HEART HERNING MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ART

What HEART HERNING MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ART does

HEART - Herning Museum of Contemporary Art is a state-recognized, non-profit contemporary art museum located in Herning, Midtjylland, Denmark, founded in 1977 as Herning Kunstmuseum and renamed HEART upon the inauguration of its current Steven Holl-designed building in September 2009. The museum operates from a single landmark building containing two exhibition halls totaling approximately 1,700 square meters, housing the world's largest public collection of Piero Manzoni's works (43 pieces) alongside significant holdings of Paul Gadegaard and Zero movement artists. It runs a three-strand exhibition program (HEARThistory, HEARTfuture, HEARTdesign) and produces Denmark's oldest contemporary art biennial, the Socle du Monde Art Festival.

HEART generates revenue through a diversified set of streams including admission fees (DKK 85 adults, DKK 70 seniors/groups, free under-18), an annual HEART Club membership (DKK 400/year), guided group tours (DKK 650-850), on-site café and retail operations, corporate and private event hosting, educational programs for schools, and charitable donations and legacies. It supplements earned revenue with municipal funding from Herning Municipality and grants. The museum serves a broad customer base — general public, tourists, school groups (K-12), art enthusiasts/members, and art collectors — within Denmark, with reciprocal membership partnerships with Louisiana Museum of Modern Art and Trapholt Museum extending national reach.

Operationally, HEART is a small institution with approximately 18 employees organized across curatorial, communications, education, shop/reception, operations, and finance functions, led by Museumsdirektør Lise Pennington under a board chaired by Lars Damgaard. Distribution is centered on the physical site in the Birk Centerpark cultural cluster, with online ticketing for events and educational content for schools. The museum maintains a multi-channel marketing presence via website, email newsletters, social media (Facebook, Instagram), public events, and earned media.

Name

HEART HERNING MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ART

Legal name

HEART - Herning Museum of Contemporary Art

Website

https://heartmus.dk

Company type

Private

Founded year

1977

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

HEART is a state-recognized contemporary art museum in Herning, Denmark, housing the world's largest public Piero Manzoni collection. It serves the general public, tourists, schools, and art members through exhibitions, tours, a café, shop, and Denmark's oldest contemporary art biennial.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Contemporary Art Museum

NAICS

Museums (712110), Museums, Historical Sites, and Similar Institutions (712)

akta.pro industry

PRIMARYTHAJADAA

Art Museums

Travel & Hospitality/Tours, Attractions & Experiences/Museums, Galleries & Cultural Institutions

SECONDARYTHAHAAAG

Performing Arts & Cultural Event Venues (Theaters, Museums)

Travel & Hospitality/MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences & Exhibitions)/Conference & Convention Venues (Convention Centers, Civic Centers)

SECONDARYTHAJADAH

Art Galleries & Exhibition Spaces (Commercial & Nonprofit)

Travel & Hospitality/Tours, Attractions & Experiences/Museums, Galleries & Cultural Institutions

Keywords

• Contemporary art museum
• Art exhibitions
• Museum membership
• Guided art tours
• School art programs

Headquarters

HQ city

Herning

HQ country

Denmark

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Supply Chain, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure, Others

Revenue model

1. Museum Admission: Revenue from entrance fees charged to visitors. Adults DKK 85, groups DKK 70, free for children under 18.
2. HEART Club Membership: Annual membership program offering unlimited access for two persons, exclusive events, discounts. Normal price DKK 400/year, students/pensioners DKK 300/year.
3. HEART Shop: Retail sales of Danish design products, art books, exhibition catalogues, puzzles, posters, and contemporary crafts.
4. HEART Café: Food and beverage service including light meals, brunch on weekends, and event catering for private and corporate events.
5. Group Tours and Workshops: Revenue from pre-booked guided tours for groups. DKK 650 on weekdays, DKK 850 on weekends. Educational programs for school groups from outside Herning Municipality.
6. Donations and Legacies: The museum accepts charitable donations and legacy bequests, with a partnership with Dokument 24 for easy testament creation.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

HEART is a contemporary art museum that curates and presents rotating exhibitions of Danish and international contemporary art across two galleries totaling approximately 1,700 sqm, anchored by a permanent collection including the world's largest public holdings of Piero Manzoni works. The museum sells admissions, an annual membership (HEART Club), guided tours, school programs, café meals, retail merchandise, and venue rental for private and corporate events.

Product overview

HEART – Herning Museum of Contemporary Art operates as a single unified cultural institution. The core product is the museum itself, featuring rotating exhibitions and a permanent collection anchored in post-war European art (Zero movement, Italian concept art, and Danish Concrete art). The museum is supplemented by four integrated service lines: HEART Club (membership), HEART Café (foodservice), HEART Shop (retail), and a structured program of guided tours and educational activities. The institution also produces its own biennial event, the Socle du Monde Art Festival. HEART generates revenue through admission fees, memberships, café and retail sales, and event hosting.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• HEART Museum (exhibitions and permanent collection) Contemporary art museum featuring rotating exhibitions and a permanent collection of Danish and international art (including works by Piero Manzoni and the Zero movement), spread across two galleries totaling approximately 1,700 square meters. Visitors purchase timed admission to view current shows.
• HEART Club membership Annual membership program offering unlimited free admission for two persons, invitations to exhibition previews, exclusive curator-led tours, discounts on events and concerts, 10% off HEART Café and HEART Shop purchases, and reciprocal free/discounted admission to Louisiana and Trapholt museums. Normal price DKK 400/year, students and pensioners DKK 300/year.
• HEART Café Museum café located in the southwest corner of HEART, serving light meals, beverages, brunch on weekends, and event catering. Free Wi-Fi is available. Provides sit-down dining for visitors and supports private/corporate event catering.
• HEART Shop On-site museum retail shop selling Danish design products, art books, exhibition catalogues, puzzles, posters, children's books, and contemporary crafts. HEART Club members receive 10% off selected items and up to 50% off HEART's own exhibition catalogues.
• Guided Tours Pre-booked guided group tours covering current exhibitions, the museum's history ('Fra Angli til HEART'), and HEART's Steven Holl architecture. Each tour lasts 1 hour and is available in Danish and English (English-language supplement DKK 150). Weekday tours DKK 650, weekend DKK 850.
• Educational Programs for Schools School tours, workshop activities, teaching materials, theme weeks, and project collaborations aligned with Danish national curriculum standards, spanning from daycare through upper secondary education. Schools from outside Herning Municipality pay for the service.
• Summer Activities Program Seasonal family activities during summer holidays including art scavenger hunts, creative workshops, and outdoor experiences in the sculpture park, offered free of charge. Includes collaboration with Herning Municipality's Aktiv Ferie program for free creative workshops for children in grades 1-4.
• Events and Concerts Public events program featuring concerts, lectures, brunches, sing-along sessions, and art collector talks held throughout the year. Tickets sold online via Ticketmaster and Place2book.
• Socle du Monde Art Festival HEART's own contemporary art festival, originally founded as a biennial in 2002 and renamed to Art Festival in 2024. Dedicated to contemporary art and rooted in the legacy of Aage Damgaard's artist-in-residence program.
• Combined Ticket (HEART and CHPEA) Joint admission ticket offering access to both HEART and CHPEA Museum at a discounted combined rate of DKK 145 (full) or DKK 120 (reduced). Not available during exhibition changeover periods.
• Corporate and Private Event Hosting Venue rental at HEART Café for celebrations, conferences, and meetings, with catering and event planning support provided by the museum's Salg & Reception department and Business Coordinator.

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Louisiana Museum of Modern ArtcoreGTM or Marketing PartnerHEART Club members receive free admission to all Louisiana's exhibitions. This collaboration extends the value of HEART Club membership and provides members access to additional major art experiences in Denmark.
• Trapholt MuseumcoreGTM or Marketing PartnerHEART Club members receive 20% discount on admission to Trapholt exhibitions. Note: Trapholt is closed in 2026 due to renovation.
• Dokument 24minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership for legacy donation services. Dokument 24 provides a free online testament creation tool that allows donors to easily include a bequest to HEART.
• Aktiv Ferie (Herning Municipality)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerHEART collaborates with Herning Municipality's Aktiv Ferie program to offer free creative summer activities for children in grades 1-4, with two days of art workshops and museum exploration.
• Ensemble MidtVestminorGTM or Marketing PartnerHEART Club members receive 25 DKK discount on Ensemble MidtVest's concerts, promoting cultural events and cross-institutional benefits.
• Kunstpakhuset IkastminorGTM or Marketing PartnerHEART Club members receive discount on events at Kunstpakhuset in Ikast, extending cultural collaboration across the Midtjylland region.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Direct peers

• ARoS Aarhus Art Museum: Major Danish public art museum (the 'ARoS'/'Your Rainbow Panorama' building is itself an architectural landmark). Directly comparable to HEART in operating model: rotating contemporary art exhibitions, iconic building, museum shop, café, education programs, and strong membership/community focus.
• Louisiana Museum of Modern Art: Denmark's flagship museum of modern and contemporary art located in Humlebæk. Directly comparable to HEART as a state-recognized Danish contemporary art museum with a sculpture park, café, shop, and membership program; the two operate a formal reciprocal HEART Club partnership.
• ARKEN Museum of Modern Art: Danish state-recognized museum of contemporary art in Ishøj designed by Søren Robert Lund. Comparable to HEART in being a purpose-built contemporary art museum with a distinctive architectural identity, broad exhibition programming, and shop/café revenue streams.
• Museum Jorn: Danish art museum in Silkeborg dedicated to CoBrA movement artist Asger Jorn. Comparable to HEART as a regional Danish art museum with a single-artist collection focus, artist-residency heritage, and a similar visitor scale in Midtjylland.
• Trapholt Museum: Danish museum of modern art, design, and craft in Kolding. Directly comparable to HEART in scale and mission: contemporary art and craft exhibitions, design-focused programming, café, shop, and a formal reciprocal membership partnership with HEART Club.
• Kunsten Museum of Modern Art Aalborg: Modern and contemporary art museum in Aalborg, Northern Denmark, housed in a landmark Alvar Aalto-designed building. Closely comparable to HEART in operating model: Aalto-designed architect-iconic building, rotating exhibitions, education programs, shop, café, and signature membership.

Regional players

• Designmuseum Danmark: Denmark's national design museum in Copenhagen. Comparable to HEART in offering design-focused exhibitions (HEARTdesign), a shop with curated design products, and educational programming, though it operates in a different geographic market.
• Horsens Kunstmuseum: Danish contemporary art museum located in Horsens, also in the Midtjylland region. Comparable to HEART as a regional peer museum with similar exhibition caliber, education programs, and audience demographics in the same geographic catchment.

Broad incumbents

• MoMA – The Museum of Modern Art: The world's preeminent museum of modern and contemporary art. Comparable to HEART across operating model (rotating exhibitions, permanent collection, museum shop, membership tiers, educational programming), though at vastly larger scale and a global benchmark rather than a direct competitor.
• SMK – Statens Museum for Kunst: Denmark's national art museum, the largest art museum in the country. Comparable to HEART as a state-recognized institution with broader collections spanning classical to contemporary art, sculpture parks, extensive free/educational programs, and a national mandate.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/118851312347
• Instagraminstagram.com/heartmuseum
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/heart-herning-museum-of-contemporary-art

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles12 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about HEART HERNING MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ART