New public artworks in Vartiokylä and Oulunkylä bring joy and inspiration to children 

Curated by HAM Helsinki Art Museum and financed by the Percent for Art principle, two new public artworks have been installed in Helsinki’s educational institutions. Annu Vertanen has created the work An Expedition to the Worlds for Daycare Vaapukka in Vartiokylä, and Arja Kärkkäinen has made an artwork titled Moon Bearer for Oulunkylä Primary School.

Annu Vertanen: An Expedition to the Worlds, 2023

Annu Vertanen’s An Expedition to the Worlds combines various scales and takes space and the universe as its topic. Enamel-coated steel circles are arranged in clusters across the walls of Daycare Vaapukka’s gym. Some of the circles include photographs, as well as motifs from Vertanen’s woodcuts. Additionally, the body of work includes two prints in the staff rooms. 

Vertanen has wanted to create space for wandering in and wondering at nature and natural sciences. The work’s imagery combines plant and cell structures, the moon and space, and colours and geometric formulas from old science books. It makes visible the geometric regularity found in cells, moss growth, and planetary orbits. The circular forms that repeat in the work are echoed in the gym floor’s lines, the lamps in the ceiling, and the day-care centre’s other halls. A-Konsultit Architects designed the new day-care centre building in Vartiokylä.

Professor and visual artist Annu Vertanen (b. 1960) is recognised as an important and versatile contributor to the development and expansion of the expression of printmaking. She was awarded the State Prize for Visual Arts in 2014. Vertanen has had a long career in teaching, and she’s taught at the Royal Institute of Art in Stockholm, the University of Virginia and the University of Wyoming in the United States, and the Aalto University in Helsinki. She currently teaches at the Academy of Fine Arts in Helsinki.

Arja Kärkkäinen: Moon Bearer, 2024 

Arja Kärkkäinen’s two-part artwork Moon Bearer dominates the hall of the Oulunkylä Primary School’s extension. Next to the large wall tapestry is a painted inset resembling the moon. The title refers to the moon’s mysterious and romantic unattainability. 

The tapestry is a playful blend of light and shadow. In it, an arched figure is carrying moonlight under its arm. Instead of a beam of light, the moon casts a shadow on the ground, and conversely, the arched figure’s pale shadow can be seen as light. The gently surrealistic work draws its main inspiration from Italian painter Giorgio de Chirico’s (1888–1978) paintings. The tapestry was created using the jacquard technique. Kärkkäinen’s drawing, originally sketched in coloured pencils, was transformed into an interplay of threads in the tapestry. From a distance, the colours blend into new colours and a shimmering surface.

Arja Kärkkäinen (b. 1986) lives in Helsinki and works in Mustio. She graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts Helsinki with an MA in Fine Arts and as a Specialist in Public Art, as well as from the Lahti Institute of Design as a fashion designer. Kärkkäinen works primarily with sculpture, but multidisciplinary art and a wide range of techniques are an essential part of her work. In her art, Kärkkäinen explores social themes such as involvement and unspoken agreements within society and between people.

The works were financed in accordance with Helsinki’s Percent for Art principle: A part of the city’s budget for construction and renovation projects is set aside for new public artworks. HAM Helsinki Art Museum acts as an art expert in these projects, and the works are added to the City of Helsinki’s art collection, managed and curated by HAM. The collection already includes more than 200 works implemented through the Percent for Art principle.