50
The Rackstad
Museum,
Arvika
– But this place is so much more than an
art museum, says the museum director Lena
Hellström. Come here and experience the
amazing park, the garden and the artists’
home, and enjoy a soup lunch and our
homemade cakes. The Rackstad Museum
wants to be a welcoming place for meetings,
experiences and growth.
The sense of well-being sneaks up on you
already on the short walk from the car park
to the glass door by the entrance. A sign asks
us not to let the cat in. It feels like we are
entering someone’s home.
During 2012, Lena Hellström has
gradually taken over the role as director
at the Rackstad Museum.
– We want to be a living room open
to everyone, she says. To the people in
Arvika, to the people in Värmland, all our
Norwegian visitors – well, to people from
all over the world.
The Rackstad Museum
has already
celebrated its 20th anniversary. It is run by
a non-profit association and is in large part
financed by sponsors. Some ninety members
work actively at the museum in twelve
groups with different areas of responsibi-
lities. There is a full-time director, as well
as a part-time museum assistant and three
other members of staff working part-time.
The structure is in line with the museum
director’s notion of how culture and art
will continue to live on and develop.
Their paintings draw out a
special light from the
darkness
Welcome to the world of the Rackstad artists,
characterised by that special light, the dusky environments
and the melancholy of the turn of the 20th century.
110 | naturally
