Home » Exhibits & Collection
The Museum has a temporary exhibit gallery with four exhibits each year and a permanent exhibit featuring the immigration to Chicago at the end of the 1800s.
The collection has approx. 12,000 items of objects that have been donated by members and friends of the Museum during the last 32 years. We annually update sections of the permanent exhibit so that we can showcase many of the beautiful donated items.
We often feature a donation or Swedish tradition in our quarterly newsletter, Flaggan, and you can find the most recent article in the section Notes from Curator.
Happy Cows by Patrik Gunnar Helin
Glass Bowl by Pia Sjölin
Swedish Cows: Slow Art, An Audiovisual Journey in Stillness is a mixture of artistic expression through the use of various mediums, including: glass, textile, photography, video, light, and sound. The goal of the display is to exhibit stillness with inspirational objects using fantasy lighting, slow moving video impressions, and wonderful sounds. Facts and cultural history, about a special race of old Swedish cows – Friendship Cows – will be tied into the exhibition. Artists are Pia Sjölin and Patrik Gunnar Helin.
Our permanent exhibit; A Dream of America – Swedish Immigration to Chicago is located on the second floor at the Museum. It tells a fascinating story that starts mid 1800s in Sweden, and it will take the viewer on a journey from Sweden to the New World. The exhibit provides insights into the struggles and triumphs of Swedish immigrant life in Chicago. We are meeting with Stina Olof’s Daughter, whose brother is leaving Sweden with his family in 1868, and with Karl Karlsson and his family who emigrated in 1893, Elin and her daughter Birgitta Hedman, who came to America in 1924, when Birgitta was 7 years of age, and their struggle at Ellis Island, and many other characters in the exhibit. It is an exciting tour, and a perfect combination of entertainment combined with education. The kitchen in the exhibit has recently been going through a change with lots of new objects from the permanent collection. And we are currently working on updating the parlor (living room). Also, the Museum has recently received a donation from David J. Kudish; 12 lithographs and engraved maps of Scandinavia. The exhibit; Maps and Viewings from Scandinavia is located in the hallway on the second floor.
