Umedalen Sculpture Park

Umedalen was a mental hospital until it closed at the end of the 1980s, and when the site was redeveloped for housing the park was kept and used for sculpture - a private initiative by the Balticgruppen developers and Galleri Andersson Sandstrom, running annual exhibitions since 1994. Around forty works are permanent, by Antony Gormley, Louise Bourgeois, Anish Kapoor, Jaume Plensa and others, spread through parkland and among the old hospital buildings, which are now flats and offices. It is free and open at all hours, since it is a residential park rather than an institution. New pieces are added with each summer exhibition.

The main sights

• About forty permanent works - Gormley, Bourgeois, Kapoor, Plensa.
• The grounds of a former hospital - buildings now flats and offices.
• A summer exhibition each year - adding to the collection.
• Free and open at all hours - no gate, no ticket.

When to go

May to September; snow buries much of it in winter. Two hours.

Practical notes

Signage is limited - a map helps. It is a residential area, so context is thin on the ground. Winter access is possible but the works are under snow. Umea is a long way north.

Nearby

Umea and Bildmuseet are east; the Bothnian coast is beyond.

Key facts