Alice Margerum
Alice Margerum is a woodworking artist based in Hancock, MI specializing in harp making and jouhikko building. Alice uses old methods of construction; most instruments that she makes are carved from solid blocks of wood (monoxylic construction). This includes the historical harps she’s been making for decades as well as the jouhikkos and vaskikantele that she’s started making more recently.
She learned harp making by Tim Hobrough in Scotland for several years and continued to work with him occasionally for about a decade after, even after his retirement. She was taught jouhikko building by Rauno Nieminen; thanks to a grant from the American Scandinavian Foundation, she had the oportunity of going to Nieminen’s workshop in Ikaalinen, Finland for a few weeks in 2023 to learn the specifics of traditional jouhikko and bow making.
She’s taught classes in woodworking and instrument making to children and adults at the Fordyce Joiners’ Workshop Museum in Scotland, Keweenaw Bay Ojibwa Community College in Baraga, MI, Finnish American Folk School in Hancock, MI, and Folklore Village in Dodgeville, WI. At Fordyce Joiners’ Workshop Museum, she worked on harps and early instruments in the public demonstration and open workshop space for several summers between 1988-2008. She’s also demonstrated at Mayfaire Penn State University and Finnish American Folk School in Hancock.
Meet Alice at the 2026 UPFF!
Traditional Craft & Art Demonstrations – Alice Margerum
9:00am-5:00pm in Ballroom III
