On Tuesday, September 18th we visited the American Swedish Institute and the Turnblad Mansion that is associated with it. How did we decide on these attractions? They were my suggestions arising from a roundabout set of events. About one month before we left for Minneapolis I attended a preview party hosted by my local quilt shop. A preview party is an evening where quilting instructors present samples of quilts, wall hangings, pillows, tote bags and other sewing projects as visual aids to talk about classes for the upcoming quarter – to the accompaniment of lots of goodies like cookies, cakes, fruits, candy, and wine. At this meeting I saw a woman wearing an outfit that I thought was extremely attractive and I asked her where she shopped. "Oh I got this online but I do not remember the website. But here. Take a picture of the label in my top and maybe you can find it. This designer loves color."
Making our way toward the entrance...
... we filed past this tall figure in quite striking garb.
The exhibit room nearest the entrance paid homage to color with bins of fabric "paint" and giant sized "paintbrushes" poised over them.
I enjoyed being immersed in the riotous rainbow.
The mannequins were artfully garbed and I could not help but chuckle at their hairdos, made of creatively arranged paintbrushes. This red head had a side-swept style.
Haven't you seen at least one blonde with at up-swept butch cut style hairdo?
The color drips then continued throughout and I took my traditional picture of all our feet around some of the paint splotches that were splattered on the floor. Whoops, one of us is missing but this time it was not me. My shoes are on the far right, followed clockwise by John, Margaret, Joe, and Sue.
The missing feet are from Frank, off down a hallway, straddling two paint splotches of his own.
A Swedish-decorated mechanical horse is off to one side in the hallway.
The trail of splotches led off to an elevator route to a second floor.
It is not obvious while within the American Swedish Institute, but the modern, sleek-lined museum building is connected to an elaborate French Chateauesque style mansion, the Turnblad Mansion. This juxtaposition is more obvious from the street view. The American Swedish Institute is on the left and the Turnblad Mansion is in the central distance.
The elevator opened up to let its occupants out into a set of rooms within the Turnblad Mansion. Some of these rooms did double duty to continue to display the exhibit of Gudrun Sjoden in such a manner that the transition from museum to mansion was seamless. The crown molding and arched ceiling with elaborate wood detailing reveals that this is a repurposed room from the mansion.
The knitwear and pillows laid out in one of the rooms reflect the Swedish influence of the region.
But what exactly is the Turnblad Masion? A Turnblad Mansion slide show, with photos far better than mine can be found at https://www.asimn.org/historic-turnblad-mansion. Per that site
Newspaperman Swan Turnblad, owner and publisher of Svenska Amerikanska Posten, the largest Swedish language newspaper in the U.S., did what many affluent people did at the turn of the century. He built an imposing residence, which would later come to be known as the Turnblad Mansion or "Castle." It was a way to impress the community and display his wealth.
The mansion took up six lots and Swan Turnblad, his wife Christina, and his daughter Lillian lived there from 1908-1929. The family's frequent trips to Europe inspired the style of the house. The kitchen had elaborate penny tile floors. Here is a kitchen range. Even though wealthy it is reputed that Christina did all her own cooking for their family of three, being dissatisfied with the culinary skills of any of the servants.
Even utilitarian radiators for heat were ornate.
I asked why there was a sink on the floor. It was a mop sink for when the floors were wiped down. More of the floor is visible in this photo.
The Turnblad Mansion houses eleven kakelugnar, or Swedish porcelain tile stoves. Hand-selected and imported by the Turnblads, each stove is different and matches the décor of the room in which it’s located. This is one of them I found particularly pretty and not too garish.
In the dining room, the side banquets were intricately carved. On the table is sample of Gudrun Sjoden's fabric designs, another example of the museum exhibit intertwined with the castle architecture and decor.
Here is some more fabric yardage spread out for display as table covering. It is surprising how the modern patterns can seem at home in the early 1900's rooms.
A sunny sitting room with windows on three sides sports more of the Swedish design textiles.
A set of ceramic ware sits on a small round table on a colorful modern hooked rug. I enjoyed seeing all the patterns and hues but could not help but wonder how this area would have been presented had the Gudrun Sjoden exhibit not been there. It must have been pretty bare and plain.
A huge stained glass window of French origin is at the head of a stairway leading from the great hall.
We had lunch at FIKA within the American Swedish Institute. FIKA is an award-winning café focused on Nordic-inspired cuisine, created with regional ingredients. I had Swedish meatballs at FIKA, which are an iconic Twin Cities' dish.
After lunch we checked out the lower levels of the museum which are mainly meeting rooms and classrooms. But their informal staff eating area was also cheerfully designed and fun to investigate.
Even the entry door had folk art style painting on it.
Before heading home our group cheerfully agreed to stop for me at a nearby quilt store called Glad Creations Quilts. My visit there and purchases can be found in my other blog, DianeLoves2Quilt, at my post dated September 27, 2018. Once back at home base in the evening, we stayed in to enjoy a spaghetti dinner. Then we started to intently assemble a 1000 piece jigsaw puzzle. I must admit though, that the chandelier suspended above the table cast an array of round shadows from the crystal spheres that added a level of challenge to fitting together the puzzle pieces on that spotted surface. I guess it was to be a "day of dots" – from floor paint splotches beneath our feet to table top global globs grazing our fingertips.
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