Mikkeli Art Museum

The Mikkeli Art Museum offers a wide range of expert services in the art field. The art museum researches, documents and presents visual arts.

Areas of focus at the art museum are exhibition activities, Southern Savonia’s fine art, managing and increasing the art collections held by the art museum, and presenting and collecting Finnish illustration art. The art museum operates as a regional museum of responsibility, which takes care of the regional art museum task in Southern Savonia. The museum has several changing art exhibitions every year. The art museum also functions as an interactive and experiential learning environment in various workshops and art education projects.

The art museum operated in the years 1970-2019, designed by the architect Armas Ranka in the so-called granite house from 1912. The granite house is located in the centre of Mikkeli, on the corner of Hallituskatu and Ristimäenkatu. The museum started operating in 1970 under the name Johannes Haapasalo Museum. In 1976, after the museum received Martti Airio’s art collection as a donation, the name was changed to Mikkeli Art Museum. It was appointed as the regional art museum of Etelä-Savo in 1981. On June 8, 2019, the art museum’s exhibition activities moved from the granite building to the sheltered premises on the second floor of the shopping centre Aksel. With the reform of the Museums Act, the Mikkeli Art Museum was appointed as a regional museum of responsibility from the beginning of 2020 in terms of the regional art museum mission. Responsible museums replace the previous regional art museums and provincial museums.

The Mikkeli Art Museum’s museum shop sells publications, exhibition catalogues, gift items, postcards, exhibition posters and stationery. The museum shop is open during museum opening hours, and admission is free.