This is the 7th annual Finland Center Midsummer 5K run/Nordic Walk which is to be held on Sunday, June 17th, 2018, 9:00 a.m., with start at Bartel Pritchards Lot at Prospect Park, Brooklyn. Pre-race packet pick-up will be at the Running Company, at Time Warner Center in Manhattan, on Saturday, June 16th, from 11 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

Nordic Pole walking is noncompetitive and the walkers will leave after the runners. Instructions on proper use of poles at 8:30 a.m. by certified instructor from Hyva Nordic Walking. Nordic Walking Poles and Audio Receiver will be provided. Please bring a pair of headphones.

The race starts at 9:00 a.m., the course will be a 5K loop of Prospect Park, arrive at Bartel Pritchards Lot for pre-race meeting beforehand at 8-8:30 a.m.

Participants will receive: T-shirt and discount coupons from the Running Company. Ekavi Boutique will donate a gift certificate as women’s First Prize. Men’s First Prize will be two custom shirts made with a special fitting at Woodies Clothing. At the finish line, participants will enjoy water and cheese sandwiches.

Welcome to brighten up your November evenings with Meritta Veilleux. She publishes her new book Sovinto in Finnish and we will have a chance to discuss it with her, in Finnish. Don’t worry, you can still participate even if you haven’t read the book yet! Tervetuloa!

Meritta Veilleux (also known as Meritta Koivisto) is a Finnish writer, screenwriter, director, and internationally awarded playwright. She has lived in Finland, Sweden, and West Coast of the US. She studied in Stockholm in the 1970s and 1980s and became an engineer and soon after moved to the US to study something totally different at Drama Studio London. She graduated in 1986 and then studied directing and screenwriting in California as well as other subjects at the University of Helsinki.

Veilleux has published two novels in addition to Sovinto: Lontoolainen rakastaja (2006) and Poissa (2011). She has also collaborated with MTV and Yle while living in the US, written a play called Privacy and written and directed a Finnish short-film Wrestling With A Bee just to start with.

Sovinto is based on Ingria and her family in the middle of WWII and proceeds from Vienna in 1938 to New York in 21st century dealing with topics such as losses and sacrifices, emphasizing the healing power of art and warmth.

“Sovinto on kuulas ja raadollinen romaani erilleen viskatusta perheestä toisen maailmansodan myllerryksessä. Tarinan keskiössä on suomalainen Ingria, jonka tarinan kautta näytetään viattomuuden menetys ja sodan vaatimat uhraukset, mutta myös lämmön ja inhimillisyyden voima. Muistamisesta, hyväuskoisuudesta, kohtuuttomista menetyksistä ja taiteen korjaavasta voimasta kertova romaani piirtää laajan kaaren vuoden 1938 Wienistä 2000-luvun New Yorkiin.

”Kaiken muun hän jätti pois, aivan kuin hänen muistinsa lehtiössä olisi puhtaita sivuja, joihin hän ei osannut piirtää lainkaan, ei vetää ainuttakaan viivaa, ei hahmottaa yhtäkään kuvaa niiden valkeille lehdille.”

Meritta Veilleux (Koivisto) on pitkään eri kulttuureissa asunut helsinkiläinen, kansainvälisesti palkittu elokuvakäsikirjoittaja ja -ohjaaja. Ennen Sovintoa häneltä on julkaistu kaksi romaania: Lontoolainen rakastaja (Otava, 2006) ja Poissa (Avain, 2011) sekä novelleja. Hän on toimittanut televisiodokumentteja sekä käsikirjoittanut ja ohjannut lyhytelokuvia, televisiosarjaa ja pitkiä fiktioelokuvia.”

Thank you, everyone, who participated in our event with Finnish artist and now writer Rea Nurmi! The atmosphere was warm and intimate and Nurmi talked about her new book Healing Walls and showed us photos of the colourful walls she has painted with patients of hospitals, retirement homes, and detention centres while guests enjoyed her lively personality and storytelling together with some cheeses, crackers, and fruit. You can find a recording of the presentation online on our !

“It’s no glamour work, I tell you!” Rea Nurmi is a painter who has produced and exhibited artwork since 1987. She divides her time between Helsinki, Finland, and St. Petersburg, Florida. She was born in Helsinki, Finland, where she graduated from the Structural Design Institute. In 1973 she moved to the US and worked as a designer in engineering firms in CT.

Nurmi’s journey as an artist began in 1986. She left her engineering studies and her work as a designer for a life adventure that took her travelling half-way around the world for several months: hiking in New Zealand, scuba diving off the Great Barrier Reef in Australia, exploring the beaches of Hawaii, and discovering Tahiti’s Moorea Island in the South Pacific. Inspired by her travels, upon returning home, she decided to devote all of her time to art.

Through the years, Nurmi’s paintings have been displayed in solo exhibitions in New York City, Seattle, Washington, D.C., Boston, Helsinki and many other locations. Her work has also been featured in galleries throughout New England, in corporate collections in New York City. In 2011 she moved to St Petersburg, FL and she teaches a pastel class at the OLLI program at Eckerd College main campus.

Healing Walls features the therapeutic side of Nurmi’s work, which blends her skills as an artist with her love of vibrant colors and peaceful, natural settings. Her murals are designed and created to provide a liberating experience for patients, visitors, and staff in the clinical environment of hospitals and other medical facilities.

Hope to see you all that made it as well as those who did not in our future events as we celebrate Finland’s 100th birthday this year in different ways!