Mark sees the color chart when he looks at the world.  He has a long standing art background that he draws from as he creates warm and wonderful environments.  He loves plants, gardening and KNITTING. Mark learned to knit 12 years ago and has not stopped.  He particularly loves to knit the same thing over…

Mary Jo Harris lives in the knitting mecca of Madison, WI. She has been a teacher all of her adult life and has formally taught knitting for about 15 years at various Sheep and Wool Festivals, Fiber Festivals, Knit-In’s, and teaches locally for Madison College, Olbrich Gardens, and Sunset Yarns. In the last several years,…

Molly Sanford advocates for reuse and repair by spreading hands-on skills like sewing, welding, woodworking, and general troubleshooting. Molly believes that extending the lifespan of our belongings can be a joyful way to combat consumerism and climate change. She has taught a variety of hands-on classes at Fireweed Community Workshop (formerly Women’s Woodshop), Leonardo’s Basement, and the University…

At age four Patti would stand on a stool in the kitchen “helping” her mother to bake cookies and prepare mid century standards like Rice A Roni and tuna noodle hot dish. But even in the Midwest of the 1960s, she knew there were other ways to eat. Through her father, raised in an Orthodox…

In the early ’90s a friend took me on my first true Boundary Waters canoe camping trip – a group of women. The camaraderie, the laughter, the solitude for reflection, the joyful teamwork as we gently paddled and portaged the wilderness…I WAS HOOKED! I’ve now racked up some 25+ years of wilderness trail experience, leading…

Peter Juhl has been balancing stones for twenty-five years. He creates and photographs the work along the North Shore of Lake Superior, where the spectacular beaches provide ideal raw materials as well as a clean and colorful backdrop. In 2013 he published the first widely available guidebook on the art form: Center of Gravity: A…

Randy Gildersleeve has decades of experience playing, teaching, and recording music in many genres. He currently performs with North Shore Trail (bluegrass/acoustic), Saints of Swing (big band jazz), St. Croix Crossings (classic rock), and the Hosanna Lutheran Forest Lake worship band. As a teacher, Randy gives private lessons in guitar, bass, banjo, ukulele, mandolin, and…

Rosetta “Rosie” Peters is a poet, author, public speaker, storyteller, and activist. She is of Yankton, Crow Creek, and Oglala descent and is excited to be a part of the revitalization of her ancestral language, Dakota. Rosie is the recipient of a 2020 Minnesota State Arts Board Creative Support for Individuals grant and a 2021…

Ross Safford is a master baker. He has worked largely with at-risk youth and families, getting food to those in need. He currently works with at-risk youth in schools. He is a huge Boston Red Sox fan and loves to sing.  At MMFS, you can often find him teaching with Bryce Johnson, another community-focused baker.

Minnesota is the home of many outstanding artists of the Somali diaspora. MMFS is pleased to be welcoming Ardho Ismail, Hawa Aden, Halwa Daud, and Amina Shire to teach Finger Weaving! The Somali Museum’s mission is to celebrate and promote Somali culture and art, and they accomplish this mission in part by supporting the new…

Stephanie Thurow is a Certified Master Food Preservationist, with special interest in water bath canning and vegetable fermentation. She is a Minnesota native and the cookbook author of Can It & Ferment It (2017), WECK Small-Batch Preserving (2018) and WECK Home Preserving (fall 2020). Stephanie enjoys being in nature, organic gardening, spending time with family,…