Capellagården's educational model

Capellagården – school for creative work. It has been 60 years since husband and wife Carl and Siv Malmsten finally found the place that had all the features their school needed. An old farmhouse in the Öland village of Vickleby where they could start their long-awaited handicraft school Capellagården.

Then as now, great importance was placed on the work of the hands, the diligence of the workshop, the calming environment of the garden, the kitchen and its vegetable gardens, living together with others, collaboration and working community. In this spirit, Capellagården has become a concept and a meeting place for people interested in craft and culture from all over the world.

"The hand - our extremely finely constructed instrument..." /Carl Malmsten
We see the hand as the tool for an intellectual and reflective process.

Capellagården's courses have in common that the educational work is based on one material - wood, ceramics, textiles and plant/growing material. The school's aim is to "provide knowledge and exchange experiences about the material's inherent properties." This means both carrying on a traditional way of working with the material at the same time as the student develops his own path.

It is also a reflective approach – understanding the process, and the experiential and artistic aspect. In most cases, the school's teachers also have a professional occupation in crafts, art or design. The school also offers a number of guest teachers who enrich and broaden the subject.

The craft involves a lot of time for practical work and an understanding of how important repetitive training is for one's own development. In addition to the practical work, there is a continuous discussion about the role of handicrafts in today's society - quality, functional, artistic and aesthetic aspects.

"To put hand and spirit in creative cooperation; to let the work be carried out by confidential cooperation between masters and apprentices, between school and village..” /Carl Malmsten

 


 

Place & community are two key words for Capellagården. The surrounding farm is a unique environment that provides conditions for community and togetherness. The design of this will be characterized by Malmsten's original idea.

The place Capellagården is part of the village of Vickleby in southern Öland. The school is an old genuine farmhouse, and its architecture and building construction have a special character. It is a so-called "surrounded farm", and the workshops are former barns for the farm's animals and granaries. This small scale invites important community and belonging.

The school is geographically located in one of UNESCO's world heritage sites - the World Heritage Site Southern Öland's Agricultural Landscape. This means that we have, in addition to a responsibility for our common environment, a special privilege to stay and work in a unique historical and living place.

At Capellagården, we help each other, in the department, between departments and in the accommodation. As a student, you help create this working community, e.g. to arrange exhibitions, make objects for the residences, participate in restoration on the school's repair days and look after the community.

As a student, you have great responsibility for your own education and for how you design your work. The school offers a high teacher density and an ongoing dialogue. Learning takes place to a large extent through doing and supervision.

The studies during the first year are mainly scheduled courses and reports, both in theory and practical work. Each main education has its own schedule, but there are also interdisciplinary elements and courses. The studies during the extension year(s) are arranged with more personal projects. You have greater responsibility and can also schedule internships.

"Let people from an early age carve, weave, paint, knead clay, build, play music, play theater, decorate youth centers and craft furniture for their school and for their own homes, release the whole chain of bound spirits, who want to go out and create it which pleases the soul and which is beautiful, useful, colourful, simple, earthy, practical - to everyone's taste and style." /Carl Malmstein

One of founder Carl Malmstens' most important pedagogical ideas with Capellagården was that every student should - in addition to acquiring skills in various crafts - also be allowed to "grow as a person". This is still today an important part of the work at Capellagården. In addition to working in the workshop, each individual must be given time and opportunity for personal development. As a student, you must be allowed to test, redo, change and evaluate – to reflect on the process – and thus develop as a person and practitioner of a craft.

 


What happened next?

Here, former students at Capellagården's courses talk about what happened then and thoughts about their time at Capella. Read more >

 


Study affiliation

The authority for the Vocational College is the supervisory authority for Capellagården's educations. Educations in Gardening, Furniture, Textiles and Ceramics are classified as Art and Culture educations.

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www.konstkulturutbildning.se

Study support

As a student at Capellagården and a Swedish citizen, you are entitled to government study support via CSN. You can also apply for additional cost loans from CSN for the semester fee. For distance learning (Trädgård 2), it is also possible to apply for additional cost loans for travel and accommodation. If you are unsure of how many semesters of study support you have used up, you must contact CSN for information. The study support is divided into different quotas for upper secondary and post-secondary studies.

Textil 1 – high school studies
Textile 2 – post-secondary studies
Furniture 1 – high school studies
Furniture 2-3 – post-secondary studies
Ceramics 1 – high school studies
Ceramics 2 – post-secondary studies
Gardening – post-secondary studies
Building care - high school studies
(Huvudman Öland's Folk High School)

www.csn.se

Scholarships

For other financing of the studies, there is the possibility to apply for scholarships and fund funds from your home municipality and from national grant and scholarship funds. Students at Capellagården have the opportunity to apply for a scholarship from, for example, the Siv and Carl Malmsten Memorial Foundation.

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carlmalmsten.se

Insurance

By being accepted to one of the school's courses, you will be insured against accidents. The insurance is valid during term time, at all times of the day and also during travel to or from school. The insurance applies to all students at Capellagården. It does not apply to visitors. If you live at the school, we recommend that you take out home insurance.