Minneapolis’ Norway House completed a $19.5 million expansion last year. The renovations give the center—which is dedicated to connecting Americans with contemporary Norway through arts, business, and culture—a 225-seat event center and floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking Franklin Avenue. In addition, it is home to a 16-foot mirrored-steel pinecone sculpture by Norwegian artist Finn Eirik Modahl. The pinecone rises from the courtyard in front of Norway House.
“It’s a very nice and warm place,” says Christina Carleton, executive director of Norway House. “It’s a very nice and warm place,” says Christina Carleton, executive director of Norway House. “Now that we have a larger venue, we can host more people.”
St. Paul-based Norwegian-American architect Dewey Thorbeck designed the expansion. The largest event space is 3,400 square feet and can accommodate 225 seated and 300 for cocktail receptions. Norway House shares a building with the Norwegian Honorary Consulate General and the Norwegian American—the only Norwegian-language newspaper in the United States—and is on the same block as the Lutheran Norwegian Memorial Church, which has services in Norwegian every Sunday at 11 a.m. Queen Sonja of Norway attended the center’s grand open- ing in October.
