Gold Medalist Portfolios

For Wesley Hathaway, growing up in Goshen, Indiana, creativity was always encouraged—whether it meant cutting up popsicle sticks, playing with hot glue, or just drawing. However, it wasn’t until 2018 that he discovered folk schools in Fairbanks, Alaska, where he was introduced to spoon carving. Through that exploration, the vast, rich, cultural history of folk art from Scandinavia slowly revealed itself. In 2021, Wesley interned at the North House Folk School, where he met Elsa Bigton and Phillip Odden. That experience inspired him to take his practice in the direction of relief carving; it was also the same year he learned about Vesterheim. Wesley’s carving practice today is heavily influenced by the incredible craftspeople who built the stave churches in Norway, by Elsa and Phillip, and by the younger, more contemporary community of artisans. Most of all, he is inspired by the forgotten farmer, passing the time, sitting by the firelight during a long, cold winter, carving a spoon.