Oulu Art Museum has two main collections, the Oulu Art Museum Collection and the Oulu City Collection, and ten individual sub-collections. Today, the collections hold nearly 4,900 artworks.
The Oulu Art Museum Collection focuses on works by artists who are or have been active in Oulu and the North Ostrobothnia region. The collection also includes many examples of domestic art, mainly from the 1900s to the 2000s, with a special focus on contemporary art.
Special themes of the collection are self-portraits, the North dimension and naïve art, the accumulation of which began with a donation from the Heinänen Art Foundation in 1987. Acquisitions to the collections are also determined by research and exhibition needs.
The Oulu City Collection brings art into people’s everyday lives, workplaces and public spaces. The constantly growing collection includes nearly 1,800 works of art, which the museum displays in the city’s offices, libraries, schools and kindergartens.
Public outdoor works, sculptures in public areas and commissioned works acquired on the percentage funding basis for semi-public or public indoor and outdoor display are also part of the city’s collection. Commissioned works are procured through in-depth understanding of current regional and national contemporary art.
