UMN Crookston to host book talk and artist gallery events October 20

The University of Minnesota Crookston is set to host two special events Monday, October 20 including the Vice Chancellor's third annual book talk with author and translator Kari Lie Dorer, and an art gallery opening and reception for contemporary folk artist Pieper Fleck Bloomquist. Both events will be held inside the Sargeant Student Center with the book talk in the Northern Lights Lounge and gallery upstairs in Bede Ballroom.

The book talk will be held from 4-5 p.m. and features a Q&A with Dorer, book signing, and light refreshments. The art gallery opening and reception includes themed hors d'oeuvres and begins immediately following the book talk at 5 p.m. through 6:30 p.m. with a showcase of Bloomquist's traditional Norwegian and Swedish paintings. Bloomquist's gallery will remain open to the public through October 24 during the day, plus she will host hands-on art workshops that week. Both events are free, but RSVPs are appreciated at z.umn.edu/authorartistoctober2025.

UMN Crookston's third annual book talk and third art exhibition in recent years brings students, faculty, staff, and the community together while highlighting local and regional talent. Previous visiting Minnesota authors have included Marcie Rendon and Sarah Stonich, and featured artisans included Ross Hier plus a variety of female fiber creators at the With Her Hands event.

Kari Lie Dorer
Dorer is a Minnesota author and translator who teaches a variety of courses in Norwegian language, history, culture, and film at St. Olaf College. She currently holds the King Olav V Endowed Chair of Scandinavian-American Studies, a prominent faculty position at St. Olaf established through a gift from the Norwegian government and the Kenneth O. Bjork Endowment Fund. Dorer is president of NORTANA, the Norwegian Researchers and Teachers Association of North America, and is the coauthor of Sett i gang: An Introductory Norwegian Curriculum, the foundational Norwegian language text used by the majority of North American students of Norwegian. Additionally, Dorer is the project leader for Godt i gang, a collaborative online intermediate and advanced curriculum.

Dorer's most recent publication and the focus of her campus conversation is Muus vs. Muus: The Scandal That Shook Norwegian America, published by Minnesota Historical Society Press in 2024. The book, originally published in Norwegian, was translated by Dorer and Torild Homstad, and Dorer did extensive additional research and editing for the English-language publication.

Pieper Fleck Bloomquist
Bloomquist is a regional artist with global ties who has nearly 30 years experience painting in the traditions of Norwegian rosemaling (decorative designs) and Swedish dalmålning (story painting) and bonadsmålning (festive embellishments). While she enjoys the free-flowing scrollwork of rosemaling, Bloomquist has become internationally known for her Swedish folk art. Using traditional materials of linen/jute, traditional gesso, and egg tempera, which she learned how to do at the Unnaryd Bonadsmuseum in Sweden, Bloomquist creates painted tapestries with scenes that narrate modern human stories - drawing inspiration from family traditions and her experience as an oncology nurse.

Based in Grand Forks, N.D., Bloomquist is a third-generation descendant of Swedish immigrants. She is a recipient of the North Dakota Governor's Award for the Arts (2023-2025), and the 2024 Culture Bearer Award from Arts Midwest. For over 25 years she has been active in programs sponsored by the North Dakota Council on the Arts, and a regular instructor at the American Swedish Institute in Minneapolis. She has twice been granted a Folk Arts Fellowship through the American Scandinavian Foundation.

Bloomquist's art has been featured in the Nordic Echoes exhibit at the American-Scandinavian Foundation's Scandinavia House on Park Avenue in Manhattan, N.Y., at the Bonadsmuseum Unnaryd (BoMu) in Unnaryd, Halland, Sweden; Scandinavian Festival in Moorhead, Minn., Swedish American Museum in Chicago, Ill., and, most recently, at a solo exhibit in Duluth, Minn.

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