Leona Barthle - Polish wycinanki

Master: Leona Barthle, Sioux Falls
Apprentice: Karen Wunder-Colestock, Sioux Falls
Art Form: Polish wycinanki (papercutting)

Leona Barthle has been a fixture in eastern South Dakota for many years, enthusiastically sharing her knowledge of the art of Polish papercutting, called wycinanki, with apprentices and school children. She learned the art as a child in the Polish community of Granville. For this apprenticeship she worked with Karen Wunder-Colestock, a teacher who says she has known Leona “all her life.” Karen hopes to incorporate wycinanki in her high school English classes when they read a story about Polish immigrants. Leona Barthle passed away only a month after she finished this apprenticeship, active and creative to the end, and a beloved member of South Dakota’s cultural community.

Polish wycinanki master Leona Barthle with one of her own designs, incorporating  her favorite prairie rose pattern.

Leona Barthle and Karen Wunder-Colestock working on a wycinanki piece, cutting individual colored parts to layer onto the finished design.