Swedish art clubs are non-profit organisations for promoting an interest in the visual arts and handcrafts.They also create opportunities for artists to exhibit their work and thereby become known to a wider public. The Swedish art club movement is the second largest voluntary nation-wide organisation – only choral societies exceed their number. The first public art club in Sweden was founded in 1832, Konstföreningen i Stockholm (The Stockholm Art Club), today called Sveriges Allmänna Konstförening – SAK, now open for members all over Sweden. The first art club at a workplace was started in 1940 at the CAP chocolate factory in Gothenburg. Sveriges Konstföreningar was founded in 1973 to form an umbrella organisation for the member art clubs in Sweden. Sveriges Konstföreningar has 900 member art clubs. 350 of these are public art clubs, open to anyone, and the others are to be found in workplaces, open only to the respective employees.

Sveriges Konstföreningar aims at developing a dynamic national educational visual arts programme. “The board of Sveriges Konstföreningar has taken on a challenge: to be Sweden’s leading institution for visual art education! To achieve this, both knowledge and insight are necessary. Knowledge is gained from the environment, for example from courses and seminars, insight grows within the individual. Art education – a process in two directions – is a tool with which we can see and understand our entire existence. Let us embark on this stimulating journey together!”