Gallery tour in Vrådal

Silversmith's Gallery

At Sølvsmedtunet, right next to Straand Hotel, a sales exhibition with works by Tor-Arne Moen will be held from July 7 to August 5.
Tor-Arne Moen is a painter and graphic artist educated at Bergen Art Academy and has had his studio in Notodden since 1992.
He is one of our innovative professional visual artists with his own expression.
The exhibition features graphics with nostalgia, emotion, exotic animals, people and motorized vehicles.
This is a not-to-be-missed exhibition that delightfully draws you into Tor-Arne's world.
The Silversmith's Tavern is open weekdays from 09:00 to 17:00 and Saturdays from 10:00 to 16:00
Contact person: Astrid Søftestad
Telephone: 97574076
www.solvsmedtunet.no

Gallery Lalla - Vrådal Tourist Office

The tourist office in the center of Vrådal, in cooperation with Kviteseid Municipality, runs a permanent gallery with art by Louis Moe.
Louis Moe was a Danish - Norwegian artist who had his summer paradise Vrådal.
He was born in Arendal in 1957, but became a Danish citizen in 1919. He was nevertheless strongly attached to Norwegian nature and had a permanent residence in Vrådal and his beloved Juvlandsæter in the years from 1895 until the Second World War.
The collection, which is on loan from Louis Moe's heirs in Copenhagen, consists of 60 etchings and prints, with motifs from mythology and fairy tales.
The Tourist Office and Gallery are open all year round on weekdays from 10:00 to 16:00 and Saturdays from 10:00 to 14:00

Gallery Samvirke

Galleri Samvirke is located in the old premises of Samvirkelaget at the end of Vrådal town center and is run on a voluntary basis by Vrådal and Fyresdal Målarklubb.
The gallery exhibits works by club members and specially invited guest exhibitors with local connections.
The Painting Club also manages and regularly exhibits Kviteseid municipality's collection of original illustrations and paintings by Solveig Muren Sanden (1918 - 2013), who was born and raised in Vrådal and lived most of her life here.
Here you can also buy the book "Segn og soger og gode historiar frå Vrådal" and there is an exhibition of illustrations from the book as well as paintings by members of the Vrådal and Fyresdal Painting Club.
Galleri Samvirke will hold a summer exhibition with Birger Bergland and the members of the Vrådal and Fyresdal painting club from August 11 to September 23, 2023
The exhibition opens on August 11 at 18:00 and is open Thursday-Saturday 11:00 to 16:00 through August 26 and Saturdays 11:00 to 16:00 through September 23 and otherwise when the sign is posted.
Contact person: Heidi Naper
Telephone: 901 28 183
Visiting address: Vråliosvegen 64, Vrådal
Facebook: Gallery Samvirke Vrådal

Solveig Muren Sanden - Smørbukk and Tuss and Troll

In the center of Vrådal, not far from Galleri Samvirke, you will find the statue of a fishing Smørbukk.
Solveig Muren Sanden was born in Vrådal in 1918 and grew up and lived most of her life here.
She was an avid supporter of Galleri Samvirke and an honorary member of Vrådal and Fyresdal Målarklubb.
Solveig Muren Sanden is best known as an illustrator and probably the first known Norwegian female cartoonist. She drew over 60 Smørbukk and Tuss og Troll between 1957 and 1981 and has written and illustrated a number of books. She was also an accomplished painter.
As a young girl, Solveig showed some of her drawings to the Norwegian-Danish painter and illustrator Louis Moe, who had a summer house at Juvlandsæter in Vrådal, and received good advice and good criticism from the famous artist.
She had her first drawing printed in Norsk Barneblad in 1932, at the age of 14, and studied painting and illustration at the National Academy of Fine Arts before and after World War II, with Henrik Sørensen as her teacher.
In 1973, she was the first recipient of the Ministry of Culture's Cartoon Prize, which she received together with scriptwriter and editor of Norsk Barneblad, Johannes Farestveit.
In 2004, she was awarded the Troll Prize at the Fairy Tale Festival in Heidal for her unique portrayal of Norwegian fairy tales with her characteristic line. The following year she received the Kviteseid municipality's cultural prize. Solveig Muren Sanden has also been awarded the King's Medal of Merit in silver.
The Vrådal and Fyresdal Painting Club also manages and regularly exhibits Kviteseid municipality's collection of original illustrations and paintings in Galleri Samvirke.

Gallery Sanden

Galleri Sanden at the south end of Vråvatn is a gallery combined with a farm shop where you can find art, handicrafts, local food, clothing, interior design and more.
On selected days, often Saturdays, sourdough bread is baked in a wood-fired oven, and in the summer months courses are held on how to use a wood-fired oven.
Rhubarb is also grown here and used to produce rhubarb juice.
The gallery is open most Saturdays from 11:00 to 15:oo and during peak seasons the opening hours are extended, this is regularly updated on social media.
Contact person: Gunn Marit Sanden
Telephone: 980 30 647
www.gunnmaritsanden.no
Gallery Sanden on Facebook

Kviteseid bygdetun and Kviteseid old church

Kviteseid bygdetun at the bottom of Kviteseidkleivene at the exit to Fjågesund is one of the oldest open-air museums in the country, and was established in 1907.
The collection displays 12 different buildings that have been moved here from various farms. Here you will find, among other things, the Tveitloftet from before the Black Death and Flekstveitstoga.
Kviteseid bygdetun will give an impression of what a prosperous farm looked like about 200 years ago.
In Utsondhalli, the sculptor Gunnar Utsond is presented, in addition to this year's exhibition about Flekstveit.
Bygdetunetunet is located right next to Kviteseid Old Church and Kviteseid Farm.

The old stone church, which is one of two medieval stone churches in West Telemark, was built around 1260 and is a main church dedicated to St. Olav.
The church still has its original entrance with a carved wooden arch above the door showing two dragons entwined in eternal combat and the ceiling is decorated in 20 panels by the famous painter Thomas Blix(ius) in 1714.
The church is surrounded by a particularly atmospheric little churchyard.
The town was for a long time an economic, political, religious and cultural center in West Telemark, strategically located where the road and the waterway cross.
Kviteseid bydetun is open from 11:00 to 17:00 in the period June 25 to July 15.
There are regular guided tours of the village yard and the old church at 12:00, 14:00 and 16:00 during this period.
There will also be an opening event on June 18 and Viking Day on July 1.
Contact us: West Telemark Museum
Telephone: 35069090
www.vtm.no