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Swedish Life in the Twin Cities
Third Floor/Ballroom

The history of the Swedish-American community in Minneapolis and St. Paul comes to life in this exhibit. Personal diary and journal entries, objects brought from Sweden, family photos, maps and artifacts from the American Swedish Institute collection, as well as vintage sound recordings and video segments tell the day-to-day story of what life was like for Swedish immigrants in the Twin Cities.

“Swedish Life in the Twin Cities” examines why the immigrants left Sweden and traces their journey to Minnesota. It follows them as they settle in Swedish-American neighborhoods, including Payne Avenue and Swede Hollow, and considers what life was like for a typical immigrant family at home. The exhibit also features an early account of the area by Swedish journalist Fredrika Bremer, the story of Jacob Fahlstrom, who is thought to be the first Swede in Minnesota, and the history of Swan Turnblad, who founded the American Swedish Institute in 1929. In addition, “Swedish Life in the Twin Cities” includes a display on Swedish-American theater, featuring the vaudeville performers of the Cedar-Riverside area of Minneapolis known as “Snoose Boulevard.” The exhibition also looks at ongoing craft traditions and the nostalgia for the homeland felt by many immigrants.

“Swedish Life in the Twin Cities” is the Donald E. Benson and David E. and Mary Jo Monson Exhibition on the Swedish Presence in Minneapolis and St. Paul.

Santa Claus, Coca-Cola, and Swedish Design
November 6, 2010 – January 16, 2011

Coca-Cola’s iconic, rosy-cheeked Santa Claus—created almost 80 years ago by Swedish-American illustrator Haddon Sundblom for the company’s 1931 Christmas advertising campaign —has appeared on billboards and in ads ever since. Sundblom’s cheery and very human depiction of Santa captivated the American public and soon came to represent Saint Nick in our collective mind.

This holiday season, the American Swedish Institute presents Santa Claus, Coca-Cola, and Swedish Design, an exhibit featuring more than a dozen of Haddon Sundblom’s original Santa Claus oil paintings on loan from the Coca-Cola archives in Atlanta, Ga. The exhibit also explores Sundblom’s upbringing, development as a young artist, and career, and showcases an assemblage of about 100 items from Minnesota Coca-Cola collectors and aficionados that demonstrate the reach of Haddon Sundblom’s work.

My Paradise: Finnish and Finnish-American Summer Architecture
Friday, June 11–Sunday, October 10, 2010

A summer home holds a very special place in the Finnish culture—and in the hearts of Minnesotans. Perhaps because of our similar Northern climates, summer homes—cherished places of relaxation and quiet retreat to nature—are important to Finns, Swedes, and Minnesotans alike. This summer, the American Swedish Institute brings an inspiring display of Finnish summer architecture to its galleries. Coming from Finland is “My Paradise: A Hundred Years of Finnish Architects’ Summer Homes,” an exhibit featuring photographs and scale models of Finnish architects’ own summer homes. At ASI only, “My Paradise” is augmented with the exhibit “With a View of Water,” featuring the work of Finnish-American—and native Minnesotan—architect David Salmela. Together, these make up “My Paradise: Finnish and Finnish-American Summer Architecture” and will be on display at the American Swedish Institute from June 11 through October 10, 2010.

My Paradise

“My Paradise” features the summer homes of twenty renowned Finnish architects, including Lars Sonck, Eliel Saarinen, Alvar Aalto, and Juhani Pallasmaa, and the structures included span approximately 100 years. A summer home is a place of relaxation and quiet retreat to nature. It is also a place where architects either further develop new ideas or crystallize essential themes from their other designs. Their own summer homes are very personal; like diary entries. Without the limitations—or funding—of a client, each designer realizes their own ideals and goals when designing their own summer homes.

The exhibition consists of new photographs by photographer Jari Jetsonen and historic photographs from museums and private collections of architects. The scale models and some new as-built drawings made by the architecture students of the University of Tulane, the University of Tennessee, the University of Texas at Arlington and the University of Oregon, bring an important addition to the exhibition, as well as a film by Anssi Blomstedt, “Alvar Aalto’s Journey to the Summer: The Muuratsalo Experimental House.”

“My Paradise” was designed by photographer Jari Jetsonen and architect Sirkkaliisa Jetsonen. The exhibition is organized in collaboration with the Museum of Finnish Architecture and the Alvar Aalto Museum, and has been funded by the Greta and William Lehtinen Foundation, The National Council for Architecture and the Finnish Cultural Foundation. At the American Swedish Institute, this exhibit has been funded in part by the Finlandia Foundation, the Swedish Council of America, FinnStyle, Doug and Mary Jones, and Leslie Nelson.

With a View of Water

“My Paradise” is augmented with the exhibit “With a View of Water,” featuring the work of Duluth-based architect David Salmela, photographed by Peter Bastianelli-Kerze. It includes models, photographs, and an artist narrative, representing Salmela’s rural and by-the-water works.

David Salmela is a Finnish-American architect who has gained an international reputation with his acute sense for natural materials, his sensitive siting, and his altogether unique feeling for space. Salmela grew up in Northern Minnesota inspired by Nordic influences, and despite receiving no formal architectural education has come to be the Upper Midwest’s most sought-after designer of homes. He has also created celebrated buildings enjoyed by the public, such as the Gooseberry Falls State Park Visitor Center and Wild Rice Restaurant in Bayfield, Wisc.

Photographer Peter Bastianelli-Kerze has long photographed the work of David Salmela, and the two have collaborated for more than 30 years. Bastianelli-Kerze’s architectural photographs have appeared in magazines as well as more than a dozen books published in the United States, England, Germany, Spain, Italy and Japan, and he has been honored for his exceptional photography by the Minnesota AIA.

Emerson Residence and Sauna

Cook Lake, Duluth, Minnesota, 1997-2002

Photo by Peter Bastianelli-Kerze

Jim Brandenburg’s Ravenwood Studio

Ely, Minnesota, 1995

Photo by Peter Bastianelli-Kerze

A Nordic Christmas
November 6, 2010 – January 16, 2011

The American Swedish Institute’s annual exhibit, A Nordic Christmas, brings together members of the local Nordic American community to decorate five rooms in the Turnblad mansion for the holiday season. These decorated Nordic Christmas rooms give visitors a taste of Christmas traditions in each of the Nordic countries: Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Iceland and Finland.

As this year’s theme is “little people,” the rooms will note the tomtar, nisser, and other magical figures associated with each of the different Nordic countries. There will also be a youth area in the museum where kids can decorate their own little house for Christmas.

Illumination of a Saint: The Legend of Sankta Lucia
November 6, 2010 – January 16, 2011

Explore the traditions associated with Saint Lucia, from her origins as a fourth-century Christian martyr to the legends of her appearance in Sweden. This annual exhibit also details how the holiday is celebrated today, focusing on family and public Lucia traditions and festivals in both Sweden and America. 

There are many legends associated with Lucia, beginning in fourth-century Sicily. A young woman gave her dowry away to the poor and confessed herself a Christian. For this, she was accused of witchcraft and put to death. Another legend tells of a famine in medieval days. A glowing figure dressed in white, Saint Lucia came across a great lake in the province of Värmland, Sweden. She brought gifts of food to the starving people. These legends vary, but Lucia shines as a symbol of light and hope in them all.

Lucia Day is celebrated on December 13 in Sweden, usually early in the morning. Many offices, schools and community groups in Sweden select a young woman to be Lucia. “Lucia” dresses in a white gown with a red sash and wears a crown of candles on her head. She serves coffee, saffron buns and ginger cookies. She is accompanied by female attendants dressed in white with tinsel sashes, and a procession of “star boys.” wearing cone-shaped paper hats and carrying star-tipped wands.

In addition to celebrations in Sweden, the Lucia pageantry is carried on today in many Swedish-American homes, churches and cultural centers like the American Swedish Institute. ASI will celebrate Lucia at Augustana Lutheran Church in downtown Minneapolis on Saturday, Dec. 11.

Victor Borge: Life and Laughs of a Scandinavian Humorist
February 19 – May 1, 2011

The

American Swedish Institute is pleased to be one of three venues selected to present Victor Borge: Life and Laughs of a Scandinavian Humorist, an exhibition that explores Borge’s life and achievements through a collection of film clips, recordings, photographs and memorabilia from Borge’s personal archives.

Born Børge Rosenbaum in Denmark in 1909, Mr. Borge trained at the Royal Danish Academy of Music and began his career telling anti-Nazi jokes in Denmark in the 1930s. Affectionately known as the “Great Dane,” Victor Borge was an engaging musician, humorist, and humanitarian who became one of the most popular and enduring performers in the mid-twentieth century in the United States and Scandinavia, having fled Denmark in the face of an impending World War II.

Through his career and his humanitarian efforts, Victor Borge influenced the lives of countless Americans and Scandinavians alike. A strong proponent of Danish-American friendship, he opened the eyes of many Americans to Danish and Scandinavian culture.

Exhibition organized by the American Scandinavian Foundation, New York, New York, in partnership with the Borge family and The Danish Immigrant Museum, Elk Horn, Iowa. Major support provided by the Scan Design by Inger and Jens Bruun Foundation. National tour organized by The Danish Immigrant Museum.