Vesterheim Commons – Exhibit Gallery

Vesterheim President/CEO Chris Johnson is joined in this video by Collection Assistant Lauryn Johnson to take a look at the second floor exhibit gallery. The central feature of this area that you can see starting to take shape is the oculus in the center looking down on the first floor.

This room will have a beautiful oak wood floor and the walls will be prepared to serve as a gallery space for a variety of exhibitions.

When planning exhibits, the curatorial team likes to feature artifacts from the tremendous Vesterheim collection. They also focus on honoring living artists, and they often host traveling exhibits from other museums.

The curators envision using this gallery to feature fine art, like print making and paintings, and small artifacts.

Lighting is important in galleries because it needs to be safe for the artifacts but also natural and enjoyable for visitors. During the planning process, we had lighting studies done so we know that the art pieces will be safe.

Another important consideration for any gallery is regulating the climate. While the building is being developed, we are constantly monitoring and thinking about the climate control we’ve planned to make sure it’s all working properly before it’s completed.

This space will be very dynamic and constantly change over time. There is easy access to the elavator and to the Westby-Torgerson Education Center artifact storage to easily move pieces in and out of the gallery.

We can’t wait to welcome visitors to the exhibits in this gallery. 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!