Lars Idar Waage, photographer from Stavanger, Norway, will give a presentation on Thursday, November 7, at 7:00 p.m. in the Vesterheim Commons in connection with the exhibit A Dying Norway – in a Living America?. This exhibit of documentary photographs by Waage is a portrait of Stavanger, Illinois, by someone from 6,000 miles away in Stavanger, Norway. The tiny town of Stavanger, Illinois, in LaSalle County, is the location of the first permanent settlement of Norwegian immigrants in...

A Dying Norway – in a Living America? Exhibit Opens on November 8, 2024. This exhibit of documentary photographs by Lars Idar Waage is a portrait of Stavanger, Illinois, by someone from 6,000 miles away in Stavanger, Norway. The tiny town of Stavanger, Illinois, in LaSalle County, is the location of the first permanent settlement...

Vesterheim welcomes preschoolers and their caregivers to Barnetimen Children’s Hour. Meet in the lobby of the museum’s Main Building to explore objects and stories in the museum’s collection and make fun art. November’s program will explore fiddle making and playing traditions in Norway and Norwegian America. We’ll look at and listen to fiddles in the...

Dr. Maren Johnson, Luther College's Associate Professor of Nordic Studies and Torgerson Center for Nordic Studies Director, facilitates a regular bokprat (book group), discussing Scandinavian authors and Scandinavian life. The November bokprat features Sagas of Luther College: Norwegian and Lutheran Identities Past, Present, and Future, edited by Dr. Maren Anderson Johnson and Rachel Faldet. Sagas...

Enjoy Norwegian Christmas at Vesterheim with a Hardanger fiddle concert by Eden Ehm and a fiddle-making demonstration with Karen Rebholz. Eden Ehm’s interest in folk music and fiddling began during middle school and high school as the principal violinist of the Decorah Nordic Dancer's Orchestra. Eden began studying the Hardanger fiddle with Andrea Een while...

Dr. Maren Johnson, Luther College's Associate Professor of Nordic Studies and Torgerson Center for Nordic Studies Director, facilitates a regular bokprat (book group), discussing Scandinavian authors and Scandinavian life. December's discussion is a twist on the usual format and features the film Christmas as Usual available on Netflix. Thea is going to her rural hometown to...

Vesterheim welcomes preschoolers and their caregivers to Barnetimen Children’s Hour. Meet in the lobby of the museum’s Main Building to explore objects and stories in the museum’s collection and make fun art. Get in the festive spirit with Norwegian holiday traditions during December’s program. Meet in the lobby of the museum’s Main Building to learn...