Be inspired by budding folk artists and Scandinavian traditions at Vesterheim! Students from the Scandinavian Fine Handcraft January Term course at Luther College will demonstrate carving and exhibit their class projects in an open house in Vesterheim Commons. Everyone is invited to this free community event, and refreshments will be served. Luther January Term students...
Get outside and enjoy the winter at the annual Barneløpet, a non-competitive ski or walk event for the community’s youngest skiers, ages 3-13. The collaborative Vesterheim Museum and Sons of Norway event will be held at the Decorah Community Prairie at 10:00 a.m., with registration beginning at 9:30 a.m. Skiers must provide their own skis.
Join us for Vesterheim's series of cross-cultural webinars exploring stranded colorwork in knitting from multiple cultural perspectives. Cultural Connections: Norwegian Sweaters is the first in the series and is led by the celebrated Norwegian author and knitting designer Nina Granlund Saether. The cross-cultural series webinars will foster perspective about the way Norwegian and Scandinavian handcrafts...
Vesterheim is seeking volunteers, and we’d love to meet you! Do you want to deepen connections in the Decorah community and make new friends? Do you want to further something you’re passionate about while learning something new? Do you love history and art? There are so many ways to be involved. This training focuses on...
The murals in Vesterheim’s Gathering Room were created in 1999 by Norwegian rosemaler Sigmund Aarseth and Iowa rosemaler Sallie DeReus. The murals are an example of interior painting, relatively common in Scandinavia, in which every surface is decorated. The murals are inspired by the primstav, a calendar stick widely used in Norway during the Middle...
Vesterheim offers free admission the second Saturday of every month. Come and enjoy the museum! Special exhibits open are listed here. There's always something new!
Toppling Goliath Brewery in Decorah is including Vesterheim in a celebration of koselig - a concept deeply rooted in Norwegian culture that describes a feeling of coziness, warmth, contentment, and relaxed interaction. Everyone is invite to experience the third annual Koselig at TG – a day of folk music, traditional Norwegian fare, and togetherness. Stop...
[vc_custom_heading text="February 8, 2025 1:00 p.m.-2:00 p.m." use_theme_fonts="yes" el_class="medium-heading bold"]Join celebrated Norwegian Arctic cultural presenter and preserver Stina Fagurton to hear folktales from north of the Arctic Circle. Join us for an hour of stories that will delight the children and whoever else in the family loves a good story. Gather the family together to...
Dr. Maren Johnson, Luther College's Associate Professor of Nordic Studies and Torgerson Center for Nordic Studies Director, facilitates a monthly bokprat, discussing Scandinavian authors and Scandinavian life. Join us in Febuary as we discuss the novel Cabin in the Mountains by Robert Ferguson. The hytte – or wooden cabin home – is a crucial part...
Join Decorah Travel Club as they host Vesterheim Chief Curator Laurann Gilbertson for this engaging presentation about Norwegian deaconesses in America. Deaconesses, women called to serve the church and humankind, come from a tradition dating from Biblical times to the Middles Ages. Their work was revived in Germany in 1836 and the “modern” diaconate spread...
