowship awards. Contributions are welcome.
The Slöjd Fellowship grants of $2,500 (USD) are awarded periodically and recipients are chosen by an international committee comprised of craftspeople and craft organization representatives in consultation with Peter Lamb and Jögge Sundqvist.
Slöjd Fellowship contacts
Peter Lamb Jögge Sundqvist
Gerrish Island Kasamark 142
Kittery Point, ME 03905 905 86 Umeå
USA Sweden
peterlamb@kneetoknee.com jogge@surolle.se