Annegret Goehring Will Be Featured in UP Art Festival

Annegret Goehring cuts the delicate silhouette of native flowers from black paper, which will be placed on a white or colored background.

Annegret Goehring of Hessel will demonstrate the art of scissor cutting in the Upper Peninsula Folklife Festival this Saturday, March 15, in Marquette.

The festival is presented by the Beaumier Heritage Center at Northern Michigan University, an on-campus museum dedicated to preserving and presenting the history and culture of the Upper Peninsula's people. Mrs. Goehring will demonstrate her art form Saturday, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. She will be part of a demonstration of Upper Peninsula craftsmanship, along with eight other artists demonstrating loom and rag rug weaving, ski making, decoy carving, quilting, basketry, fly tying, gourd decorating and painting, and spinner making.

The mission of the Upper Peninsula Folklife Festival is to present the traditional arts and crafts of its diverse population, combining performances, craft demonstrations, workshops, dancing, and regional cuisine. Most events are free to the public, with the exception of Friday night's concert featuring Le Vent du Nord from Quebec, and and a buffet Sunday.

All activities will be at Northern Michigan University in the Explorer and Great Lakes rooms of the University Center. The Friday night concert will be at the Forest Roberts Theater on campus. Mrs. Goehring was selected among other Upper Peninsula artists by Dan Truckey, director of the new Beaumier Heritage Center at the university. Mr. Truckey said he was seeking examples of Upper Peninsula craftsmanship, and he saw Mrs. Goehring demonstrating scissor cutting last summer at the Les Cheneaux Historical Museum. While scissor cutting is not an art developed in the Upper Peninsula, the skill is an example of the many types of folk art brought to the region by European immigrants. Some American Indian artists make cuttings out of birch bark, but the art form is most popular in Europe.

Mrs. Goehring makes "scherenschnitte," a centuries-old European art of cutting paper images or silhouettes that are presented on white or colored paper. Scissor cutting is a folk art taught in schools and homes in Europe, Mrs. Goehring said, and has also been pursued as a fine art by such renowned artists as Henri Matisse.

Mrs. Goehring was born in Germany and studied bookbinding and design at an art and trade school in Kiel, Germany. She became a journeyman bookbinder and worked in a bindery in Germany, and later as a draftsman for a boiler factory in Ohio when her family moved to the United States.

She learned the technique in school, where students cut trees and stars that were used to decorate paper lanterns, cards, and notebooks.

The art of scherenschnitte was founded in Switzerland and Germany during the 1500s and was brought to Colonial America in the 1700s by immigrants who settled primarily in Pennsylvania. Since most early cuttings were made on paper containing acid residue, such cuttings have deteriorated over the years. Most scissor cutters now use acid-free paper.

Mrs. Goehring usually uses acid-free, black paper, which has a white back that allows her to draw designs and images so she can cut along the lines of the drawing. Mrs. Goehring most often draws her inspiration from nature, creating images of native flowers, trees, grasses, animals, landscapes, and shorelines.

She has continued scissor cutting as a hobby through her adult years, making the cuttings as gifts for friends, family members, and as original works of art that she sells at shows and galleries. Her work is on cards, in books, on calendars, and 96 of her most treasured cuttings are in a hard-bound date book she published, "From Nature to Paper."

Mrs. Goehring's work has been featured in local galleries and shows, and displayed at the Alberta House Gallery in Sault Ste. Marie.

Mrs. Goehring recently retired from her role as curator of the Les Cheneaux Historical Museum in Cedarville. She is continuing her involvement in preserving the area's history as a volunteer. As a working artist, she will continue demonstrating her craft at community events, and she is a member of the Les Cheneaux Area Artisan Cooperative.

Information about the Upper Peninsula Folklife Festival can be obtained by visiting the Beaumier Heritage Center Web site at www.nmu.edu/beaumier/festival.h tm, or call Mr. Truckey at (906) 297-1219. Send him e-mail at dtruckey@nmu.edu.

Mr. Truckey is developing permanent exhibits at the new Heritage Center that highlight the ethnic, cultural, religious, industrial, and educational history of the Upper Peninsula. He visits the Eastern Upper Peninsula often, as he has family in the Rudyard area, and he is seeking contributions to the Heritage Center from this region.