Vesterheim nows has "virtual gallery"

Vesterheim Norwegian-American Museum has launched the first of five new virtual galleries on its website at collections.vesterheim.org.

"In order to make the collections more accessible to everyone, the museum will be offering an online sample of its 24,000 extraordinary artifacts," said Vesterheim Collections Assistant Alison Dwyer.

Only 15 percent to 20 percent of Vesterheim's collections are on view at any one time in the museum's Main Building and Open Air Division. The rest are in one of the museum's storage facilities, like the Bauder-Landsgard Collections Study Center. The virtual gallery offers a way for people to see the objects not currently on display and find out more about them. "Vesterheim really has incredible artifacts in its collections and the virtual gallery is a great tool for showing them off," said Dwyer. "While the amazing art work will be enjoyed by everyone, the galleries are a wonderful service for artists and researchers in Norwegian folk arts," Dwyer continued.

The virtual gallery of rosemaling items is now available. Throughout the coming year galleries of woodworking, textiles, fine arts and silver will also be added.

The decorative painting gallery includes 101 objects ranging from trunks to ale bowls. It includes pictures, descriptions, and any information available for each object.

The creation of the online galleries is part of a three year project, which is funded by the Institute of Museum and Library Services