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American Swedish Institute's Youth and Family Gallery is presented by IKEA. We thank them for their valuable support.

American Swedish Institute is a museum and cultural center with exhibitions and innovative programming, known for the distinctive Turnblad Mansion, the Nelson Cultural Center, ASI's Museum Store and FIKA Cafe.'
American Swedish Institute offers many advantages to members including free admission, discounts to events and reciprocal access to museums across the country. Members can join at various levels designed to fit your needs.
The American Swedish Institute, FIKA Cafe and the ASI Museum Store are temporarily closed and will reopen on February 6.
In Ulla the Baker and Ulla the Baker Goes Skiing, Anders Suneson’s cheerful, illustrated children’s books, families are transported to winter in Östersund, Sweden. Here we meet Ulla, who has her own bakery. She loves to make cinnamon buns and have adventures.
Ulla and the books, available in both Swedish and English, have come to life in the American Swedish Institute’s new Turnblad Mansion’s family exhibition and in our outdoor courtyard. Step into Ulla’s world through Suneson’s charming and original wooden sculptures that he carved onsite with a chainsaw to enhance the exhibition. See Ulla and her cinnamon buns, meet the dog, see the chicken and climb onboard a snowmobile that Suneson carved
Go up to the Mansion’s third floor and in the Family Gallery’s intergenerational, imaginative play environment, you can immerse yourself in Ulla’s world and experience her bakery.
What’s the story behind Ulla?
In Ulla the Baker, we first meet Ulla in her bakery. One day, Ulla wakes up and is exceptionally tired. She mixes the dough for her cinnamon buns and sets them in the oven, only to fall asleep while they are baking. Ulla wakes up to the smell of burnt cinnamon buns! But Ulla is quite resourceful and decides to have a sale – of hockey pucks which are actually the burnt cinnamon buns!
In Ulla the Baker Goes Skiing, we meet Ulla who is baking cinnamon buns to sell up at her café on the ski slopes. Ulla’s challenge is not the baking, but rather the transporting of the cinnamon buns up the ski slope. Ulla encounters ski moguls, hungry reindeer and parachute mishaps before she resourcefully solves the problem and succeeds in serving fika and cinnamon buns to hungry skiers!
What Can You Do in the Family Gallery?
What Can You Do Outside in the Courtyard?
How Can I find out more about the books?
Anders Suneson is an author, illustrator, and wood sculpture artist from Östersund, Sweden. Suneson uses his illustrations as to enhance maps, curriculum materials and cartoons for government and business clients. He has published more than 10 children’s books including Ulla the Baker and Ulla the Baker Goes Skiing. His imaginative wood sculptures can be found on the ski slopes of Åre, Sweden, Lilla-Skansen in Stockholm, Train Museum in Gävle, and in numerous children’s hospitals and pre-schools throughout Sweden. For more information and to view Anders work, visit Anders Suneson Tecknade Bilder.
Youth & Family Exhibit Program serves as a conduit for the intergenerational understanding and appreciation for Scandinavian folk art and cultural practices. Each year, ASI organizes a 600 square foot imaginative and immersive exhibit, often inspired by children's Swedish authors and storytellers. This program is designed to offer hands-on engagement with exhibition content designed to bridge experiences for ages 9 months to 99 years.
American Swedish Institute's Youth and Family Gallery is presented by IKEA. We thank them for their valuable support.