Regional Art on display

Local artists work at Heritage Center

HANCOCK -- The Finlandia Art Gallery has opened its autumn exhibition at the Finnish American Heritage Center at 435 Quincy Street in Hancock. The display marks part of Hancock's ongoing designation as the 2026 Finno-Ugric Capital of Culture.

The current group exhibition features contemporary landscape paintings, textiles, oil paintings, and ceramic works compiled by a five-artist regional collective. The participating creators include former Finlandia University art instructor Joyce Koskenmaki, alongside Maggie Parr, Randy Wakeham, Kayo Miwa and Kenyon Hansen.

FAHC Curator Lindsey Heiden reported that the event is actually an interconnected group of exhibitions. The collection features Koskenmaki alongside four professional artists who trained under her instructional tenure.

The exhibition opened on October 1 and has been well-received.

"The attendance has been pretty good," Heiden said. "We had 78 people who came to the opening, which is pretty successful."

Heiden said that of the five artists exhibiting, three are local residents residing within Hancock or Dollar Bay. Koskenmaki, who lives in Hancock and was raised in Hermann, concluded her academic teaching career at Finlandia University. Exhibitors Wakeham, Miwa, and Hansen were all her former students and continue to produce art.

"Joyce Koskenmaki is an internationally recognized artist but lives here at Hancock," Heiden said. "Kayo Miwa is from Ishpeming and Maggie Parr, who is Joyce's daughter, is living in California. All four artists whom Joyce taught. Randy, Kayo and Kenyon were all her students and are still making artwork."

A primary component of the display includes oil paintings created by Parr, a former Disney concept artist. Her featured works utilize classical old master painting techniques paired with integrated character studies. The selections appear alongside Koskenmaki's minimalist wilderness landscapes and mixed-media compositions, which focus on Upper Great Lakes regional environments.

Heiden said this exhibition represents the first time Koskenmaki and Parr have shown their work together.

"So, it's pretty special," she stated. "It's a really great exhibit."

According to Heiden, the heritage center is maintaining an increased operational pace this year, featuring a wider variety of public offerings and expanded community event schedules. "We’re doing some like really cool things, you know," Heiden said. "Like we’re increasing the events that we’re doing here, the amount of shows, the exhibitions that we’re putting on."

Heiden said a current project an upcoming 2027 calendar that focuses on the Copper Country landscape, which Heiden said will be available soon for public purchase.

The collective group show is free and open to the public. The exhibition will remain on display through Nov. 20. Public viewing hours at the Quincy Street facility run from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday.