Recently at the Museum
Nikki O'Neill ConcertIn early May Nikki O’Neill and her band performed at the Museum. Nikki’s soul, rhythm and blues style have earned her a cover story in Guitar Player magazine. Nikki is a contributing writer for Guitar Player Magazine and The Chicago Tribune. She teaches guitar and songwriting at Chicago’s Old Town School of Folk Music. Nikki’s Chicago-based band includes Chris Corsale (lead/rhythm guitar, backing vocals), Teddy Myers (keyboards), Chris Stanford (bass, backing vocals), and Rich Lackowski (drums, backing vocals).
Annual Meeting
In April Museum members and staff met to reflect 2023 and discuss plans for the future. We proudly welcomed Melinda Nygren Pierce to the Board of Directors. We also had a special visit from John Ahlström who spoke to us about Södra Vätterbygdens folkhögskola, a community-oriented school in Jönköping, Sweden for students with a variety of career interests. After our discussions, we celebrated with fika in our Café, which is now open for business!
Volunteer Appreciation Dinner
Also in April, we gathered to celebrate and honor our incredible Museum volunteers. We enjoyed dinner and music from the Merula Choir, and recognized the hard work our volunteers do in so many ways. We also awarded our Volunteer of the Year for 2023, Vivi-Anne Erikson! Vivi-Anne brings a contagious positive energy to the Museum and she has made visits extra special for all of the guests she encounters. She puts her full energy and heart into her contributions here and we are extremely grateful for all she has done. Congratulations Vivi-Anne!
ABOVE: 2023 Volunteer of the Year Vivi-Anne Erikson with Layne Borden, Community Engagement Manager (left) and Karin Moen Abercrombie, Executive Director (right)
Exhibit Opening: Lay Of(f) the Land - Nordic Narratives by the Art Alliance of the Arctic South
On Friday, April 5, we were privileged to be joined by the artists from the Art Alliance of the Arctic South (A-A-A-S) for the opening of their exhibit.
Exciting Member News
Allen Wheatcroft has a wonderfully unique perspective in that he has divided his time between Andersonville and Sörmland, Sweden for the past several years. His son and his son's family live in Sweden, so he have a strong connection with the country and culture.
Allen is an experienced photographer and he has two new photography books on press — one on Sweden (Björkevägen/Birch Road) and one on Chicago (The Northside) — which will be released at AIPAD, which is Apr. 25 -28 in New York City. He has been invited to sign books at the Workshop Arts booth there.
From Björkevägen:
From The Northside:
