Five grey, drab and modest transformer sheds in the five Vesterålen municipalities have been transformed into powerful works of art. The project was initiated by Vesterålen Cultural Committee in collaboration with, and jointly financed by Andøy Energi, Hålogaland Kraft, Trollfjord Kraft, Vesterålskraft Nett, the municipalities of Andøy, Bø, Hadsel, Sortland and Øksnes, as well as Nordland County Administration.

Transformer art is a part of Vesterålen Cultural Committee’s cultural lift from 2000 to 2010 and builds on the ideas from the millennium observances. But why transformer art? Art supervisor Ingrid Larssen explains:

– We have previously completed something similar through the RÆK project in collaboration with the art school in Andenes. The transformer art was very well received here, and we wanted to extend the project. The transformer sheds practically screamed out for artistic decoration; they were solid cubes waiting for an artist’s touch.

Five artists closely associated with Vesterålen were each commissioned to complete the projects (places in parenthesis): Siri Tollefsen (Risøyhamn, Andøy), Terese Riis (Vinjesjøen in Bø), Myriam Borst (Stokmarknes in Hadsel), Heidi Nygård (Sortland city centre – this project was taken down due to a building project) and Karel Kotz (Myre in Øksnes).