CAROL COLBURN
140 West Kent Road Duluth, MN 55812 Phone 218.491.0851 carol.ann.colburn@gmail.com carolcolburn.net
GARMENT MAKING WORKSHOPS INSPIRED BY FOLK CLOTHING
North House Folk School, Grand Marais, MN - Instructor in Clothing, Fibers
Sew Your Own: Scandinavian Work Shirts
Nature’s Insulator: Sew Your Own Wool Blanket Shirt
Wool Blanket CoatTechniques
History to Handcraft: Highlight on Fiber Arts in the Lighthouse Museum
Keeping You in Stitches: Practical Handsewing
Patterning Techniques
The Unfinished Wardrobe: A Three-Day Sew Fest
Weave-to-Sew - Custom Wool Vest
Vesterheim Folk Art School, Norwegian-American Museum, Decorah, IA
Sewing a Busserull, Norwegian Heritage Shirt
Handwovens to Wear – Scandinavian Inspiration
John C. Campbell Folk School, Brassville, NC
Heritage Work Shirts
Vesaas Farm Studio and Mjonøy Handcraft and Cultural Center, Vinje, Telemark, Norway
Refashioning Vadmel: Weaving and Design in Norway Workshop profiled in Swedish Vav Magazine (November/December 2006) and American Handwoven Magazine (February, 2010).Two-week courses in handweaving fabric and custom garment making (2002 – 2011)
Weaving Guild Teaching –
Minnesota Weaver’s Guild at the Textile Center in Minneapolis (Handwoven Scandinavian Work Shirt)
Duluth Fiber Handcrafter’s Guild (Handwoven clothing classes including vests, jackets, work shirts, pants)
Range Fiber Arts Guild (Norwegian Spilesaum handsewing for handwoven vests and accessories)
COMMISSIONS/PROJECTS focusing on Scandinavian textiles and clothing
Costume Designer for historical plays
• The Uprooting, Underground Theatre, sponsored by Nordic Center and St. Louis County Historical Society, Duluth, MN. Performances in Duluth MN 2014, 2015; Clifton TX 2016; Tysvaer, Norway 2017
• The Emigrant Play. An outdoor festival play within open air museum. Hallingdall Museum, Norway. Performances 2002-2005
Garment Reconstruction
• Valdres Dress Project Reconstructed Norwegian handwoven garments for permanent exhibits at Vesterheim Norwegian-American Museum.
• The Contents of an Immigrant Trunk Reconstruction of 1860s Norwegian-American immigrant clothing (part of a touring exhibit of museum artifacts. Exhibit toured to schools and to Washington D.C)
SELECTED PUBLICATIONS related to Scandinavian Folk Clothing
The Busserull (Norwegian Work Shirt) Tradition and The Busserull Tradition Continues online publication in Norwegian Textile Letter Volume 22, Number 1, March, 2016 http://norwegiantextileletter.com/article/the-busserull-norwegian-work-shirt-tradition/ http://norwegiantextileletter.com/article/the-busserull-tradition-continues-opportunities-to-make-your-own/
Taking a Play to Norway: The Costume Designer’s Story online publication in Norwegian Textile Letter Volume 24 Number 1 February 2018 http://norwegiantextileletter.com/article/taking-a-play-to-norway/
“Busserull (Norwegian Work Shirt)” and “Norwegian Sweater” in Annette Lynch and Mitchell D. Strauss, Editors. Ethnic Dress in the United States: A Cultural Encyclopedia. Rowman & Littlefield, Lanham, Maryland, 2015
“Norway” with Laurann Gilbertson in Jill Condra, Editor. Encyclopedia of National Dress: Traditional Clothing Around the World (2 volumes) ABC-CLIO Santa Barbara, California, Denver, Colorado, Oxford, England, 2013
“At Work: A Study of Norwegian Immigrants and Their Work Clothing” with Laurann Gilbertson in Norwegian-American Studies Volume 36. The Norwegian-American Historical Association, Northfield, Minnesota, 2011.
“Snapshot: Norwegian Folk Dress in the United States” in Volume 3 Western Europe in the Berg Encyclopedia of World Dress and Fashion. (8 volumes) Oxford: Berg Fashion Library. 2010
“Norwegian Immigrant Textiles in the North American Mosaic” published with Laurann Gilbertson in Locale trader – tråkling gjennom tekstil- og lokalhistorie, Norsk lokalhistorisk institutt, Oslo 2006
Handweaving in the Norwegian Tradition. With Laurann Gilbertson. Exhibition catalog and permanent guide to Vesterheim Collections. Decorah, Iowa: Vesterheim Norwegian-American Museum 1997
“Norwegian Folk Dress in America” chapter in Norwegian Folk Art: The Migration of a Tradition. Marion Nelson, Editor. Northfield, Minnesota: The Norwegian-American Historical Association, 1997
EDUCATION
PhD, University of Minnesota Graduate School, St. Paul, MN Design Housing and Apparel; Museology
MA, University of Minnesota Graduate School, St. Paul, MN Textiles and Clothing; Museology
BA, Western Washington University, Bellingham, WA Speech and Theater
UNIVERSITY TEACHING – 30+ YEARS EXPERIENCE
University of Northern Iowa, Cedar Falls, Professor Emerita of Theatre/Costume Design
Costume Designer for Theatre, Dance, Musical Performance (50+ productions)
Courses: Stage Costume, Costume History, Costume Design, Theatre and its Literature, Production Techniques Studios: Pattern Development, Costume Crafts
University of Minnesota, Design, Housing and Apparel, Instructor,
Courses: Draping for Fashion Design, Flat Pattern Design, Textiles Laboratory
Oberlin College Theatre and Dance, Costume Studio Supervisor and Instructor/Costume
Designer Costume Designs for Opera, Theatre, Dance (15+ productions); Courses: Costume Design, Costume Construction, Makeup
SKILLS AND INTERESTS
Teaching heritage sewing workshops, Costume and garment design, Patternmaking, Weaving, Lectures and presentations, Historical research, Writing and publication.