Photo: Tomisti · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Joensuun taidemuseo Onni

The art museum founded by the City of Joensuu in 1962, housed in a former lyceum in neo-Renaissance style; the museum is closed for renovation.

Temporarily closed

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Temporarily closed. The museum is closed because of the renovation of the museum building. The opening of the renewed museum will be announced during 2026.

About the museum

The history of the Joensuu Art Museum begins in 1961, when the Joensuu pharmacist and art collector Olavi Turtiainen bequeathed his art collection to the City of Joensuu. The bequest obliged the city to provide premises and staff for the works, and the decision to found the art museum was made in 1962. The collection exhibition opened to the public in early 1963 on Rantakatu in the former girls' lyceum. In addition to the Turtiainen collection, the foundation of the museum was made up of the Finnish art collection of Arla Cederberg and the international collections of Onni Okkonen.

The current museum building on Kirkkokatu dates from 1894. The neo-Renaissance building, designed by architect Theodor Decker, housed the Joensuu classical lyceum until 1974, and school use continued until 1977. The building was renovated for museum use because of its cultural-historical value, after the art museum had received the status of a regional art museum in the 1970s.

The museum's collections include more than 6,000 works, among them Chinese art, an icon collection, European church art and Finnish art from the 1850s to the present day. The museum is now closed because of the renovation of the building.