Art and Campus

Art has a central place in society and at the University of Vaasa. Research has shown that art enhances people's well-being. It broadens perspectives and increases interaction. Through art, we can utilize creative approaches in research, development, and education. The University of Vaasa also aims to promote cultural heritage and strengthen the ecosystem of arts and science around us.

Found in Translation

• Opening event on 14 August 6:00pm-8:00pm, the artist will be present to engage with visitors
• Exhibition Duration from 14 August to 30 August, 2025
• Venue: Tritonia, Wolffintie 34, Vaasa

In this series, Australian visual artist Katey O’Sullivan presents a personal collection of visual impressions formed during her time as artist-in-residence at the University of Vaasa. Drawing from conversations with members of the university community, O’Sullivan sensitively translates written fragments and impressions, and responds to the nuances of place. Through the use of repurposed fabrics, inherited thread, and found materials, the work captures the gentle interplay between memory and environment, the permanent and the ephemeral.

A handmade artist’s book, photographs, textiles, and works on paper and board, coalesce into a tactile translation of memory, landscapes, and the beauty embedded in the everyday. Part observation, part reflection, these works explore how stories are shaped not only by what is said, but by how things feel. The result is a visual diary of time spent in the Ostrobothnia region: capturing not the grand or monumental, but the quiet shifts of nature, and small wonders found. 

In 2024, Pekka Lind, a lawyer and art collector from Vaasa, donated a culturally and historically significant art collection to the University of Vaasa. The collection comprises 105 works by Finnish artists, including 20 sculptures and the rest watercolors and oil paintings.

The oldest pieces in the donated collection date back to the early 20th century, such as sculptures by Ville Vallgren and Jussi Mäntynen. The main focus is on art from the 1950s to the 2000s. The works have been placed in the university's public spaces, meeting rooms, offices, and classrooms.

The collection includes works by several artists from Vaasa, such as pieces by Nandor Mikola and Fritz Jakobsson. The University Foundation and the Arts Committee wanted to honor the donation and the life's work of these two artists by producing artist videos. These can be viewed on the university's YouTube channel or by reading the press releases about the videos.

The university also has other acquired artworks, such as tapestries by textile artist Kaarina Heikinheimo from Vaasa, which are prominently displayed in the Ankkuri's Oskar café.

The university's library building serves as a space for changing exhibitions by university staff and students.

The University of Vaasa has established a space for rotating exhibitions in the Tritonia library building. There has been a need for this for quite some time.

Two floors of Tritonia have wall space reserved with picture rails and wires for hanging artworks. The picture rails can accommodate approximately 10 medium-sized paintings (e.g., 70 x 50 cm).

There can be 1-3 exhibitions per academic semester. Rotating exhibitions are not organized during the summer season.

The space for rotating exhibitions is primarily intended for the university's own projects that combine science and art, but Tritonia can also host exhibitions from outside the university.

How to Apply for Space

The exhibition space is primarily intended for the university's own staff and partners, but others can also apply for exhibition space. If you are interested in the space, please send a free-form application to [poistettu sähköpostiosoite].

The space is free for everyone. Exhibitions are often linked to the university's teaching and research. If you are a student, discuss with your supervisor what constitutes a good application for obtaining the space. Applications are evaluated by the university's Art Committee. It is important to be proactive, as only a few exhibitions can be accommodated per semester.

The Rotating Exhibition Process

The exhibitor is responsible for the planning and setup of the exhibition. As a responsible actor, the University of Vaasa is responsible for insuring the works in the rotating exhibitions.

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The University of Vaasa is located in several buildings on the beautiful seaside campus of Palosaari.

The area offers an exciting blend of old and new.

Old

The cotton factory, built in 1857, represents neo-Gothic style with its towers and unplastered brick surfaces. The buildings once housed, among other things, the cotton factory’s spinning mill, now known as Fabriikki, which currently hosts a joint startup center for universities. Technobotnia, on the other hand, is a modern research and teaching laboratory for technology.

The cotton factory’s office building was renovated in 2007 based on architect Gunilla Lång-Kivilinna’s design. The building was originally completed in 1924 and now houses the university’s Executive Education.

The old section also includes the so-called cotton houses, which accommodate both university activities and student housing.

In front of the office building stands a bust of August Alexander Levón (1820–1875), the founder of Vaasa Cotton Manufactory Ltd. The statue (designer unknown?) was unveiled during the 100th anniversary celebrations of Vaasa Cotton Ltd in 1956. An identical bust is also located in the park near Vaasa City Hall. Both models were cast in 1949.

New

The University of Vaasa campus combines both European and Anglo-Saxon architectural styles. The university and its courtyard form a cohesive unit, continuing the Ostrobothnian tradition of enclosed courtyards.

The new buildings Tervahovi and Luotsi (currently the library) were completed in 1994. Architects Simo and Käpy Paavilainen designed them in the spirit of former provincial architect Axel Setterberg’s 1860s style, a period during which Vaasa’s most important public buildings were constructed. The Tritonia building houses the joint academic library of the University of Vaasa, Vaasa University of Applied Sciences, and Yrkeshögskolan Novia, as well as the university’s exhibition space.

The marble gate of Tervahovi serves as the university’s main entrance. This location once served as a storage and inspection site for tar, a vital industry in Finland since the 1600s, especially in coastal towns of Ostrobothnia.

The tar warehouse in Palosaari was later converted into a yarn storage facility for the old cotton factory, which was dramatically destroyed by fire in 1973. At that time, there was intense debate in the city about the location of the then Vaasa College. The university was eventually built on the site of the destroyed yarn warehouse.

The Tritonia building was completed in 2001 and received a new name in 2022 during renovation works. The extensive renovations of Tervahovi, Ankkuri, and Tritonia were carried out by the architectural firm K2S.

The university campus also includes the EnergyLab building located near the bridge.

Future events

Coinciding with Butterfly: glo-cal effects of data, energy and industryand opening on the Vaasa Night of the Arts  (Thursday, August 13-August 31st, 2025) Katey O'Sullivan, former artist-in-residence of the University of Vaasa, will be presenting her work at the Tritonia Art Space. Her work concentrates on the experiences she gained at Uwasa from March to May, 2025. Katey O’Sullivan is an Australian artist,  who captures the lasting impressions of time in the Vaasa and Ostrabothnia region. She will be expanding on the ‘handwritten words’ collected during conversations with members of the university community.

Continuing a practice that focusses on themes of nature and storytelling, O’Sullivan brings her visitor’s eye to show a us fresh perspective and remind us of the beauty that can be found in the everyday.  Using repurposed fabrics, inherited thread and found objects, her commitment to sustainable practice lends a personal and nostalgic aura to her works. The series consists of a handmade artist book, photographs, works on paper, and textiles. 

Butterfly: glo-cal effects of data, energy and industry is an international new media and performance exhibition that will take place at the Wasa Innovation Center August 11-31st, 2025 as a part of the Wasa Future Festival August 11-16, 2025.

The university plays a significant role in the annual Wasa Future Festival in Vaasa. This year, we are stepping into a completely new area of art and culture. A large-scale multinational art experience, combining art and technology, is planned in connection with the WFF.

The project will progress throughout the spring, and we will get to see what it is about.

The WIC Science Center published a video in January 2025, which provides a glimpse of more information here.

Past events

"The Female Urge to Identify as a Garden," an immersive post-garden installation by fiber artist Jenni Österlund:

• Opening event on 7 April from 16:00–18:00, with the artist present to engage with visitors
• Exhibition Duration from 8 April until 30 May
• Venue: Tritonia, Wolffintie 34, Vaasa

Österlund’s work deconstructs the traditional concept of the garden, presenting it as a metaphorical landscape woven from paper and textile. The work explores the garden as a historically feminine space—one of self-exploration and freedom, but also of imposed limitations and bodily oppression. By peeling back its layers, the garden emerges as a lens through which we can reimagine self-identification, autonomy, and cultural narratives.

Previously exhibited at Arte Mare in Vaasa and Galleria Loisti in Helsinki (2024), and featured in Suboart Magazine (Portugal), this work continues to resonate across international platforms.

About the Artist

Jenni Österlund is a fiber artist, performer, cultural producer, and DJ based in Vaasa. A graduate of Novia University of Applied Sciences in Jakobstad (2021), her work occupies the space between decorative and conceptual art, delving into themes of rurality, material hierarchies, feminist theory, and nature as a cultural construct. She intentionally works with soft, domesticated materials such as textiles, paper, and plant fibers—challenging the dominance of functional, masculine materials in contemporary art.

Her artistic journey has taken her across Finland, France, Italy, Sardinia, and Norway, where she has exhibited, performed, and curated festivals, exhibitions, and club events with a focus on high-quality cultural production in small-town settings.

For inquiries and further information:

Instagram: @jennlinneaosterlund
Email: osterlundjenni@gmail.com

Place in the Gaze 

PAINTINGS BY ELINA MELGIN

We view art from our own perspective. In the same way as a painting, we watch a movie or read a novel: relying on our own world of experience.

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My exhibition Place in the Gaze contemplates what our boundaries are, what we attach ourselves to. Why do we define our experience in a certain way, why do we fixate on a particular detail or atmosphere? When we talk about art, we often talk about ourselves. In my opinion, art is born in the interaction between the work and the viewer.

I am a Professor of Practice at the University of Vaasa, a communications professional, Doctor of Philosophy, non-fiction writer, researcher, advisor... in other words, a wearer of many hats. I am also a painter. I started displaying my works publicly six years ago. When I paint, I enter an area that I often cannot put into words, even though I am a communication professional. I forget my surroundings – I reach for some kind of illusion of freedom. I paint with acrylic, pigment, and oil paints. I also make monotypes. I sometimes paint on my hiking trips, especially to France, where I regularly make painting trips, because that is where I received my art education related to materials and techniques in a master-apprentice format in the early 2000s.

Landscape is a theme that lives in the times of painting and is important to me. I have painted the "Wanderer's Horizon" series for years, some examples of which are now on display at my exhibition at the University of Vaasa. I had the honor of opening the brand-new Tritonia's changing exhibition space and encouraging everyone else, university staff, students, and others, to use the space for various artistic expressions and to discuss different themes with the audience. It goes without saying that sea and mountain landscapes are multifaceted landscapes of the mind. My landscapes strongly reflect references to European art and cultural history.

Colour acts as a code and an opener of interpretation in my landscapes. My works are sometimes simplified, almost monochromatic and impressionistically representational, sometimes almost completely abstract, holistic atmospheres. Alongside color fields such as sky, earth, and clouds, trees sometimes play the main role in the landscape. I don't point fingers, but for example, the code of the color red contains not only power and energy but also the question of whether we perceive nature in need of protection more sensitively if the trees are red?

Alongside horizons, I paint a kind of fairy tale images. They can be experiences from childhood, but also stories, read or heard, that somehow stop us. The exhibition includes, among other things, "Federico and his hunting falcon." This Decameron story, which I read as a schoolchild, has never been forgotten. We are products of our culture. It would be a great honor to touch something universal with my paintings.

Nandor Mikola

Fritz Jakobsson

WIC Science Center ArtCULTURE 3.0 haastattelu apulaisprofessori Rebekah Rousi ja työelämäprofessori Elina Melgin

The ARTCulture Project @ Wasa Future Festival 2025 - creating a New Experience