ATELIER GALLERY

The preserved end of the old cowshed served as Pullinen’s summer studio and later as a gallery space for temporary exhibitions.

Sculptures and artworks were not only displayed on the estate — Pullinen also worked at Nissbacka. In the end section of the former cowshed and cattle building, the artist established her own sculpting and working space. The studio later transformed into a summer gallery, and today, in addition to the preserved worktable, the space houses the museum’s changing exhibitions. Thus, the building carries the name Atelier Gallery.

Modelled after the Empire‑style cattle barn of Wiurila Manor in Halikko, Nissbacka’s U‑shaped stone cowshed burned down in 1932, but it was rebuilt in brick following the old layout. The building was notably large and impressive, complete with Doric porticos at its entrances. In 1974 the City of Vantaa ordered the cowshed to be demolished, as its roof had collapsed in the early 1970s. Most of the structure was torn down, and only one end could be saved. The surviving end continued to serve as living quarters for the estate’s workers and animal caretakers.

After settling at Nissbacka, Pullinen carried out renovations in 1986 to better adapt the building for studio use. The extensively remodeled eastern end of the former stable‑and‑cowshed complex was redesigned by Pullinen to suit her needs. The ground floor contains a sculpting studio with eight metres of vertical space from floor to ceiling, where Pullinen worked on plaster models for her sculptures. Upstairs is a drawing studio flooded with sunlight through large windows that Pullinen purchased from the demolition site of a 19th‑century building on Sörnäisten rantatie in Helsinki. Pullinen also shaped draped, relief‑like patterns on the surfaces of the studio’s Doric‑style columns during restoration work, integrating her own artistic language into the architecture. Since 2005, Pullinen’s summer studio has served as a venue for rotating exhibitions. During the last years of her life, Pullinen devoted summers to stone carving, which allowed the summer studio to be fully used as an exhibition space.

Today, the space’s original use as living quarters for animal caretakers is visible in the old brick oven, whose chimney rises through the tall room. Traces from the sculpting years remain in the dents and scratches on the floorboards and in the splashes of various materials used in the sculpting process. The studio displays Pullinen’s tools as well as numerous sculptural sketches and moulds in different stages of completion. Enlarged photographs show Pullinen working in this very space. The Atelier Gallery also houses Kupari‑Nike (1967), the only large copper explosion‑relief created for the 1967 Montreal World Exhibition that remains in the ownership of the Laila Pullinen Foundation.

The Atelier Gallery continues to host an annual rotating exhibition highlighting works by Pullinen that are not part of the museum’s permanent display. Depending on the theme, works by other artists are also included in the exhibitions.