116 3rd St SE
Cedar Rapids, Iowa 52401
“Living Iowa Treasure” artist displays life’s work at new National Czech & Slovak Museum & Library exhibit in Cedar Rapids
How Marj Nejdl passed forward a heritage, one egg at a time
Feb. 24, 2024 6:00 am
CEDAR RAPIDS — If the breadth of her art on display is any indication, Marj Nejdl hasn’t put all her eggs in one basket.
After decades of producing Czech folk art in various mediums, it makes sense. With a curation of dozens of eggs on display, they simply wouldn’t fit into one basket.
But the Living Iowa Treasure, as designated by the Iowa Arts Council, has done more than crack a few eggs. With her grandchildren now teaching classes on the art form, she’s kept the heritage alive for the next generation as the population of Cedar Rapids becomes further removed from its Czech and Slovak immigrant roots that took hold in the 19th and early 20th century.
“It’s part of my history,” Nejdl said.
For the master folk artist, that preservation is one of her biggest priorities.
"Marj Nejdl is a true heritage keeper. By constantly creating traditional folk art, she is preserving Czech culture and folkways," said Stefanie Kohn, museum curator. "I think she inspires others to do the same."
If you go
What: Marj Nejdl: Master Folk Artist exhibit
Where: In Anderson Hall at the National Czech & Slovak Museum & Library, 1400 Inspiration Place SW, Cedar Rapids
Hours: 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Saturday; Noon to 4 p.m. Sunday
Cost: $10 for adults, $9 over 65; $5 active military, veterans and students; $3 youth; free 6 and under
Details: Exhibit featuring batik eggs, aprons and apparel, woodwork, painted folk scenes, ceramics, Christmas ornaments and stationery is open until April 21.
Want to make eggs yourself? Classes to make batik eggs, taught by the Nejdl family, are available March 22 and 23. To register, visit ncsml.org/events. Cost is $35 for members, $50 for non-members.
The eggs
With everything from quail to ostrich, one size does not fit all in kraslice eggs.
From ornate patterns prevalent throughout eastern European art to folk drawings of cats, birds and humans engaging in traditional art forms in traditional dress, eggs embrace a vibrancy of colors characteristic of all Nejdl’s mediums.
“During communist times (in Czechoslovakia), it was just drab. But you’d go into their homes and it looks like this,” she said, explaining her penchant for a bright palette.
Dozens of eggs in two full display cases, on loan from Nejdl and a few others, exhibit Christmas Nativity scenes, celebrate Easter and allow for a sense of whimsy through animations of raccoons, bunnies, geese and children reminiscent of Hummel figurines.
A vital part of Czech and Slovak Easter festivities, the custom is rooted in ancient pagan practices dating back thousands of years that celebrated new life in the spring.
Some eggs integrate bobbin lace from Nejdl’s mother — an art form becoming more and more rare in Europe. Others demonstrate the intricate batik method of draining eggs, drawing with bee wax, painting and removing the wax with candle flames — a process that could take days or weeks.
Starting at age 10, Nejdl started learning the art form, typically reserved for women, from her artist uncle, who co-owned Pohlena’s Meat Market in the Czech Village with her father.
The eggs themselves, easy to procure and drain in a matter of minutes today, were a little more challenging to come by earlier in her life. She holds memories of importing ostrich eggs from Africa and getting botched batches of emu eggs, delivered by the mailman with chicks inside.
Back then, blowing the yolk and white out of eggs was a tedious process done gently over time. Today, tools sold in the museum’s gift shop get the job done in a matter of minutes.
Her mother, who grew up in what was then Czechoslovakia, shined the eggs with bacon grease. Today, Nejdl uses more modern products to give them a gloss.
When her uncle was too sick to demonstrate a batik egg decorating technique at a local Czech festival in 1971, fate appointed her to preserve the tradition.
“He told them I’d do it, and so I did,” Nejdl said.
Other mediums
Other mediums on display, ranging from bird houses to aprons, demonstrate versatility over the artist’s 87 years. Each piece marks inspiration from folk art that her mother decorated the home with growing up.
The Czech language, which her parents spoke at home, also was passed on to her. Today, it’s reflected both implicitly and explicitly on various pieces.
“When I was little, my grandmother lived with us, so we spoke Czech,” Nejdl said in Czech. “Now that I’m old, my tongue doesn’t want to say what my brain is thinking.”
Aprons offer a sense of humor in multiple languages. Jeans with her printed designs offer a portal to family scenes over the years, including those her niece experienced.
“We had a pig and geese just to give the kids chores. When the geese had goslings, she would want to pick up the goslings, and the geese chased her,” Nejdl recalled. “She had me paint different things that went on at our house when she was young.”
Her exhibit in the front hall of the museum also highlights a pin she made for Madeleine Albright, the first woman to be appointed U.S. Secretary of State in 1997, and a Czech native.
But viewers of her folk art don’t necessarily have to learn anything of depth from the varied work.
“You can just enjoy seeing them,” she said. “It’s been fun. I’ve had a good life.”
Comments: Features reporter Elijah Decious can be reached at (319) 398-8340 or elijah.decious@thegazette.com.
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