Wille Sundqvist and Bill Coperthwaite Slöjd Fellowship
The Wille Sundqvist and Bill Coperthwaite Slöjd Fellowship was established in 2015 and is awarded to craftspeople
to further deepen the meaning, skills, and connections among those passionate about simple living and handmade objects.
The Fellowship provides financial support to green woodworkers and other craftspeople to travel from their home country
and share their thinking about handcraft, showcase their skills and design work, further their own research, and extend
the international community of interest.

2022 Wille Sundqvist and Bill Coperthwaite Slöjd Fellowships
Täljfest, the slöjd festival held every three years at Sätergläntan, Sweden’s premier handcraft school was held in mid-August of 2022.
At the opening ceremony, Jögge Sundqvist announced the 2022 Wille Sundqvist and Bill Coperthwaite Slöjd Fellowship recipients - - Owen Thomas and Anja Sundberg. Needless to say they were thrilled and the crowd roared with approval!
These awards make eleven recipients since 2015. Four women and seven men and all representing five countries. Each award comes with $2,500 stipend to use as they wish, along with the birchbark certificate made up for each recipient. North House Folk School manages the Fellowship funds and makes the transfers.
Täljfest, the slöjd festival held every three years at Sätergläntan, Sweden’s premier handcraft school was held in mid-August of 2022.
At the opening ceremony, Jögge Sundqvist announced the 2022 Wille Sundqvist and Bill Coperthwaite Slöjd Fellowship recipients - - Owen Thomas and Anja Sundberg. Needless to say they were thrilled and the crowd roared with approval!
These awards make eleven recipients since 2015. Four women and seven men and all representing five countries. Each award comes with $2,500 stipend to use as they wish, along with the birchbark certificate made up for each recipient. North House Folk School manages the Fellowship funds and makes the transfers.
Anja Sundberg was educated as a slöjder at the premier craft school, Sätergläntan. She is one of Sweden's most talented woodworkers inspired by traditional work using axes and knives. Her playful and colorful spoons, knives, bowls and figures are well known amongst the slöjd field. She is a frequent and sought after teacher including gatherings such as SpoonFest and Täljfest.She lives in Orsa in Dalarna, Sweden. See more of her work on Instagram: sundberganja
Owen Thomas is a master pole lathe turner, tool maker, spoon carver, and is a full-time green woodworker and teacher. He was mentored by Mike Abbott and Robin Wood and he apprenticed under Baranby Carder. In addition he teaches green woodwork as therapy in social care. He is inspired by historical work and contemporary design. He lives in Herefordshire, UK. You can learn more about him and his work at OwenThomasWoodcraft.com and on Instagram: OwenThomasWoodCraft |
The 2020 Wille Sundqvist and Bill Coperthwate Slöjd Fellowship
was awarded to Barn Carder, British artisan spoon carver, author, teacher and co-founder of Spoonfest. He is the the ninth recipient since the Fellowship was created in 2015.
Barn (better known as Barn the Spoon) became a full time Spoon carver in 2008, growing a tiny business that started out as some precious knowledge of trees,
along with an axe and a knife in his pack. He set himself to carve out an ancient living in a modern world. He now runs a shop and craft school in London UK,
as well as an online learning resource Spoonclub. Barn has had the privilege of wonderful teachers, spending the last 25 years sharing the joy of learning woodcraft with
teachers, students, peers and friends alike. He enjoys craft in many forms and, like the wonderful people in whose names this award is given, finds himself
coming back to the humble Spoon, in which the mystery and mastery of a life well lived reside.
Barn believes the world would be a better place if more people had the opportunity to nurture themselves with craft.
along with an axe and a knife in his pack. He set himself to carve out an ancient living in a modern world. He now runs a shop and craft school in London UK,
as well as an online learning resource Spoonclub. Barn has had the privilege of wonderful teachers, spending the last 25 years sharing the joy of learning woodcraft with
teachers, students, peers and friends alike. He enjoys craft in many forms and, like the wonderful people in whose names this award is given, finds himself
coming back to the humble Spoon, in which the mystery and mastery of a life well lived reside.
Barn believes the world would be a better place if more people had the opportunity to nurture themselves with craft.
The 2019 Wille Sundqvist and Bill Coperthwaite Slöjd Fellowship was been awarded to Masashi Kutsuwa of Gifu Prefecture, Japan.
The award recognizes his many years working to highlight the long traditions of Japanese handcraft culture and to build a
new appreciation of green woodworking in Japan, while making connections to others around the world.
Masashi Kutsuwa is the eighth recipient of the Wille Sundqvist and Bill Coperthwaite Slöjd Fellowship. He is an associate professor at the
Gifu Academy of Forest Science and Culture. He is a craftsman, author of several books including Van Gogh Chair”and “Green Woodwork,”
and designer of the Origami Shaving Horse. He established the Japan Green Woodwork Association and Sajifest.
Most important, Masashi is passionate to save old Japanese handcraft traditionsand find new apprentices for master craftsman who have
no one to continue their craft. Masashi invites green woodworkers from around the world to Japan and brings Japanese craftspeople out
to other countries to showcase their skillsand traditions.
On the news of his selection for this Fellowship award, Masashi wrote, "What a great honour to be awarded this Slöjd Fellowship.
I have met all the past recipients and know they are the best green woodworkers in the world. As the first recipient from the Asian
region, I have become even more aware of my role as the bridge between the East and West to broaden the green woodworking community."
The 2018 recipients were Dave Fisher of Greenville, PA, USA and Robin Wood of Edale, U.K.
The 2017 recipient was Jane Mickelborough of Pempoulrot, France.
The 2016 recipients were Beth Moen, Siljansnäs, Sweden ,and JoJo Wood, Udale, UK.
The 2018 recipients were Dave Fisher of Greenville, PA, USA and Robin Wood of Edale, U.K.
The 2017 recipient was Jane Mickelborough of Pempoulrot, France.
The 2016 recipients were Beth Moen, Siljansnäs, Sweden ,and JoJo Wood, Udale, UK.
From left: JoJo Wood, Jarrod Dahl (front), Jane Mickelborough, Robin Wood (front), Dave Fisher, and Peter Follansbee
Beth Moen, Siljansnäs, Sweden JoJo Wood, Udale, UK
Wille Sundqvist and Bill Coperthwaite Slöjd Fellowship Recipients 2016
Wille Sundqvist and Bill Coperthwaite Slöjd Fellowship Recipients 2016
The Wille Sundqvist and Bill Coperthwaite Slöjd Fellowship is named for and recognizes the lifelong contributions of these two individuals to
inspire a global community of interest in handcraft. Wille Sundqvist of Bjurholm, Sweden, who died in 2018, devoted his life to teaching, mentoring and
furthering the importance of handcraft in our social and cultural traditions. His passion for handcraft was exploring the form and function of spoons and
turned bowls, he traveled extensively, wrote several books including “Swedish Carving Techniques,” and has inspired countless people around world to
explore slöjd and to learn and work together. His dear friend Bill Coperthwaite, who died in 2013, was a homesteader in coastal Maine,
USA, a visionary social critic, architect, author of “A Handmade Life,” and a proponent of ‘democratic living,’ where handcraft and simple life choices
encourage us to seek, experiment, create and dream together toward building more meaningful community and a better world.
The inaugural Wille Sundqvist and Bill Coperthwaite Slöjd Fellowship recipient was recommended by Plymouth CRAFT of Plymouth, MA, USA
and awarded at Greenwood Fest 2016 to Beth Moen of Siljansnäs Dalarna, Sweden. Beth has worked with wood for 35 years, both furniture and green wood.
Since 1989, she has been a partner in a business called Norea Form Och Snickeri making shaving horses, "Gråben," furniture, crafts, and sloyd.
She teaches Sloyd and traditional woodcraft at Sätergläntan, Sweden's institute for sloyd and craft. Beth says, "I love and respect the big trees that have grown for ages, before
they become my material. I am fascinated with simple tools and what you can do with them. My favorite tool is absolute the axe, so I am very happy chopping bowls!"
One additional Fellowship was awarded at Greenwood Fest 2016 to JoJo Wood of the UK. JoJo is a second generation green woodworker, who spent her early
years traveling the world with her father, meeting craftspeople and amassing woodworking skills, building the perfect foundation for mastering her chosen crafts.
The third and fourth Slöjd Fellowships were recommended by the Swedish Craft Society of Santäglantan, Sweden in partnership with North House Folk School of
Grand Marais, MN, USA and awarded at Täljfest 2016 to Peter Follansbee of Kingston, MA, USA and Jarrod Stone Dahl of Odanah, Wisconsin, USA.
Follansbee began his training as a woodworker in 1978, learning chairmaking, coopering, basket-making, spoon & bowl carving, timberframing and more.
For over twenty years he has specialized in making carved oak furniture based on 17th examples from England and New England. Stone Dahl has been a working craft
professional for ten years, who together his wife, April, run Woodspirit, where they make baskets, spoons, pole lathe turned bowls and vessels, snowshoes and toboggans.
inspire a global community of interest in handcraft. Wille Sundqvist of Bjurholm, Sweden, who died in 2018, devoted his life to teaching, mentoring and
furthering the importance of handcraft in our social and cultural traditions. His passion for handcraft was exploring the form and function of spoons and
turned bowls, he traveled extensively, wrote several books including “Swedish Carving Techniques,” and has inspired countless people around world to
explore slöjd and to learn and work together. His dear friend Bill Coperthwaite, who died in 2013, was a homesteader in coastal Maine,
USA, a visionary social critic, architect, author of “A Handmade Life,” and a proponent of ‘democratic living,’ where handcraft and simple life choices
encourage us to seek, experiment, create and dream together toward building more meaningful community and a better world.
The inaugural Wille Sundqvist and Bill Coperthwaite Slöjd Fellowship recipient was recommended by Plymouth CRAFT of Plymouth, MA, USA
and awarded at Greenwood Fest 2016 to Beth Moen of Siljansnäs Dalarna, Sweden. Beth has worked with wood for 35 years, both furniture and green wood.
Since 1989, she has been a partner in a business called Norea Form Och Snickeri making shaving horses, "Gråben," furniture, crafts, and sloyd.
She teaches Sloyd and traditional woodcraft at Sätergläntan, Sweden's institute for sloyd and craft. Beth says, "I love and respect the big trees that have grown for ages, before
they become my material. I am fascinated with simple tools and what you can do with them. My favorite tool is absolute the axe, so I am very happy chopping bowls!"
One additional Fellowship was awarded at Greenwood Fest 2016 to JoJo Wood of the UK. JoJo is a second generation green woodworker, who spent her early
years traveling the world with her father, meeting craftspeople and amassing woodworking skills, building the perfect foundation for mastering her chosen crafts.
The third and fourth Slöjd Fellowships were recommended by the Swedish Craft Society of Santäglantan, Sweden in partnership with North House Folk School of
Grand Marais, MN, USA and awarded at Täljfest 2016 to Peter Follansbee of Kingston, MA, USA and Jarrod Stone Dahl of Odanah, Wisconsin, USA.
Follansbee began his training as a woodworker in 1978, learning chairmaking, coopering, basket-making, spoon & bowl carving, timberframing and more.
For over twenty years he has specialized in making carved oak furniture based on 17th examples from England and New England. Stone Dahl has been a working craft
professional for ten years, who together his wife, April, run Woodspirit, where they make baskets, spoons, pole lathe turned bowls and vessels, snowshoes and toboggans.
Peter Follansbee, Kingston, MA, USA Jarrod Stone Dahl, Odanah, WI, USA
The Slöjd Fellowship was established by Peter Lamb of Kittery Point, Maine, USA and Jögge Sundqvist of Umeå, Sweden. Jögge is Wille’s son
and a pro-slöjder in business since 1985, who teaches Scandinavian craft around the world. Peter is a greenwood and hand tool craftsman and
a member of the Dickinsons Reach Community, stewarding Bill Coperthwaite’s homestead property and legacy of simple living, a hand-built life and social justice.
An additional contribution toward the third and fourth Fellowships was received from Norman D. Stevens of Storrs, CT, USA. Stevens is an avid and noted spoon collector.
Fellowship grants of $2,500 (USD) are awarded periodically and through non-profit organizations (NGOs). The organizations serve as sponsors of the Fellowship recipients.
Typically, the organizations have a craft mission and organize events, classes and other craft programs. These organizations select and recommend Fellowship recipients
in consultation with Peter Lamb and Jögge Sundqvist. The organization receives a charitable grant and provides the direct payment to each Fellowship recipient.
and a pro-slöjder in business since 1985, who teaches Scandinavian craft around the world. Peter is a greenwood and hand tool craftsman and
a member of the Dickinsons Reach Community, stewarding Bill Coperthwaite’s homestead property and legacy of simple living, a hand-built life and social justice.
An additional contribution toward the third and fourth Fellowships was received from Norman D. Stevens of Storrs, CT, USA. Stevens is an avid and noted spoon collector.
Fellowship grants of $2,500 (USD) are awarded periodically and through non-profit organizations (NGOs). The organizations serve as sponsors of the Fellowship recipients.
Typically, the organizations have a craft mission and organize events, classes and other craft programs. These organizations select and recommend Fellowship recipients
in consultation with Peter Lamb and Jögge Sundqvist. The organization receives a charitable grant and provides the direct payment to each Fellowship recipient.
Slöjd Fellowship contacts
Peter Lamb
Gerrish Island
Kittery Point, ME 03905 USA
peterlamb@kneetoknee.com
Jögge Sundqvist
Kashamark 142
905 86 Umeå Sweden
jogge@surolle.se
Peter Lamb
Gerrish Island
Kittery Point, ME 03905 USA
peterlamb@kneetoknee.com
Jögge Sundqvist
Kashamark 142
905 86 Umeå Sweden
jogge@surolle.se