Travel with Vesterheim

Tours to Norway

For more than 30 years, Vesterheim has been providing exciting and educational tours to Norway. These tours offer unique opportunities based on the museum’s ties and relationships with the artists and institutions of Norway.

Tour guests have the opportunity to benefit from the insight and expertise of Vesterheim’s staff and Norwegian guides. Staff members spend countless hours researching new contacts and locations that will allow us to show you the “behind-the-scenes” areas and people of Norway. We pride ourselves on giving an experience that is exceptional in every way. Vesterheim is pleased to share with you the 2008 schedule of tours to Norway.

Vesterheim looks forward to having you travel with us to Norway!

Click on each tour below for an itinerary. For more information and to register contact Michelle Whitehill, Coordinator of Tours to Norway, 563-382-9681, ext. 240 • mwhitehill@vesterheim.org.

 

2009 Tours

Print out a deposit form for 2009 tours
Itineraries coming soon.

The Fjord Horse: Folk-Art and Farming in Norway

With Phillip Odden
August 2009

Follow the tracks of the fjord horse through the plains, mountains, and ocean coasts of Norway and through the past, present, and future of Norwegian culture.

Start in the productive agricultural area of eastern Norway near Hamar and then move to the higher mountain area around Vågå and Lom in Gudbrandsdal, before descending toward the North Sea to experience the west coast of Nordfjord.

In this cultural study tour, we will examine folk art, farmsteads, and architecture to gain insight into a time when fjord horses were the primary source of farm power. We’ll study the early Norwegian immigrants and learn how the horse gained importance for transportation at the beginning of the tourist era around 1860. We’ll explore the role of horses during WWII and how horses are kept and used in modern oil-rich Norway today.

Phillip Odden, an expert on fjord horses, Norwegian folk art, and travel in Norway, will guide you through this one-of-a-kind cultural experience. Odden is the owner and operator of Odden’s Norwegian Fjord Horses in Barronette, Wisconsin, where he raises, trains, and sells Norwegian fjord horses. Odden and his wife, Else Bigton, who was born and raised in Norway, are also woodcarvers and furniture builders in the Norwegian tradition. Odden has taught numerous classes at Vesterheim in Scandinavian woodworking design and has traveled to Norway many times.

Not just for horse lovers—this tour will be an experience rich in culture, history, and art.

 

Folk-Art Study Tour to Voss
Rosemaling and Woodworking: Norwegian Traditions

With Diane Weston
Late June / Early July 2009

Since the first Folk-Art Study Tour to Norway in 1970, Vesterheim has continued to offer American artists in the Norwegian tradition the unique opportunity to learn from expert Norwegian artists in authentic cultural settings. This year, the Folk-Art Study Tour will take place in the town of Voss, nestled in the mountains and overlooking Vangsvatnet Lake. The classes will be held in the traditional, quaint atmosphere of the Voss Folkehøgskule (folk high school, which has inspired generations of Norwegian artists.

Outstanding folk-art instructors will teach two four-day sessions for rosemalers and woodworkers. Rosemaling instructors will be Bjorg Kleivi and Johild Mæland. The woodworking instructor will be Torgeir Lirhus. Kåre Herfindal will lead an architectural study visit in the Voss area, highlighting both historical and contemporary building techniques unique to Voss. There will be mini-tours after each session that will include visits to various museums, studios, and homes to see the best examples of Norwegian carving and painting. Also, Astrid Lirhus will give presentations of bunads and the fiber arts of the Voss area.

Enjoy a community of other folk artists working in the Norwegian tradition, learn new artistic techniques directly from instructors traditionally trained in the craft, and be immersed in Norwegian culture.

This tour will be facilitated by Vesterheim education specialist Diane Weston. Weston has years of experience traveling in Norway and guiding Vesterheim study tours. A rosemaler herself, she brings knowledge and understanding to the tour experience.

 

Textile Study Tour
A Common Thread: Textile Traditions of Norway and Sweden

With Laurann Gilbertson
Late June / Early July 2009

Vesterheim will return to eastern Norway and southern Sweden in 2009 for a study tour exploring the similarities and differences in the textile heritage of these neighboring countries. As we look at textiles (weaving, knitting, embroidery, and folk costume), we will consider how traditions came to the United States and how traditions have evolved into modern times. Trip highlights include hands-on mini-classes, museum tours with curators, and visits to artists in their studios.

Tour leader Laurann Gilbertson has been textile curator at Vesterheim since 1991. She holds a B.A. in anthropology and an M.S. in textiles and clothing from Iowa State University. She has led three Vesterheim Textile Study Tours to Norway.