The museum is working all over Västerbotten County with, amongst other things, numerous contract activities, mainly in the archaeological field.

[2] The buildings that can be viewed at Gammlia have been brought together from different parts of the county; including Helena Elisabeth Church, a manor house, a windmill, an 18th-century farmhouse, a school, a blacksmith shop and a number of Sami camps.

[2] During summertime Swedish native breeds of horses, cows, sheep, pigs and chickens are on display in the open-air museum.

[3] The Västerbotten County Antiquarian Society reached a decision at a meeting in January 1886 that "as a storage room for antiquities a museum shall be established in Umeå."

[2] In 2012, Bildmuseet relocated to a new building on the Umeå Arts Campus and Västerbottens museum was thus able to expand in its previous premises.

The museum's logo consists of a reproduction of a bronze link from a thousand year old Sami burial in Vargviken, next to the Vindel River.