For ten days in early September 2025, Eau Claire, Wisconsin hosted Anne Tiedemand-Johannessen Møller and her billedvevene (woven tapestries). This year we are celebrating the 200th anniversary of Norwegian immigration to the United States. The sloop Restauration arrived on October 9, 1825, in New York City with 52 people aboard and has since become a symbol of Norwegian American identity. In this anniversary year, Møller came to the Upper Midwest with many of her woven tapestries so that we could delight in their depictions of Norwegian life and history. A highlight of the exhibition was Møller’s tapestry of the Restauration itself being led across the ocean by a bald eagle. I was especially intrigued by her use of threads outside of the woven ground to show interest and dimensionality.
Detail of Restauration showing addition of non-woven threads. All photos are courtesy of the author.
Møller grew up on a farm in Gausdal, northwest of Lillehammer, Norway. As a child, she enjoyed exploring the outdoors — hiking in the woods and mountains and skiing in the winter. She began work in healthcare but later took further education in art history and eventually weaving courses in Lillehammer. She enjoys that her tapestry weaving can tell a story.
In 2004, Møller’s This is Norway — a set of twelve tapestries — travelled around the country. She intended them to feature the months in her region of Norway. The tapestries are full of animal life with wolves, puffins, and polar bears. My favorite one was December which presented to the viewer as if peering through from a warm inside through a window to the cold outside. The folks outside were just as warmed through it seems, enjoying some fun winter activities.
Two friezes depicting historical events in Norwegian history were also included in the exhibition. The first depicted scenes from Norwegian history and was woven by Møller to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the dissolution of union with Sweden.
Another frieze, woven to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the Norwegian Constitution in 2014, shows decades of recent history in Norway.
[Left: Detail of the Frieze, Norwegians heading to church. Right: Detail of the frieze, Svinesud Bridge crossing Iddefjord joining Sweden and Norway, 2005]
I was honored to offer the presentation “From Norway to the American Midwest: 200 Years of Immigrant Folk Art” as a complementary program to the exhibition. I used the presentation to position Møller’s traditional craft within a larger story of Norwegian folk art and craft in the diaspora — with a special focus on the lasting contribution of Norwegian folk art and craft in the American Upper Midwest and the value in maintaining it and its practitioners.
Møller’s visit and exhibition was sponsored by Løven Lodge (Sons of Norway), Midwest Institute of Scandinavian Culture, Waldemar Ager Association and Museum, McIntyre Library (University of Wisconsin–Eau Claire), and L.E. Phillips Memorial Public Library. She continues to work on tapestries and is currently weaving one of St. Olaf, the 11th century King of Norway.
October 2025
Josh Brown is Skwierczynski University Fellow in Languages and professor of German and linguistics at the University of Wisconsin–Eau Claire. He prefers spending time at the loom, learning about the techniques that are deeply rooted in a culture, especially his own Pennsylvania Dutch culture and Scandinavian cultures. Josh has published and presented widely on heritage language communities in the U.S., including the Scandinavian Americans. He dreams of a life as an artisanal weaver in New England. His academic website is: https://www.joshuarbrown.com/ and his weaving website is: https://www.thebullfroginn.com/
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For years, I’ve been making art that aims to elevate the work of women. When I was a young adult, I received a beautiful doily as a shower gift from my great-aunt, Betty. I was enamored with the detail, appreciating each stitch. I understood the time and care that went into this work and remembered seeing doilies selling for pennies on the dollar at craft fairs. It was this experience that moved me to honor these labors of love. After exhausting my personal collection of doilies and other lace works to inspire my paper abstractions (such as my Revolution and Constellation series), I decided to dig deeper and research my Scandinavian roots.
My roots are predominantly Norwegian, with a small amount of Swedish and German heritage. Locally, my research led to a solo exhibition at the American Swedish Institute in Minneapolis (2021) that honored Swedish bobbin lace, including the Bobbin Lace Fence Project (an outdoor installation along the fence on Chicago Avenue during the pandemic).
This focus on Scandinavian handwork in my art propelled my first trip to Norway in 2019, where I studied the collections of the Tekstilindustrimuseet (Salhus, Norway) and the Osterøy Museum (Gjerstad, Norway). I arrived that year in Oslo, Norway, on May 17th, and was in awe of the celebrations, culture and incredible detail of the bunad folk dress worn by the locals. While at these museums, I learned about the warp-weighted loom and other textiles in the collection of the Osterøy Museum, and the knitted works at the Tekstilindustrimuseet. I noted the differences between the hand-made vs. machine-made at each museum. The Tekstilindustrimuseet features great machines, both electric and hand-propelled, but it was the historical photographs in their collection that moved me the most. The photographs told stories of the people who worked at the textile factories of Norway, and the various roles of men and women within. I wondered what it must have felt like to transition from a mostly hand-made industry to this commercial facility, and how fast that transition must have been during the industrial revolution.
Between these two musuems, I enjoyed the rolling hills and sheep-filled pastures on the drive, which was about 34 kilometers. As an outdoor enthusiast, I was in awe of the waterfalls that seemed to be flowing out of every farmstead. To get to the museum, we needed to pass through single-lane dirt roads that seemed like we had stepped back in time. With a focus on preserving cultural traditions, the Osterøy Museum is not only a museum, but a living practice involving these handwork traditions. The Osterøy Museum is a compelling and active connection to heritage that I had not experienced before. I knew I must stay and learn.
I continued to research this work for the next few years before eventually producing two main bodies of work: my Portal series and Bunad series, which were first exhibited at the Osterøy Museum in 2023. It is now a traveling exhibit, and was shown at the Hjemkomst Center (Moorhead), Norway House (Minneapolis), and will be featured as an upcoming solo exhibition at the Vesterheim Museum in 2027.
While I was at the Osterøy Museum, I focused my research on the bringeklut portion of the Bunad folk dress. I carefully documented several bringeklut pieces and other textiles with my camera, keying into the details of each stitch. The Bunad series developed out of this documentation.
When I returned home, I translated these images into polymer photogravure prints. This process involves the transfer of a photographic image onto a polymer plate that can be used for editioning. Once the plate is developed, it is inked up and printed by hand with an etching press.
For these works, I intentionally printed the images in black and white to draw attention to the labor of the handwork, leveling out the competition of color and bringing to light the human use of these textiles. I wanted the stains, rips and loose threads to become an active component of the work. To me, these imperfections accentuate the importance of our existence, and the role textiles have played in being human. I added subtle hints of the original colors back into the images through my own embroidery and beadwork. This process allows me to play a role in directing the viewer to the important aspects of the textiles that have captivated my attention.
In the Portal series, I integrated historical photographs from the Tekstilindustrimuseet and patterns from the textile collection of the Osterøy Museum, creating an intersection of handwork and the textile industry. Transforming the photographs into fish-eye lens perspectives and printing them as archival pigment prints on paper transports the viewer back in time, honoring those who paved the way for the industry. In addition, I’ve added lace-pattern borders sourced from the Osterøy’s collection that are drawn by hand and embellished with embroidery and beads, referencing this handwork as an expression of love and a means of survival. They were symbols of life at home, yet through the Industrial Revolution and invention of machinery, these skills quickly transformed into a prominent way of earning a living. The work I created for the Bunad and Portal series honors and recognizes these labors of love. Additional works from this series can be found on my website, www.amysands.com, and my Instagram page, @printmaker.
A view of my exhibition Trådar at Norway House in 2025.
Photo credit to Ukjend (Tekstilindustrimuseet) on the following images: Portal VI, Portal VII, Portal VIII, Portal IX, Portal X. All other photographs are public domain/free use as part of Tekstilindustromuseet collection. Lace patterns in Portal series are credited to Osterøy Museum and Tekstilindustrimuseet collection.All textiles in the Bunad series are from the Osterøy Museum collection.
Amy Sands is a Minneapolis-based visual artist and educator who creates work that honors handwork traditions through the reimagining of textiles into visual works. These works include prints, photography and public art. She is a practicing professional artist, Professor of Studio Arts and Department Chair of Fine Arts at Metro State University, a wife to a wonderful husband, mother of two adult children and two cats. She lives for the outdoors and elevating the work of women, current and past. www.amysands.com IG: @printmaker
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I find it surprising that so many weavers have felt compelled to reproduce Norway’s most famous weaving, the Baldishol Tapestry. Many Baldishol replicas are in the U.S.: Vesterheim Norwegian-American Museum has three full-sized replicas, and one is in storage at the White House, a gift from Norwegian-American women to President and Mrs. Coolidge. (Read more about those in “The Baldishol Tapestry–The White House Replica and Others.”)
Baldishol Tapestry. Between 1150-1190. Nasjonalmuseet. (full record)
Weaving a Baldishol tapestry is not a small commitment for a weaver; a full-sized replica is large at 46” x 80”. It is tricky in terms of technique; in particular, several outlined areas on the birds’ breasts and the back of the horse challenge even the most skilled tapestry weavers. Perhaps that’s why many weavers choose to make their own copies – to challenge their weaving skills? (1)
I learned of another reproduction of the Baldishol in the U.S. in 2021. It was located in Florida and presumably woven by Abbie Wetzel (1920-2002).
Abbie Wetzel was born in Massachusetts. According to her brief obituary, she was a veteran of the U.S. Navy, serving in World War II. She taught instrument flying to pilots. She was married to Robert Wetzel, an artist, Navy veteran, and producer of animated films. Bob and Abbie had no children. They lived in the Washington DC area for many years, later retiring in Winter Haven, Florida.
After Abbie died, Bob remarried. He died of cancer in 2004, and Abbie’s textile supplies and the Baldishol reproduction were left with his second wife, Mary Martin Wetzel. When Bob Wetzel died, much of the background story of the Baldishol replica was lost. After Abbie Wetzel’s death in 2002, the Baldishol replica remained in her husband’s family for two decades, carefully stored in Winter Haven, then Gainesville, Florida, and then Asheville, South Carolina.
Emily Mann, the granddaughter of Bob Wetzel’s second wife Mary, contacted me about the tapestry, believed to be woven by Abbie Wetzel. It seemed a bit baffling. What prompted Wetzel to take on such a large weaving and this image? Had she seen the original? Did she have Norwegian background? Was she an experienced tapestry weaver?
The original Baldishol Tapestry is 46.5” tall by 80”. The Abbie Wetzel reproduction is approximately 50” by 70”, so it is a full-size replica. But this Baldishol tapestry has a very odd characteristic — the image was woven backwards!
Snapshot taken by Emily Mann, with the horseman riding in the wrong direction
That didn’t seem right, and I suggested to Emily that perhaps she had sent me a photo of the back. But it was the front; she sent me photos clearly showing that unwoven ends were on the other side. That was also a bit odd. In the Norwegian billedvev [tapestry] tradition, the hanging ends on the backs of tapestries are woven in so that the reverse side is as beautiful as the front.
Emily Mann inherited the tapestry, but after it was in storage for so many years, her family members had few details. They did know that Abbie Wetzel was not able to finish it, and Bob Wetzel paid someone to finish the weaving. When that was or who did it, Emily didn’t know.
I searched for more information on Abbie Wetzel. She was an active spinner and weaver and at one point owned five spinning wheels, according to a 1990 article in the Pensacola News Journal. She had been spinning for thirty years. She gave workshops on straw weaving and demonstrated spinning at her local library. Abbie compiled extensive natural dye notebooks and samples, which Emily inherited and passed on to an artist friend.
Then I spent a whole day on the couch, peeling back layers of the internet….
It wasn’t Abbie Wetzel who began the Baldishol, It was a Norwegian-American weaver, Maria Mundal. And the person who finished weaving the tapestry was Mary Mahon from Orlando.
Mary Mahon pictured in an article in the Orlando Sentinel, August 22, 1999, “Interweaving Artistry, History.”
In an article in the Orlando Sentinel, Mary Mahon mentioned that it was Maria Mundal who started the tapestry. Mary Mahon and Abbie Wetzel were active members of the Weavers of Orlando; both are mentioned in issues of the guild newsletter, Fibergramme, which is archived online. It is interesting that Mary Mahon is working on a floor loom, not an upright tapestry loom. I thought she might just be weaving something else, for the purposes of a photo, but it looks like she is weaving tapestry. She is not weaving in the Norwegian tradition with butterflies; I see a tapestry bobbin and another small shuttle.
The article states that Mary Mahon had been working on it for three years, so probably beginning about 1996. The article noted that the original weaver, Maria Mundal, died more than 20 years previously (previous to 1999) and said it was an accident.
What was the accident? I discovered the sad answer through the Norwegian National Library online, in an article from Nordisk Tidende, June 27, 1974. “Art Weaver Maria Mundal is Dead.” (My translation)
The renowned art weaver Maria Mundal died at Ullevaal Hospital in Oslo on June 11. She had been living in Alexandria, Virginia, and had earlier this summer traveled on vacation to Norway after a 40 year absence from her homeland. She turned 80 in October 1973.
After a visit to the Munch Museum she was hit by a car and broke her collarbone. She was taken to the hospital. She developed complications and her life could not be saved. She died on June 11 and was buried in Vegårdshei in Aust-Agder, where her mother is also buried.
Maria Mundal had a strong wish to weave the Baldishol Tapestry, one of Norway’s most famous tapestries, through her whole life. It dates from the 12th century and was found in the Baldishol Church in Hedmark. and hangs in the Kunstindustri Museum [now part of the Nasjonalmuseet] in Oslo. She obtained the materials she needed and had begun the large work, but it was not completed. Now another person will be sought to finish it. Maria Mundal herself said that the Baldishol would be the greatest work of her life.
So how did Maria Mundal’s Baldishol come to be with Abbie Wetzel? I guessed that Abbie was a tapestry student in one of Maria Mundal’s tapestry classes, or was a friend through a weavers group near Alexandria, Virginia, where Maria Mundal lived before her death. Wetzel lived in the DC area before retiring later to Florida.
I discussed the backwards Baldishol with Laurann Gilbertson, Curator at Vesterheim Norwegian-American Museum. She began digging into a cache of letters and records about Maria Mundal in their archives. There were letters from Abbie Wetzel, who had donated other weavings by Maria Mundal to the museum. The story of Maria Mundal’s Baldishol replica became much clearer, and I should have contacted Laurann earlier! In 2000 Abbie Wetzel was in communication with Vesterheim about the completed Baldishol replica. This was shortly before she died in 2002. The communication stopped. The Baldishol was stored away in Florida. And two decades later Emily Mann inherited it and began to seek information about it.
In a letter from the Vesterheim archive, Abbie Wetzel related more information about Mundal’s Baldishol replica. “Husfliden resisted selling Maria the handspun vegetal dyed yarn so it was Maria’s persistence that won out. She had been working on the tapestry for about a year before her untimely death and had completed about ¾ of it. The cartoon was lost in the handling of her estate and I obtained a copy from a friend in Norway.”
An article in Nordiske Tidende from October 4, 1973, profiled Mundal as a prominent Norwegian-American weaver, and ends with the following paragraph. “Maria has just received yarn from Norway and is ready to begin weaving a copy of the Baldishol Tapestry, a project she has looked forward to and feels will be one of her most important works.” If Maria Mundal began weaving the replica around October, 1973, when she was 79, and then wove ¾ of the tapestry before her accident in Oslo in March, 1974, that was a fast weaving pace!
But why was the image backwards?
A question remained: If Maria Mundal began the tapestry, and she learned to weave as a child, in an unbroken tradition from her mother, grandmother, and as one article said, weavers back to Viking times, why would she leave tails on the back of a tapestry? That is against Norwegian tapestry history and technique. And if weaving the Baldishol Tapestry was a lifelong goal of Mundal, why would she weave it backwards? I have a theory.
I believe Maria Mundal was weaving the tapestry from the front, left the tails of each color on the front, and planned to weave in all the ends (like a good Norwegian). But the person who finished weaving the tapestry (Mary Mahon, and perhaps also Abbie Wetzel) didn’t know that was supposed to be done. Most American tapestry weavers don’t follow that tradition. I looked more closely at one of the detail photos, showing one end of the tapestry, and it looks like some ends have been woven in, just not cut off. If all the ends can be woven in – voila! – the horseman will not be riding backwards.
Emily Mann is donating the Baldishol replica to Vesterheim Norwegian-American Museum, which has a number of other pieces woven by Maria Mundal. Maria Mundal would be pleased, no doubt, although her initial hope was that it would be displayed in the Norwegian Embassy in Washington, DC, or at the United Nations. And Abbie Wetzel, who had been a good friend to Maria Mundal, would be happy to know that the completed Baldishol will be part of the Vesterheim Norwegian-American Museum collection. (2)
Abbie Wetzel once wrote to Laurann Gilbertson, “My experience as a handspinner and handweaver has contributed to my respect for these crafts associated with these creative endeavors. When it is the part of the lives of many generations, as in a museum, it evokes reverence and a joy of the spirit, doesn’t it?”
(2) Members of the Minnesota Weavers Guild of Minnesota Scandinavian Weavers Study Group will weave in the loose threads on Mundal’s tapestry, to fulfill her strong wish to weave a Baldishol replica.
October 2025
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