Gene & Lucy Tokheim

Gene and Lucy Tokheim have worked together as Tokheim Stoneware pottery since 1973. Gene’s wheel-thrown pottery with Lucy’s applied designs takes inspiration from Scandinavian folk art. Their collaborative ceramic work is well-known through the Upper Midwest and their gallery studio attracts thousands of visitors yearly. 

Their work has been exhibited in major folk art exhibits: 1988 Minnesota “Circles of Tradition, Folk Art in Minnesota”, 1989 Vesterheim Museum exhibit “Norsk I Amerika, Hamar, Norway as well as the 1995 “Migration of a Tradition” exhibit at the New York Museum of Folk Art and Norwegian Folk Museum in Oslo. In 2005 Lucy organized “Alive and Well, Contemporary Scandinavian Folk Art” for the Creative Activities Building at the Minnesota State Fair and the American Swedish Institute in 2006. 

In 2002 they received the Prairie Stars Award by the Southwest Minnesota Arts Council. They continue to develop as artists and craftspeople: Lucy is a 2-D artist with paintings, prints and graphic design. Gene won a Gold Medal from the Vesterheim for his traditional Norwegian knives and teaches this skill at the Vesterheim, the North House Folk School and the Milan Village Art School.