Finlandia Foundation National holds re-opening of Finnish American Heritage Center
HANCOCK, Mich. (WJMN) – Finlandia Foundation National (FFN) hosted a community celebration in Hancock on Friday.
A ribbon cutting ceremony was held for the re-opening of the Finnish American Heritage Center this afternoon, followed by an artist talk with Heather Allen Hietala at the Finlandia Art Gallery. This was the first opportunity for the majority of the Finlandia Foundation trustees to visit the properties that the non-profit assumed responsibility for since Finlandia University closed its doors last year.
“It’s very much the continuation of the mission of the Heritage Center,” said Jim Kurtti, Honorary Consul of Finland for Michigan’s U.P. “It was started in 1990, but the historical archive collection went back to the 1930s. And for Finlandia Foundation to step in that Finland University is no longer with us. It’s really, really important.”
Finlandia Foundation now owns the Finnish American Heritage Center and North Wind Books store on Quincy Street, as well as the Finnish American Historical Archive, Finlandia Art Gallery, Finnish American Folk School, Price of Freedom Museum and The Finnish American Reporter, all of which had been operated by Finlandia University.
“It’s been a roller coaster ride, but it has been also at the same time extremely positive because the feedback that we have been received not only from U.P. but also from outside of Michigan, and people are so supportive, and they want to be part of this project and they see the value. So, it has been extremely motivating,” said FFN President Anne-Mari Paster. “At the same time, it has been hard, but that we felt, and we all felt that it’s we are doing something meaningful, something important, and it’s a clear message is like, yes, we have to save this, but why we are doing this? We are saving this for future generations.”
Finlandia Foundation National’s Executive Director Thomas Flanagan says their mission moving forward is continuing to support and promote the Finnish American heritage here in the U.P.
“I think the future is bright. I mean, we’re in a good position now. We’ve sort of secured the items here, the treasures in the archive. We’re in possession of that. And now we’re at a moment where we can sort of stop and sort of analyze and evaluate what we have here, what an asset this is in the community, get to know the community,” said Flanagan. “I think you can expect some changes here in the next several years. We want to increase access and visibility of the Finnish American Heritage Center and everything it has to offer. It truly is a national story that’s told here in terms of the historical collection. So digitizing, putting out traveling exhibits, that kind of thing, increasing visibility on our fantastic folk school programming. The art gallery that we have here is, is a real asset to the community as well. So, I think that you’ll see some increasing visibility as we as we plan going forward.”
You can learn more about Finlandia Foundation National at finlandiafoundation.org.
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