Vesterheim Commons – Digital Studio

In this behind-the-scenes tour of the Commons building progress, Vesterheim President/CEO Chris Johnson and Director of Folk Art Education Andrew Ellingsen talk about the future digital production studio and how it will connect to online programs and offerings.

This space wasn’t originally envisioned during the early planning phases but grew out of experiences during the COVID pandemic.

In calendar year 2019, we welcomed between 600-700 students for in person programming. This is fantastic and we are committed to continuing to bring students to Decorah to study in person. With the addition of online programming options, in calendar year 2021, the number of students grew to more than 5,000 from all 50 states and 18 countries. The online classes took away the barrier of having to come to Decorah for those who couldn’t and allowed Vesterheim to reach out to them in their own places. The possibilities were transformational to the program.

With these new programs came new needs for technology and space, and we worked with the building designers to incorporate new ideas to address these needs. Vesterheim will use the space to live stream events happening online and in the Commons and throughout campus. We plan to create more content for our YouTube channel and to invite instructors onsite to create instructional videos.

The space doesn’t look like much now, but we’re excited to have the walls roughed in. It was designed to control light and sound by Morrissey Engineering and ARUP Acoustic Engineers. It will house the technology needed to make quality content and offer quiet office space for online programs and video creation.

We’re excited about the possibilities for the future. Thank you everyone who has helped make this project possible!

We invite you to be part of Vesterheim’s bold future now by donating here!