Aryn Henning Nichols

Driving down Water Street, approaching Decorah from the west, peek left to see the giant wrap-around mural gracing Vesterheim Museum’s Mill Street wall. It’s a colorful kick-off to a vibrant downtown.

“I wanted to convey that communities can be beautiful patchwork quilts rather than melting pots – that the families who have been here for generations and those who have arrived more recently all contribute to the larger community, both its past and its future,” says Decorah-based illustrator and designer Lauren Bonney, who designed and painted the mural last year.

Lauren’s “deceptively whimsical” work has been featured on the walls of Decorah’s ArtHaus, the merchandise of Nordic Fest, and the cover of Inspire(d) magazine (indeed, this very one!). But it was the Vesterheim Museum that provided her biggest canvas yet, with space to “touch on the themes of community and immigration, as well as the specific sense of place that defines Decorah,” Lauren says. She completed the mural, Together in Decorah, in August 2021.

It tells the story of Decorah – its intriguing past, its ever-changing present, and its hope-filled future. One star– and fireball–emblazoned vignette illustrates the meteor strike some 470 million years ago that formed the Decorah Impact Structure (better known as the Decorah Crater). Another, featuring a trumpet-bearing angel, celebrates the Indigenous people that called Decorah home long before European settlers arrived.

“The angel looks toward the past to celebrate and remember the people who lived here before the Europeans came and how important they have been in making and keeping this space as beautiful as it is,” Lauren says.

Another vignette depicts the journey of immigrants, its focal point a drawing of Tradewind, the 25-foot sailboat displayed in Vesterheim’s Westby Ship Gallery. Yet another depicts a rainbow-festooned dove, conveying the hope that immigrants brought with them, and another the Upper Iowa River with fossils by its side. 

She spends perhaps the most time describing the distinctive white arch that has already served as a backdrop for wedding, engagement, graduation, and numerous other photos. “I incorporated elements of Lutheranism while designing something akin to the stained-glass windows in European cathedrals,” she says. “The rose in the center is based on the Iowa state flower, the Wild Rose, and it is surrounded by bur oak leaves, also native to the state.”

She drafted the initial design for the mural in 2020 while taking part in an ArtHaus program (funded by the Iowa Arts Council) to encourage the creation of public art. Participants not only received expert instruction on how to paint murals but were also connected with local businesses seeking artists to create murals for their brick-and-mortar spaces. “We were so pleased with Lauren’s vision for the mural and so excited to make it happen,” says Marcia McKelvey, Vesterheim’s director of administration, on the museum’s selection of her design at that time. 

Vesterheim – officially the National Norwegian-American Museum and Folk Art School – houses more than 33,000 artifacts and comprises 12 historical buildings that draw visitors from around the globe. It’s perhaps best known for its exhibits that, per its website, “explore the diversity of American immigration through the lens of the Norwegian-American experience and highlight the best in historic and contemporary Norwegian folk and fine arts.” The museum also provides tours of Norway and varied educational programs beyond its (now colorful!) walls.  

Making those colorful walls happen, as one might expect, took a hefty amount of time, effort, and talent. Lauren first conducted research, touring Vesterheim and studying photos and artifacts that might inform her vision.

“I talked with the museum about creating an immersive folk-art experience,” she says. “Instead of traditional rosemaling, I combined folk-art patterns of objects within the museum and my personal playful style and illustrations.”

She then fleshed out her original design so that museum staff could take it to the Decorah City Council and Decorah Historic Preservation Commission for review and approval. 

By June 2021, Lauren was ready to break out the markers, prop up the ladders, and begin sketching on the professionally primed walls. “I had this beautiful, creamy surface to start sketching on,” she says with a smile. “I decided to draw directly on that surface rather than project and trace an image, which worked really well because one of the beauties of folk art is that its imperfections are what gives it character.”

The original vision was for the mural to be finished in “paint-by-numbers” fashion by museum staff/volunteers and community members – bringing everyone “Together in Decorah” – but COVID, unfortunately, had other plans. Lauren completed the mural by herself just in time for the dedication this past August of Vesterheim Heritage Park, a new landscaped area that connects the museum’s historical buildings. “The title of the mural is Together in Decorah, but in finishing it, I felt very alone,” she reflects. 

Luckily, folks will still get a chance to get together with Lauren at Heritage Park this summer through Vesterheim’s Family Frilufstliv Fun program. (The concept of Friluftsliv – or “outdoor life” – captures the Norwegian love for the great outdoors.) “I’m really looking forward to talking with families about the mural and doing some art based on some of the things we discuss,” she says. “We have a second chance to make the [spirit of the] original vision happen.”

For Lauren, the mural is just the latest of many projects inspired by her passion for creating art. As a child, she filled her notebooks with playful drawings. As an adult, she has compiled an impressive portfolio of work, including a coloring book (created with ArtHaus) featuring sites in Winneshiek County (in fact, Lauren designed a coloring page for this issue, page 53), plus branding images and logos for small businesses in and beyond Winneshiek County. At the heart of all her work – not unlike that of famed Disney illustrator Mary Blair, whose work she had long admired  – is a playful, colorful style that conveys a deeper meaning. 

“I love working with shapes and color to tell a story or communicate a feeling,” she says, “and I think that’s all art boils down to in its most basic elements.”

Learn more about Lauren and her work at laurenbonney.com

 

Live life outdoors!

A mom of two young kids herself – daughter Juniper (five) and son Sylvan (three) – Lauren Bonney knows a thing or two about exploring art with children. And on Saturday, June 18, 2022, she used her mural Together in Decorah to demystify the process of telling stories through art in a program sponsored by Vesterheim Norwegian American Museum.

Her Art in Heritage Park program is part of Family Frilufstliv Fun, an outdoor educational series launched in April and designed for families with children under the age of 10. Each month, participants spend an hour (11 am to noon) exploring nature in Vesterheim’s Heritage Park or nearby Decorah trails through walks, observations, and hands-on activities. On July 23, program participants will explore Twin Springs, and on August 20, Dunning Springs.

At least one adult per family must attend. Cost is $5 per family per event, and pre-registration for each event is required. Visit vesterheim.org/folk-art-school/friluftsliv/ to register.

 What else is going on at Vesterheim?

In addition to awesome exhibits and online + in-person classes in Norwegian language, cooking, folk art, and more (sign up online!), Vesterheim is working on an exciting new building: Vesterheim Commons. Work began spring 2022, with a completion goal of early 2023.

The project plays an important role in collaboration with local community members and business partners in making Northeast Iowa a destination, including for Viking Cruise visitors. Two of Viking’s new Mississippi River itineraries – America’s Heartland and America’s Great River – give guests the option to choose a day trip from La Crosse, Wisconsin, to Decorah to experience exclusive museum tours and enjoy the town, bringing hundreds of visitors from July-October. 

The Commons design has been driven by programming that inspires community engagement and experiences, and it emphasizes the building as a cultural gathering place, with multi-use space on the ground floor that seats 100 people for lectures, meetings, concerts, receptions, and classes and can be set up for luncheons and other meal service, a full-service kitchen, indoor/outdoor space for special exhibits, and more.

The building will include mass timber frame construction, regionally sourced brick from Adel, Iowa, and great views of campus and the surrounding Decorah area.
Campaign volunteers and museum staff are actively meeting with friends of Vesterheim to seek support for the Strong Roots Bold Future Campaign. Fundraising efforts will continue through the completion of the Vesterheim Commons project.

Planning a visit? The Second Saturday of each month, admission to Vesterheim is free! Learn more at vesterheim.org

One of the easiest ways to travel to a new place this summer is by cracking a new – or new-to-you – book. Little Free Libraries make it even easier, providing donated books free of charge. These treasure chests of information are a common sight in the Driftless – it’s not unheard of to stumble across several within one small community. But in La Crosse, Wisconsin, the library comes to you. 

“I remember seeing Little Free Libraries around Red Wing, Minnesota, and thinking it was a cool idea,” says Terri Wolfgram, who lived in Red Wing, before moving to La Crosse in 2007. Inspired by Portland, Oregon’s Street Books, a mobile lending library that delivers books to people living on the streets via a Haley Tricycle – a large tricycle that is built to transport hundreds of pounds of cargo within a sturdy, lidded, lockable box – Terri decided to take the idea on the road, creating Paperback Rider, a mobile Little Free Library.

In 2018, Terri headed out with a large basket for her own regular bike, some books from her house, and a Little Free Library mobile charter number. She set up in Riverside Park in downtown La Crosse on April 12, and continued to pedal to local parks throughout that year, keeping track of how many books she gave out along the way. By the end of 2018, it was a total of 485 books. 

“I live in a neighborhood where a lot of people struggle,” says Terri. “When kids get books from me, I let them know that they can keep it, give it to a friend, or leave it in any Little Free Library.” 

Terri began stocking up on books at yard sales and places like the clearance shelf at Goodwill. Then Mario Youakim from Beer By Bike Brigade (a group that started out organizing once-a-month summer bar hops on bikes in La Crosse and grew to host and support a variety of events and fundraisers for the community) shared Terri’s efforts on social media and the large book donations started rolling in from both individuals and businesses and organizations. 

“Eddy at Driftless Books in Viroqua, Wisconsin, gives me children’s books whenever I visit. Beth from Pearl Street Books in La Crosse has books for me whenever I ask, and Rick and Zoe at Fair Trade Books in Red Wing, Minnesota, have given me books, as well,” says Terri. 

She soon realized that her operation needed a larger carrying capacity. Terri purchased a trailer and her husband built a box that could be opened for display, but the resulting rig was a bit cumbersome and tended to tip. After completing the debut season of Paperback Rider in November of 2018, Terri started a GoFundMe to raise money for the ultimate dream: A custom Haley Tricycle book bike.

That dream came true in May of 2019 when the current Paperback Rider book bike arrived. That year Terri gave away 980 books while pedaling through La Crosse. 

Although Paperback Rider offers books of all reading levels to people of all ages, Terri says she definitely goes through children’s books the quickest.

Early on in the Paperback Rider journey, Terri had one of her favorite experiences to-date at Poage Park, which is the closest park to Terri’s home.

“As I got there, there were several kids in the street, some with bikes. The oldest was maybe 13. They were talking about someone and swearing. I set up and they moved on,” she explains.“Then two of the younger ones came over to see what I was selling. I told them I had free books and asked if they would each like one…

Eventually, they each took a book and went over to the steps on the play equipment. Soon, I could hear the younger one reading No, David! by David Shannon, out loud to his friend.”

Then 2020 and COVID put a hold on Paperback Rider, as it did with most things. 

“I only went out once in 2020 to a friend’s yard where the neighboring daycare lady came over with two kids at a time,” explains Terri. “I gave out 14 books.”

But on May 22, 2021, Terri was two weeks past her second COVID vaccination and ready to take the bike back out to Poage Park and beyond. Later that same summer, she decided to take her regular bike to Houska Park every Tuesday to offer books to the homeless community there (a tradition she now continues). At the end of 2021, Terri had given out a total of 771 books.

Building community through books and reading is something that comes naturally to Terri, as her own mother was a voracious reader who passed that on to her daughter.

 “She grew up during the Great Depression and wasn’t able to finish high school. She also didn’t get to travel until her later years, but she knew so much about so many things/places because she was a reader,” explains Terri. “Even though money was tight, there were always newspapers, magazines, and books in our house. I also visited the library regularly.”

For Terri reading is also a way to honor the memory of her father, who passed away from multiple sclerosis when she was in kindergarten – the same year she learned to read. 

“In elementary school, the MS Read-a-Thon was a thing,” she says. “I looked forward to that every year, because I could raise money doing something I loved AND help fight the disease that took my dad.”   

Terri tries to have Paperback Rider in action each year from April to October, with a set weekly schedule and regular spots, although the weather doesn’t always cooperate. Up-to-date information is posted on the Paperback Rider website: www.paperbackrider.org and social media pages. 

Earlier in 2022, Paperback Rider officially became a non-profit organization – a process that began in early 2021. 

“There was a lot of paperwork and I had to assemble a board,” explains Terri. “I’m hoping to get one ore two more volunteer board members at some point. We started meeting virtually even before the non-profit status was granted, just to toss ideas around.”

 The non-profit status streamlines the fundraising process. Contributions to support Paperback Rider can be made on their website, where Paperback Rider shirts and hoodies can also be purchased. Terri acquired a canopy tent and tables so Paperback Rider can take books to events that are outside the riding area, and she has big dreams for the future of the non-profit. 

“I have some other ideas that I’m working on,” adds Terri, “including getting each third grader at my neighborhood school a new book. Eventually, I’d love to give a new book to every third grader in La Crosse each year.” 

Through Paperback Rider, Terri has found a way to combine her love of books, bikes, and kids, all while giving back to the people in her community, especially the kids. Terri has seen firsthand how reading at a young age can open up a whole new world, and foster lifelong friendships. Back in Paperback Rider’s first year, Terri met three boys at Poage Park who would all take books each time she saw them. One child in particular, “Z,” often chatted with Terri while she was at the park. Z is now 15, and he and Terri still keep in touch. 

“One day, Z and I were sitting on the picnic table when a girl came over. She asked what I was selling and I explained that I had free books. She looked for a bit, then looked at Z and asked, ‘Is she your mom?’ Z said, ‘No.’ The girl asked, ‘Well, who is she?!’ Z looked at me, paused, looked at her and said, ‘She’s my friend.’”

Decorah native Stephanie Fromm talks fast and works faster. On meeting her, you might think the Winneshiek County Tourism and Economic Development Director has been in that role since birth. 

And, in a way, she has: the Luther College business major moved back to the community in 2015 to accept the position shortly after she and her husband, Decorah (native) social studies teacher and coach Zach Fromm, had their firstborn, Wally. Since then, they grew their family by two more kiddos (Marcie and Piper), all while nurturing their own collection of businesses: “Twin Springs Lodge” near Decorah; “Marcie’s Cabin” near Warrens, Wisconsin; and lately, “Piper’s Skoolie,” a bus they renovated as a tiny home and rent as Airbnb accommodations along the Upper Iowa River. 

“When we bought the bus, my mom just shook her head,” Stephanie says with a laugh. “She said, ‘Well, I don’t know what you’re going to do with it, but it always seems to work out, so…’” 

Her mom, Brenda, is referring to Stephanie’s personal way with redirection, a necessary mindset for an entrepreneur and community advocate facing the challenges that come with innovation. It has something to do with not quite admitting one is wrong, Stephanie explains with a grin. Instead, it’s about reframing to think, “But what if we do it this way?” she explains, illustrating with her hands the concept of pivoting a problem to allow a slightly different approach. Zach, who is equally as focused and intentional about business development, chides her about this determination. “I get it all the time,” she says, “especially in the example we’re trying to set for our kids about saying you’re sorry, but specifically, when you might be wrong.” “‘So…are you going to say it?’ he will pester. ‘Are you?’”

It’s the kids that led Stephanie to her current role in the building of Sunflower Child Development and Discovery Center in Decorah, a $9M project to relocate and expand the current Sunflower childcare center. The project has raised $6.5M to date in grants and local donations or pledges and is chasing its final $2M in commitments as of spring 2022. 

The Fromms got on the waiting list at the current Sunflower childcare facility – Decorah’s largest (120 children) and one of the few to provide infant care – when Wally was three months old, and finally got a spot a year and a half later. This experience is common, Stephanie explains, adding that they had to talk a family friend into providing Wally’s care until the space at Sunflower opened up. Today the waitlist tops 140 children.

“Simply put, childcare, along with housing, determines whether working families can move to Northeast Iowa,” Stephanie explains. Without it, employers can’t attract desired employees, throttling both the goods and services produced here, and the businesses and services those residents support. By the time she joined the Sunflower board in 2018, the situation had reached crisis proportions internally, too: they couldn’t keep staff from turning over for lack of living wages, benefits, and opportunities for advancement. Then, to make matters worse, COVID hit, redoubling the logistical (and literal) touchpoints of caring for young children.

“That’s when I realized, this is not a childcare problem: this is a community problem,” Stephanie says. And over the past two years, she and a diverse army of advocates, co-led by interim Sunflower director Merlene Brown and board president Barb Wilkerson, have identified core needs: Enough room for lots more kids (up to 308)! Competitive wages and benefits! Community awareness of childcare as a critical service!

Key to the business plan is a community-based revenue stream: A dedicated discovery center and indoor playspace (dubbed a ‘marriage saver’) open to the public that will feature STEAM activities (science, technology, engineering, art, and math) and natural history. “Any parent of young kids will tell you that an 18-month old bundled in their full snow suit will last maybe 20 minutes outside? Of a whole weekend?” Stephanie laments with a chuckle. “We need someplace indoors.” 

The discovery center will be used by the childcare facility during care hours, then open to community groups and the public (for a fee) on evenings, weekends, and school breaks. 

“This hybrid model is of interest to childcare centers, churches – really, any facility not maximizing its use – everywhere,” Stephanie explains. “Lots of eyes are watching our success, across the state and the country.”

When Sunflower set about finding a location to build, so the current facility could stay open during the expansion, the need was met by Winneshiek Medical Center. Plans are drawn for four donated acres, and Sunflower will break ground in summer 2022. “We’re dreaming up a drone photo of a huge groundbreaking ceremony,” Stephanie explains, “calling it a BYOS – bring your own shovel.” 

Learn more about the project at decorahdiscovery.org. Donations are always accepted. And visit the Fromm family’s rental properties at twinspringslodge.com, marciescabin.com, and blufftonbus.com. 

In the meantime, and always, you’ll find Stephanie asking and pivoting and asking again (for more collaborations among businesses, between institutions, through state and federal agencies). “If we just work together on things, think what we could do!” she summarizes with a cheerful grin.  

Contribute

Help make the Sunflower Child Development and Discovery Center happen! Donate to the project at decorahdiscovery.org