The Bear That Lives Within the Fir Tree Branches, oil painting by Bonnie Loukus

HANCOCK – The Copper Country Community Arts Center presents Animal Life – Art from the Kalevala, a group exhibition coinciding with the City of Hancock’s Heikinpäivä mid-winter celebration. The Kalevala is a 19th century work of poetry compiled by Elias Lönnrot from Finnish and Karelian oral folklore and mythology. It is regarded as the national epic poem of Finland and is one of the most significant works of Finnish literature. Artists participating with work related to animals in the Kalevala include: Cynthia Coté, Bob Dawson, Tobias Dawson, Terri Frew, Tammy Gajewski, Paige Gwyn, Lindsey Heiden, Joyce Koskenmaki, Bonnie Loukus, Madhura Mehendale, Clyde Mikkola, and Kris Raisanen Schourek. There is a reception this Saturday, Jan. 25 from 3 to 4:30 p.m. Finnish style refreshments will be served. The exhibition will run through Feb. 5.

Also on display are items that were made in the Finnish Folk School at Finlandia’s Finnish American Heritage Center on loan from Jim Kurtti. It includes: Leather Lapland boots and a selection of birch bark horns with reed pipes, a shepherd’s flute, and a cow horn trumpet. All were made in this year’s Folk School taught by Finnish masters.

This and other CCCAC exhibitions are supported by a grant from the Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs with funding from the National Endowment for the Arts. The Copper Country Community Arts Center is located at 126 Quincy Street in Hancock. Gallery hours are Tuesday through Friday 10-6 p.m. and Saturdays 10-2 p.m. For more information call 482-2333 or visit the website www.coppercountryarts.com.