Sons of Norway Valdres Lodge to Feature Vesterheim Chief Curator

Keep local news local. Support Decorah News. DECORAH — The Sons of Norway Valdres Lodge meeting on Tuesday, Sept. 15, will feature evening speaker Laurann Gilbertson. Her topic will be "Gifts from Norway." Some of Vesterheim Norwegian-American Museum's most spectacular examples of folk art were sent as gifts in the 1920s and 1930s from Norwegian museums. "May these objects work so that the Norwegianness in you will not die too soon, and the connection with the homeland will because of this be tighter," the museums wrote. Gilbertson will discuss the generous gift of more than 400 artifacts and the evolution of the collection from a small campus museum at Luther College to the most comprehensive immigrant and ethnic museum in the United States. Gilbertson holds a bachelor's degree in anthropology and a master's degree in textiles and clothing, both from Iowa State University. She was textile curator at Vesterheim Norwegian-American Museum in Decorah for 19 years and is now chief curator. Her duties include overseeing a collection of more than 30,000 artifacts, creating exhibitions and leading textile study tours to Norway. Her presentation begins at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 15, at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, 701 Iowa Ave., in Decorah. The event will be preceded by a lodge meeting at 7 p.m. The public is invited to attend, and attendees do not need to be of Norwegian ancestry. Refreshments will be served following the presentation. All are welcome. Start your day with what's happening locally. Sign up for our free newsletter.