Our Instructors

  • Mary Hark is the proprietor of HARK! Handmade Paper Studio in St. Paul, Minnesota. She produces limited editions of flax and linen handmade papers in collaboration with book designers and artists, as well as unique paper artworks that have been exhibited internationally. Hark leads an initiative in Kumasi, Ghana, building the first hand papermill in West Africa capable of producing high-quality papers using local botanicals and textile waste. An artist committed to sustainable practice and community, Mary has collaborated with neighbors to produce public artworks that are installed locally; her work can also be found in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Brooklyn Museum, the Smithsonian Museum of African Art, the Ginsberg Book Arts Collection in Johannesburg, South Africa, and in many university special collections. Mary is a recipient of a 2021-22 McKnight Fellowship in the Book Arts. Hark is regularly invited to lecture and conduct workshops on papermaking at art centers nationally and is a Professor in the Design Studies Department at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. www.maryhark.com / www.theghanapaperproject.com

  • Dan, the master mind behind Merchant Leather, is a completely self taught leatherworker. Drawing from traditional techniques as well as trial and error, Dan has developed his own unique style of designing and building high-quality leather goods.

    Merchant Leather is a designer and producer of classically styled, handmade leather goods. Merchant Leather goods are simply, yet timelessly designed and built for everyday use, for generations to come. Merchant Leather bags and accessories are made one at a time, entirely without machines, and proudly carried around the world.

    Merchant Leather works to pass on the tradition of working with leather by teaching students of all ages the basics of hand-sewing and design in classes throughout the Midwest. Check out Dan's work HERE!

  • April Stone, an Ojibwe Black Ash basket maker from the Bad River reservation in northern WI, has been working with black ash since 1998. She spent one year studying a basket in use before attempting to weave her first basket in the spring of 1999 and ended up falling in love with all things connected to this craft including live harvest and log processing of raw material into usable splint for weaving. Since 2000, she has researched and traveled extensively, sharing her skills with young and old.

    April harvests all of her raw materials for her own basket making and for various programming from the ceded territory swamps and forests of northern WI. and processes all of this material by hand. She has received much recognition for her working knowledge of Black Ash basketry, while being thought of as a patient and gentle educator.

  • Betsy Johnson has been practicing yoga for over two decades, and she has taught everywhere from a 103-degree yoga studio to her dentist's office. Her meditations have been downloaded over 300,000 times on Insight Timer, and she has published five books.

  • Laura Liz Ruprecht is a mosaic artist residing in St. Cloud, MN. She earned her Bachelor’s degree in Art from the College of St. Benedict’s in St. Joseph, MN. While being an assisting artist in two mosaic public art pieces in downtown St. Cloud, Laura found her love for mosaics. In 2013, Laura became a Rostered Teaching Artist through the Central Minnesota Arts Board. Over the course of ten years, Laura has hosted artist residencies in many local schools and community organizations including Anna Marie’s Alliance, Hillside Adult Basic Education, and the Boys and Girls Clubs of Central Minnesota. In 2018, Laura participated in a 5 month residency in Jamestown, ND where she taught art at three K-6 elementary schools to over 200 students and also to residents at the James River Correctional Center.

    In July 2020, Laura made her dream into a reality by becoming a full time artist and creating a mosaic business. She currently creates stained glass mosaics out of her studio at her home. Her work is inspired by the beauty of birds and animals. She continues to share her passion for mosaics with the community by teaching and creating public art.

  • I grew up in the wild beauty of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. I find myself deeply rooted in the dense woods & big water & simple farm to table meals my mama made. Like most Yoopers, I am passionate about sharing how magical the UP is, yet am intensely protective of it. These days, you can find me at the coffee shop I part own with my friend Annette, playing barista.

  • Sophia Hotzler is a papermaker, photographer and crafter living in Minneapolis. She was first introduced to the skill of papermaking while attending the University of Manitoba, where she graduated in 2019 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts: Honors degree. When she is not working as a lifestyle photographer, she can be found in her paper studio exploring the limits and boundaries of paper and pulp as its own artistic medium, creating handmade journals and working within various other fiber arts. You can check out her work on instagram.

  • Caleb combines his two interests of building and baking bread into the art and craft of wood-fired ovens. He is drawn to the simplicity of their design, but also the skill needed to perfect the art of wood-fired baking. He is dedicated to a lifestyle of growing and harvesting food, building by hand and enjoying the outdoors. He lives with his family outside of Grand Marais, MN.

  • A lifelong student of art and nature, I live by the seasons. Spring brings new growth & energy. Summer is buzzing & busy. Fall is a place to calm down and winter a time for rest, rejuvenation, reflection and, for me, creating. In summer’s rush of garden compositions, both personally & professionally, I excitedly dream about fall & winter’s artistic explorations. Each winter is a dive into myself and memories of the other seasons through oil painting, printmaking and needle felting.

    Primarily self taught after attending an arts high school, I fell deeply in love with oil painting landscapes in 2021. In October 2023, I took a felting class and was smitten. Needle felting as fine art has allowed me to stretch and grow in new ways as an artist. Using the same principles & elements of design, color theory, and eye for detail that I apply to my paintings, I’m on a quest to blend and layer fibers to render realistic scenes in wool.

    I live in rural Buffalo, MN with my wonderful husband, 2 dogs, cat & 8 chickens. My garden compositions, oil paintings & felts can be seen at restaurants & homes around Minneapolis & west metro.

  • Broommaker. Artisan. Friend to the bees.

    Rooted among the rich soil of the Midwest, Rebi creates work that hugs the line between craft and art, bringing beauty to everyday functional items through her business Rooted Apricity. Broom making has become the perfect balance of her desire to make, her love for plants, and her passion to live as close to the earth as possible. In 2013, she graduated from Carleton College with a B.A. in Studio Art, and her brooms have made appearances at art fairs across Minnesota and North Dakota. All of her brooms are handcrafted with traditional broom making techniques, weaving patterns, warmth, and love - providing a natural alternative to the synthetic brooms often found in stores. A huge supporter of the slow living movement, Rebi feels blessed by this opportunity to share her passion and inspire other creatives.

  • Bill grew up in the St. Cloud area and now lives in St. Joe. When he retired in 2016 he took up soap making as a hobby. That hobby has grown into the Rubber Ducky Soap Company and has produced thousands of bars of soap. In the process Bill has developed and tested dozens of recipes that included countless ingredients and methods. Today, Bill still enjoys the craft and is eager to share some of what he has learned.

  • I have been a woodworker most of my life and enjoy making just about anything from wood. I was born in South Africa and have lived in Minnesota for over 25 years. My passion is furniture making and I now mill my own Lumber on my sawmill and enjoy recycling logs that many times would be firewood or wood chips. I have taken a few Timber Framing classes at AHFS and hope to build a timber frame one day. I live in St Augusta with my wife Julie. Julie and I enjoy hiking and traveling.


  • Clark took his first timber framing class in 1997, and was instantly hooked. He was a professional timber framer for 10 years, and served on the board of the Timber Framers Guild. A former computer programmer and researcher at Bell Labs, he now designs timber frames when he's not teaching and leading workshops. Clark lives in NE Minneapolis with his wife Mia.

  • Josie is enamored with all things craft since childhood, when she attended programs at the local nature center making sumacade and wild blackberry jam with churn butter. In her twenties, an inordinate amount of time was spent in the pursuit of wild edibles and wild wine making, joined shortly thereafter by an insatiable interest for all things baskets. Throughout this, fiber has been the constant companion, a compendium of knowledge and experience on a slow boil. In backwards fashion, from knitting to fiber studies, to growing her own flax, the journey continues. Craft in all forms is the path to a greater connection with the earth, ourselves, and each other, all of which could use greater unity.

    Each year she teaches at the Lake Superior Traditional Ways Gathering, and taught/assisted classes as an intern at North House Folk School. Currently, she occasionally renovates turn of the century houses and endeavors to have a life full of learning, teaching, and creating craft.

  • Beth Homa Kraus uses sustainably harvested and hand processed bark from White Paper Birch tree to make woven items that can be used in everyday life, as well as in a gallery. By teaching classes and facilitating other learning opportunities in this handcraft, Beth focuses on building communities and celebrating the weaving traditions rooted many different cultures.

    After studying painting at Hamline University and working as a caseworker for the homeless in Baltimore Maryland, Beth became an intern at the North House Folk School in Grand Marais, Minnesota. There they learned many traditional crafts including many styles of boat building, but their focus shifted to basketry and their obsession with birch bark was sparked. Birch bark quickly became Beth’s principal medium.

    Beth has taught birch basketry classes at North House Folk School, the American Swedish Institute, the Weavers’ Guild, and many special engagements. Through communal learning, public demonstrations, and facilitating harvests, they share their love for this durable and beautiful material with everyone with a desire to learn. Check out Beth’s work HERE!

  • Sue Flanders first touched clay her senior year, 1981, at the College of St. Benedict, in St. Joseph, Minn. Under the watchful eye of Sr. Dennis Frandrup, she learned technical throwing skills. Frandrup wouldn’t allow students to keep any pots in the first month; she would slice each “masterpiece" to expose imperfections and lead her students to understand the goals of pot construction.

    Sue maintains a studio in Mora, Minnesota and is currently working with white stoneware and firing her pots to cone 6 in one of her two electric kilns.   “I get great satisfaction from working every step in the ceramic process”, says Sue.. Her studio name is “Kilns of Flanders”, where she shares the studio with her potter husband, Chuck.

    She also enjoys teaching workshops in East Central Minnesota at Sapsuckers Farms, Annandale Art and Textile Center, American Swedish Institute and Avon Hills Folk School.    

  • Karen is a retired Minnesota master gardener having grown primroses for 30 years along with perennial flowers, rock gardens and vegetable gardens. She has spoken and presented on primroses and rock gardens across the midwest for the American Primrose Society, North American Rock Garden Societies, and local garden societies in central Minnesota. She has had articles published in the bulletins for both national societies, is a member of both as well as currently serving as a director for the American Primrose Society.

    Karen has lived on the same land south of Avon, MN for the past 50 years, tending to her gardens including a small primrose nursery where she grows and sells Primroses to others wanting to grow their own in their woodland garden.

  • Learn the magic of transforming wool into 2 and 3 D objects from an experienced needle felting artist. Karen has been an avid needle filter since 2016. She finds working with wool to be a very tactile and sensory experience, and the process of felting wool is all hands on. Besides the texture of wool under her fingers, she also finds the repeated rhythmic motion of interlocking fibers extremely soothing. In her years of learning, teaching, and experiencing, Karen has come up with lots of tips and tricks, from what kind of supplies to buy, to how to create one of a kind pieces of art. Karen hopes her work will inspire people to look for new ways to create, and hopefully also experience the soul soothing calmness that comes form working in this art medium. If you’d like to know more about Karen’s work, you can find her on Facebook as ‘I Felt It’.

  • Carol Lane Fortier, works in the theater industry as a Costumer. She leads our merry band of crafters in this endeavor. We come from various backgrounds and really connected in a book club that meets monthly, now we have a craft club as well. Assistants are Sarah Peterson and Katie & Blaine Cross. 

  • Greetings my name is Grant, most call me Granch. I use he/him/his pronouns and I am a creative with big passion for teaching. I found my way to it working with troubled teens in the wilderness and there was nothing more rewarding to me than seeing my students marvel at their own talents and creative capabilities. I primarily work with leather and waxed canvas; but I love carving spoons as well. I look forward to meeting you and seeing what we can make.

  • Lisa Meyers McClintick is an award-winning writer and photographer, longtime contributor to the Star Tribune and USA Today, and author of Day Trips from the Twin Cities guidebook. She’s also a teaching artist at The Loft, Paramount Center for the Arts, and other venues with a specialty in mental health, visual and nature journaling. She’s been a Minnesota Master Naturalist since 2021.

  • Jeffrey is an Embodiment coach and facilitator. He helps people move through challenges and find internal clarity through mind-body techniques. He is passionate about sharing this work because of the strides he sees clients make and, frankly, because of how much he needed this work.

    For more than 15 years, Jeffrey worked on music videos, feature films, and commercials for companies like 3M and Adobe.

    But 7 years ago, his career hit a screeching halt because he couldn't manage the stress from pressure at work. He had terrible body aches and pains and suffered physically and mentally so much that he even lost his love for storytelling.

    To find relief, Jeffrey trained in powerful mind-body techniques that have helped his body and mind feel way better. Now, he is making the biggest film of his career and enjoying it.

    That's why he wants to help other people reconnect with their bodies so their bodies work with them and not against them.

  • Peter Gillitzer is small business owner and orchardist from St Joseph, MN. His educational background includes undergraduate and graduate degrees in forestry and agriculture from the University of Minnesota.

  • In college, Shane began taking hands-on courses. He discovered a passion for making. It changed his life. He loves it. He wants others to also.

    Motivated by this, he creates and provides hands-on STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Math) learning experiences. By doing this, he harnesses the teaching power of direct experience.

    His making skills are plentiful. He’s done many forms of metal work. Primarily, he studied silversmithing and fabrication. For several years he taught at the Reno Gem and Mineral Society.

    As an artist, he focuses on found object sculpture, interactive art and automata.

  • We are a mother/daughter beekeeping team and have a combined experience of 30+ years of keeping bees. Therese's experience began within a commercial beekeeping environment and has shifted towards a smaller scale approach when Melissa joined her in 2016. This smaller scale approach allows the space and time to slow down and enjoy the process fully. We are continuously working towards more bee-centric practices and strive to learn more every year. The growing and deepening connection with the bees and the land is the most rewarding part of bee guardianship and any sweet golden elixir the bees share is a bonus!

  • Born and raised in the Midwest, I have had an interest in birds since early grade school. I had an older brother who inspired me with an enthusiasm for birding and helped me learn the sights, sounds and behavior of birds. After graduating from college and getting into the workplace my hobbies tended towards my 3 children; when they were old enough I took them to the state park near our house to observe wildlife and participated in the park’s bluebird monitoring program.

    My wife [Mary] and I took the University of Minnesota’s Master Naturalist Volunteer course in the spring of 2021, and my capstone project was an Eastern Bluebird nest box trail at Crow Wing State Park. Since moving to St. Joseph last summer I have become a member of the Central Minnesota Audubon Society

    Recently retired from 33 years with the US Army, I now have the time to spend doing more with wildlife. I have a passion to instill enthusiasm and participation from students so that they can learn, grow and enjoy the outdoors, birds in particular. I have found that the students’ questions and conversation also inspire me to learn more along with them. Curiosity is a quality which should be encouraged as it leads to life-long learning.

  • Kerry has been “bending wood” for about fourteen years to create snowshoes and furniture for himself, friends and family. A veteran of the US Navy and a retired law enforcement officer, early in his career Kerry worked in Cook County, MN in and around the North Shore, BWCA. During that time he made winter camping trips into the BWCA that were often too cold, with too much snow, pulling overloaded sleds with snowshoes, cross-country skis. Too many trips to count and yet in reflection, not enough.

    Kerry is retired now and living in central MN with his spouse Lynn, who according to Kerry has all the talent in the family. When not bending wood and sharing his passion for creating Kerry can be found under the surface of lakes and oceans as a scuba diver and instructor. He can also be found helping Santa during the busy season.

  • Gary is a long time resident of Central Minnesota. Gary retired in 2020 after a 38 year career in piano tuning and rebuilding. In 1996 he began building traditional style frame drums as a hobby which has grown into an avocation. He lives in St. Joseph with his wife Brenda.

  • Ariel Bonkoski is a self-taught mushroom identification expert that resides in Duluth, Minnesota. She has been studying fungi since 2016 and is now one of the most active mushroom identifiers in North America. Ariel has taught mushroom identification courses and led forays for colleges, public schools, mycological societies, and nature centers all over North America. Ariel is best known for her friendly and enthusiastic approach to teaching about mushrooms. She is an active Master Naturalist, with a passion for learning, giving back to nature, and connecting people to nature. Ariel spends much of her free time camping, hiking, and foraging.

  • are knitters with a love of whimsy. That's why they started Knit & Gather to teach others the craft they love. They have both been knitting for over twenty years and love to experiment with different mediums. Coming from Norwegian cultural backgrounds, it is folk art and craft that connects them with their heritage! Together they design patterns and have partnered to teach fiber arts. Their goal is to share knowledge, connect with others, and offer high quality patterns, tools, and more. Follow along and take a class with them!

  • A self-described all-around artist and avid skill collector, I am an extremely curious person and have a lifelong goal to gain knowledge and skills in all things.

    Growing up in the woods around the Avon Hills, I loved exploring nature, building forts, creating adventures, and getting dirty. My interest in all things Indiana Jones inspired me to attend college to study archaeology, but ultimately got distracted by the arts and graduated with a dual degree in Art and Archeology from the University of Minnesota.

    For the past 20 years I have been running my own small business as a professional woodworker in Saint Paul, building everything from wooden toys to expansive butcher block countertops. Teaching all ages of folks is incredibly fulfilling and I work to encourage, embolden, and promote others to achieve success in their endeavors.  “We’ll figure it out” is my favorite motto!