Visual Art Activities
Jari Jula, Lallukan Pöydissä
The ongoing development of a contemporary art collection at the Rovaniemi Art Museum forms the core of the foundation’s visual art activities. We also support the field of visual arts through residency programmes, events, and various projects.
See also:
Art Collection
Temppelikatu Artist Studio
Visiting Artists in Rovaniemi
Partner Museum Programme
The visual arts activities of the Jenny and Antti Wihuri Foundation began in 1957, when the foundation decided to support the visual arts not through grants, but by acquiring artworks. Today, the collection donated by the Jenny and Antti Wihuri Foundation to the Rovaniemi Art Museum is one of the most significant contemporary art collections in Finland, comprising nearly 4 000 works: paintings, sculptures, prints, photographs, installations, and videos.
Each year, the Wihuri Foundation continues to enrich the collection with new works and engages in broad and long-term collaboration with the City of Rovaniemi and the University of Lapland, building on the collection as a foundation.
We also actively develop new ways to support the visual arts field. The foundation maintains two residency programmes for visual artists and runs the “kummimuseo” initiative, which enables small and mid-sized Finnish modern art museums to carry out ambitious contemporary art projects. In cooperation with the Finnish National Gallery, we organize the annual Wihuri Day, aimed at lowering the threshold for museum visits.
What we do in the Field of Visual Arts
The Visual Arts Committee
The Visual Arts Committee acquires artworks for the Jenny and Antti Wihuri Foundation Collection and proposes artist selections for the foundation’s residency programmes. The committee also develops new forms of activities in the field of visual arts for the foundation.
The foundation’s art collection clearly reflects the influence of the committee’s rotating expert members. Traditionally, the expert duo—typically consisting of an art historian and a visual artist—holds considerable independence in determining what kind of art is acquired for the collection, within the budget set by the foundation’s board. Currently, the expert members are visual artist Marja Kanervo and Doctor of Philosophy Patrik Nyberg.
In addition to them, the Visual Arts Committee includes economist Harri Tilli as chair, docent Leena Svinhufvud, and the foundation’s executive director Arto Mäenmaa.