Vesterheim Activities at Decorah’s Nordic Fest

This city-wide celebration starts with evening ceremonies on Thursday, July 26, and continues all day Friday and Saturday, July 27 and 28. Nordic Fest is fun for the whole family with lively music and dancing, challenging sporting events, delicious food, and lots of entertainment. It's a great time to visit Vesterheim! There will be folk...

National Norwegian-American Folk Art Exhibition Closes

The National Norwegian-American Folk Art Exhibition closes July 27, 2024. Vesterheim’s bi-annual National Norwegian-American Folk Art Exhibition is a collection of amazing work entered by fantastic contemporary artists from all over the country and is a great way to find out what’s happening today in the world of Norwegian-inspired folk art. The exhibit celebrates the past, present, and...

Presentation by Artist Tara Austin

Artist Tara Austin gives a presentation about her work in connection with the exhibit Boreal Ornament V, which features rosemaling with a contemporary painting focus, highlighting the beauty and techniques of this Norwegian decorative tradition infused in a modern narrative. The presentation will be in the new community space in the Vesterheim Commons and the...

Presentation “Beer and Wine in Norse Culture” by Eirik Storesund

Join Vesterheim and Eirik Storesund at Pulpit Rock Brewing Co. for the presentation Beer and Wine in Norse Culture. In popular imagination, the Viking appetite for destruction was only rivaled by their thirst for liquor. But how did parched Norsemen actually quench their thirst? We all have an impression of what that looks (or even...

Event Series Free Second Saturday

Free Second Saturday

Vesterheim offers free admission the second Saturday of every month. Come and enjoy the museum! From May through October, there will be an indoor tour of the museum’s Main Building at 11:00 a.m. and an outdoor tour of Heritage Park at 1:30 p.m. Come and enjoy the museum! Special exhibits open are listed here. There's...

Hand Me Down the Fiddle Exhibit Opens

The exhibit Hand Me Down the Fiddle: Norwegian Fiddlers, Fiddles, and Fiddle Tunes in the Upper Midwest Exhibit opens August 15, 2024. Who were Ole Bull, Ole Hendricks, Johan Arndt Mostad, Thea Arndt Clark, Bill Sherburne, Arnold Munkel, Ellen Blagen, LeRoy Larson, and Elmo Wick? Find out about these Norwegian and Norwegian-American fiddlers, as well...

Hand Me Down the Fiddle Gallery Talk with Beth Hoven Rotto

Come and learn about Norwegian fiddlers, fiddles, and fiddle tunes in the Upper Midwest from Beth Hoven Rotto. Beth Hoven Rotto is the project consultant and guest curator for the Vesterheim exhibition Hand Me Down the Fiddle: Norwegian Fiddlers, Fiddles, and Fiddle Tunes in the Upper Midwest. Beth apprenticed with renowned fiddler Bill Sherburne of...

Building a Grindbuilding and Its Life (Webinar)

With Owen Christianson and Heidi Sherman. Join us for an afternoon of learning about the "Viking House" on the campus of University of Wisconsin Green Bay. Our presenters will be Owen Christianson, who built the original version of the Grindbuilding, and Heidi Sherman, who as a professor at the University was the driving force to...

Leading with the Heart Exhibit Opens

It is our hope that this exhibition encourages your own artistic curiosity. We aim to lead with our hearts to promote inclusiveness, artistic creativity, and a greater understanding of our shared humanity.  – Wendy Savage and Alison Aune Leading with the Heart: Nordic, Sami, and Ojibwe Designs from Nature exhibit opens on August 31, 2024, at...

Concert by My Favorite Folk

Vesterheim presents this concert with My Favorite Folk! Check back for a link to the livestream. Following four transatlantic tours with the acclaimed Swedish quintet Jaerv, American duo The OK Factor’s cellist Olivia Diercks and violinist Karla Colahan announce an exciting new collaboration. Teaming up with Jaerv's own Markus Gustavsson (fiddle/vocals) and Harald Nilsson (guitar/vocals),...