Gammelgården Museum of Scandia

08/29/2026

This is the inventory of the furniture and personal effects remaining in the Pastor‘s house that were left by Annie Johnson in 1971.

08/28/2026

08/27/2026

Read about Spelmansståmman that happened earlier this month, watch a compilation video of the performers, and discover which culture will be featured next year as part of this 2027 multicultural event:

An announcement for Spelmansstämman 2027 is at the end of this article. Performer Compilation from the Japanese and Swedish Spelmansstämman 2026   Thank you to all the performers this year. […]

08/26/2026

Gammelgården Museum has a large quilt displayed on the second floor of the Welcome House (the big red building) that is hand-embroidered and hand-quilted. It was made in 1976 and depicts images of buildings and scenes from Scandia, Marine, and Copas.

Mike Berglund recently shared images of the interior and exterior of the Berglund Store, which no longer exists. It once was to the north of what is now the New Scandia Cafe.

08/26/2026

Sweden, a paradise for anyone who's looking for more than your average active vacation.

08/25/2026

This Gustave Doré’s illustrated Swedish Bible was recently donated to the museum. It was a pleasure to flip through the pages and look at all the beautiful illustrations by Doré, a French artist known for his detailed depictions of biblical scenes.

Doré originally designed 241 wood engravings for the La Grande Bible de Tours, the 1843 French translation of the Vulgate Bible (the Bible de Tours), which was published in 1866. The Swedish edition was published in 1889 and retains the same Doré illustrations.

There are 139 plates from the Old Testament and 81 plates from the New Testament. On the two-column pages, a thin vertical design separates the columns, and each page has a unique design.

This Swedish Bible truly is a work of art!

08/22/2026

Staff, interns, and volunteers are photographing all the folk dräkt in its collection. When the clothes are too small to put on a mannequin, the staff lays out the pieces to show what an outfit would have looked like on a child or petite woman. We have 507 pieces in this collection.

08/20/2026

This is a short 3-minute video with some highlights from Spelmansstämman on Saturday, August 15th at Gammelgården. This year's cultural focus was Sweden and Japan.

Many thanks to the volunteers, interns, and staff who helped make this year's festival a fun and memorable one for the 976 people in attendance; and to the funders and sponsors who made the event possible!

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Ensembles and artists at the 2026 Spelmansstämman include:

- ASI Spelmanslag
- ASI Lilla Lag
- Brian Wicklund (Sponsored by Levitt Family Foundation)
- Duo Mythos (COMPASTeaching Artists)
- Northstar Nordic Dancers
- Oliver Hunter
- Ponyfolk
- Renee Vaughan
- TaikoArts Midwest (COMPAS Teaching Artists)
- Vasa Junior Dancers, Linnea #14 Vasa Kornet #16

Hands-on activities for people of all ages included painting, claywork, trying on Japanese clothing, games, coloring, and calligraphy. A hearty thank you to Keiko Morikawa, the Japan Outreach Initiative (JOI) Coordinator at the UW-Stout Polytechnic, who coordinated the Japanese hands-on activities.

COMPAS Teaching Artist Chiaki O'Brien led hands-on sessions eaching people of all ages how to do Bengala soil dyeing and SAORI weaving.

19 vendors at the Artists, Crafters, and Vendors Fair sold a wide variety of items.

Meister's provided food for the event, along with several vendors who sold ice cream, lemonade, and popcorn.

Tour guides were stationed in each historical building and by the Pastor's House, which is undergoing a major multi-year restoration.

Many thanks to all the volunteers, as well as Washington County's Sentence to Service program, who provided hundreds of hours to prepare for, oversee, and clean up the event.

Thank you too to the generous supporters of Spelmansstämman this year:
- St. Croix Valley Foundation - Valley Arts Initiative
- Scandia Heritage Alliance (with support from the Levitt Family Foundation)
- Twin Cities Nyckelharpalag
- Scandia-Marine Lions
- Gammelgården Museum of Scandia donors