Collections
Collections are at the heart of museum work. The Rauma City Museums preserve the cultural history and art of the region. The gems of the collections are the local plucked lace and Eino Valtonen’s collection of Golden Age art.
The collections of Rauma museum
The collection and information services of the Rauma museum will be closed during the basic exhibition project until 30.3.2026.
The collections of the Rauma museum consist of artefacts, photographs and archives. The museum collections tell the story of life in Rauma and its surrounding areas.
The Rauma museum’s artefact collection contains more than 37,000 objects and its photographic collection more than 80,000 images, while the museum’s image collection also includes a large collection of slides and negatives. The archive consists of various documents and museum books. More than 40 000 items are catalogued in the archive.
The collections of the Rauma museum can be accessed via the Finna.fi search service run by the National Library of Finland.
Donating to Rauma Museum
The museum’s collections are mainly built up through donations. Donations are accepted on the basis of the museum’s collection policy. The museum does not accept all material offered to it. The decision to accept material depends on its suitability for the museum’s collection and the existence of similar material in the collections.
The museum is interested in all material related to its subject area. The material may be completely new. What matters is the story and the context of the material, not its age or appearance. When, where, why and who are our key questions.
If you would like to donate objects, photographs or archival material to the museum, please feel free to contact us!
Contact information
Art collections
The Rauma Art Museum is responsible for preserving and presenting the art of Rauma and the surrounding area. Another focus is on contemporary art from the Baltic Sea region and the Baltic countries. This stems from the long-running exhibitions of Baltic art at the Rauma Art Museum. The art collection comprises more than 3,500 works.
The collections of the Rauma Art Museum consist of the museum’s own collection, the collection of the Rauma Art Association, the collection of the City of Rauma, the collection of the Jalmari Karhula Fund and deposit collections. In addition, the Rauma Art Museum manages the archives of Rauma artists, associations and the art museum.
Donating to Rauma Art Museum
The collections of Rauma Art Museum are mainly built up through donations. If you are interested in donating a work to us, please contact our staff first. All collection donations and acquisitions are guided by the collection programme, and each work is carefully checked before it becomes part of the City of Rauma’s collections.
In addition to donations, we acquire works annually for the Karhula Fund Art Collection. The purpose of the Eevi and Jalmari Karhula Fund is to support the development of the Karhula Fund’s art collection of Rauma-related art, the activities of the Western Finland College and the Eurajoki Valley History Fund. Proposals are made approximately once a year. The fund is managed by the City of Rauma.