SAM WROBEL

WYCINANKI PAPERCUTTING ARTIST

Sam Wróbel grew up near Chicago, where he learned wycinanki from local papercutter Doris Sikorsky. When Sam was 11 years old, Doris obtained a Master/Apprentice Ethnic Arts grant from the Illinois Arts Council to teach him wycinanki. Her intent was to pass on the skill to a younger person in order to keep this dying tradition alive. Sam became one of the youngest juried members of the Illinois Arts Council at age 12.

As an adult, Sam worked for many years as a full-time grocery store sign artist, creating hand-painted signage and murals. In more recent years, he has returned to papercutting, which has been a renaissance in his life. Wycinanki holds a connection to both his ancestral culture and his personal history.

After years of travel, Sam was drawn to southwest Louisiana. Echoing rural wycinanki artists who drew inspiration from their daily lives, Sam's art is influenced by local culture and the natural beauty in and around Lafayette, LA. Sam also teaches art classes in local schools through the Acadiana Center for the Arts’ Teaching Artist Program, and has created multiple papercutting classes for the curriculum. He runs the ACA's student art market at their annual Student Art Expos in Lafayette and St. Landry parishes. He is on the artist roster for Basin Arts' Bare Walls program, and is a member of the Lafayette-based art collectives, Loudhouse and ARCHIVES.

In 2018, Sam joined the Guild of American Papercutters (GAP), an organization his teacher Doris had introduced to him at a young age. Sam served on the board from 2020 to 2023 and has been the editor of their monthly member's publication, First Cut, since 2021. 

FEATURED WORKS