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There are always exciting things happening at Vesterheim Norwegian-American Museum. Find out the latest news about exhibitions, events, and other programs.

Learn how Vesterheim is helping kids make sense of history and culture through hands-on, object-based learning experiences. Two innovative programs serve hundreds of third and fourth grade students throughout the school year by immersing them in authentic, meaningful, and fun (!) activities that utilize the museum’s broad collections as a lens through which to view and better understand specific time periods or events in U.S. history as well as the numerous cultures that have contributed to American society. Activities may be adaptable for your community or organization.

Bring a favorite piece and learn more about your Norwegian antique or family heirloom. Laurann Gilbertson will help you learn about your object’s age, origin, and function. Please note that she cannot give valuations or appraisals.

Learn about the history of different types and styles of Norwegian sweaters, including Setesdal, Fana, Marius, and Olympic. Gilbertson will also talk about the symbolism behind some of the patterns and colors on sweaters made today. Be sure to invite your audience to wear their favorite sweater. Or look more broadly at Nordic knitting in A History of Norwegian Knitting.

Can you imagine a time and place without quilts? It may be hard to believe, but few Norwegians in the nineteenth century had ever seen quilts. Immigrants to the United States needed quilts for warmth and to help their homes look more American. Quilts from Vesterheim’s Textile Collection tell the story of the immigrant experience between 1860 and 1940. Enjoy the general program or focus in on Religion and Norwegian-American Quilts. Both are thirty-minute presentations with slides.

For centuries, Norwegians have treasured the beauty of silver. Silver showed the prosperity of a family, and, according to folk belief, could cure sickness in humans and livestock, improve crops, and protect against storms and evil spirits. Brooches were more than simple shirt fasteners. This program (with slides) describes different styles of silver brooches, jewelry, and the beliefs surrounding this powerful metal.

Learn about the many symbols that have come down from ancient times and how they were used in Norway in the nineteenth century. Many of the symbols, used on textiles, wood, horn, and other materials, fall into one of the following functions: good luck, fertility, protection, and linking the human and spiritual worlds.

Norway’s contributions to the Scandinavian Modern Design movement were many, even though the artists and products were not as well known as their Danish, Swedish, and Finnish counterparts. Meet some of the most important designers of the mid-twentieth century and learn about their work in furniture, textiles, silver, glass, ceramics, and enamel.

Explore and expand your ideas of what is “tradition” and “traditional” while looking at historical objects and pieces made today by artists working “within the tradition.” Examples are textiles from Norway and Norwegian America: weaving, quiltmaking, embroidery, baptismal garments, and knitting.

Based on the popular exhibition, this presentation explores the life and work of Norwegian-American sculptor Sigvald Asbjørnsen, who lived from 1867 to 1954 and was a well-known figure in Chicago’s Norwegian art community. Sculptures (monuments, busts, reliefs, and interpretive works) are featured, along with the pastel drawings Asbjørnsen preferred in his later years.

Norway’s tradition of colorful folk costumes is as old as the Middle Ages, and as young as the 1940s. Learn about the history of costumes from Hardanger, Telemark, Hallingdal, and many other regions of Norway. The forces of politics, fashion, and immigration have left their mark on this important part of Norwegian and Norwegian-American folk culture.

Aprons are usually utilitarian accessories, but a large number of aprons, now at Vesterheim, were made by one woman for the reasons of self expression and public entertainment. Evelina Oppegard Grimes was well known to Minnesota community groups in the 1960s and 1970s as the creator of “apron art.” The program introduces Grimes, then focuses on the themes and decorative techniques used on the 122 aprons.

In farm homes all across Norway, women wove warm, wool coverlets for their beds. These colorful coverlets, called åklær, were also used as wall hangings on festive occasions. They played important roles during baptism, weddings, and funerals. They came to America with the immigrants and were an important reminder of their life in Norway. The presentation is illustrated with images of many Vesterheim’s 140 coverlets.

This slide presentation profiles Norwegian artist (landscape painter, muralist, book illustrator) Gerhard Munthe and his rocky road to tapestry design. Munthe was active at the time Norway was gaining independence from Sweden and his work was seen as being in a new “national” style. The tapestries woven from his designs became famous for the dramatic folk tales they depicted.

“A hundred higher schools in a hundred years! That is the mark reached by the Norwegians in America.” Academies, preparatory schools, colleges, and seminaries were established in many Norwegian communities throughout the United States. Very early in their history, Norwegians in America agreed upon the need for schools of higher education; however, they could not always agree upon how and sometimes even where to do this. Learn about some of the nineteenth and early twentieth century doctrinal controversies and personal conflicts within the Lutheran churches that produced these schools and even helped some survive into the present day.

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 to Europe and America. There were three Norwegian Lutheran Deaconess Motherhouses in America—in Brooklyn, Chicago, and Minneapolis. This slide presentation introduces audiences to the women who were deaconesses and their work in hospitals, church parishes, social services, and foreign missions.

Why do people leave their homes in search of a better life? Look for answers in the dramatic black and white photographs of Knud Knudsen, considered one of Norway’s most important early photographers. He often returned from his studio in Bergen to the village of Tokheim to capture scenes of everyday life. Despite the idyllic landscape, Knudsen’s work vividly shows some of the factors that led to above-average rates of emigration from this region.

Between 1825 and 1980, nearly one million Norwegians left for new lives in America. Consider the reasons for leaving, what they brought, and where they settled. Explore the immigrant experience through stories associated with artifacts in Vesterheim’s collection. The presentation can be customized with artifacts from your state.

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 Ages. The initial purpose of the primstav was to help keep track of Saint’s days and the church year when Christianity was adopted in the eleventh century. Over time, however, the primstav acquired worldly calendar associations that had to do with seasonal agricultural and domestic activities.

Be transported back in time through words and photos from a 10-week-long trip Andrew and Elise Hoiness took to Norway in 1908. Using visuals from postcards as well as the messages in those and in letters home to family members in Iowa, you will get a sense of the realities of travel at the time and the connection they felt to the country of their parents.

In the period beginning in 1825 and for about 100 years following, nearly 40% of the population of Norway – more than 800,000 Norwegians – immigrated to the United States. Most of those immigrants came for “economic opportunity,” but the first immigrants – known as the Sloopers of 1825 – came for religious freedom. The voyage was three years in the planning by an alliance of Quakers and Haugean Lutherans. Beginning on July 4th, 1825, a 54-foot sloop named Restaurasjonen (The Restauration) took 52 passengers on a 98-day journey from Stavanger, Norway to New York City. This presentation follows the story from its roots (in the Napoleonic Wars), through the voyage itself, the reception in New York City, and finally to the first Norwegian settlement in the United States in Kendall, New York.

Whether you’re doing genealogy, or just trying to sort through your family’s old album, this 45-minute slide program can help you assign a date to old photographs. Women’s clothing styles have changed regularly and distinctly over time. By looking at a few fashion features, such as hats and dress sleeves, you can easily narrow down the date to a single decade.

Vesterheim’s exhibition, “Innovators & Inventors,” shares the stories of problem solvers and creative thinkers in the Norwegian-American community and highlights the many inventions. There are several “firsts” featured, like the outboard motor, gasoline pump, wearable pacemaker, airport jetway, and pizza delivery bag. There are also examples of how existing ideas and products were improved and expanded. Other stories focus on women innovators, the art of innovation, and inventions that we can’t live without. In this presentation, enjoy the stories behind the “firsts” and some of the products you use every day. All invented with the hopes of making our world a better place.