Welcome to VMFA’s
VIRTUAL FAMILY DAY EVENT
Celebrate the Art of Latin America: Puerto Rico
Sep 11, 2021 – Oct 31, 2021
Exploring Our Virtual Event
Welcome to Celebrate the Art of Latin America: Puerto Rico Family Day!
This year, we are excited to host both our virtual and in-person Family Day event (taking place at VMFA on Sep 11, 2021 from 11 am to 3 pm).
We are delighted that you have joined us online for this VIRTUAL Family Day!
On the event page below, you will find four buttons that will lead you to a variety of activities, performances, and resources. Take your time and check out everything. These activities and presentations will be available to access through October 31, 2021.
Maybe you would like to watch performances and presentations, or create your own work of art? These types of activities, resources, and more are listed below. Have fun, explore, and let your imagination roam!
Tell us about your experience!
We would love your feedback on our virtual Family Day event! Click here to fill out the survey after you have explored our event.
★ Performances & Presentations
Sit back and watch incredible performances and demonstrations! Follow the links provided below to view all presentations.
Latin Ballet of Virginia Presents NuYoRican
Founded in 1997 in Richmond, Virginia, under the direction of Ana Ines King, a native of Colombia, the Latin Ballet of Virginia is Central Virginia’s pre-eminent Hispanic dance company that enriches and connects communities through Latin/Hispanic cultural dance experiences with a commitment to education, diversity, and accessibility, providing multicultural dance programs and performing throughout the State and at select venues in North and South America.
Through historical facts “NuYoRican” expresses the deepest love of the Puerto Rican people towards its patria and captures the essence of Puerto Rico’s Spanish and African roots with dances like La Plena y La Bomba, as well as Mambos, Salsa, Latin Jazz, and Reggaeton.
Entre Puerto Rico y Richmond: Women in Resistance Shall Not Be Moved
The dance film “Entre Puerto Rico y Richmond: Women in Resistance Shall Not Be Moved” links interrelated histories of racism and colonial capitalism in Virginia and Puerto Rico. Filmed in a former American Tobacco Company warehouse, the film honors the spirit of resistance and liberation of Black female tobacco stemmers who worked in segregated facilities in Richmond and invokes Puerto Rican tobacco factory readers and radical activists Dominga de La Cruz Becerril (1909-1981) and Luisa Capetillo (1879-1922), as inspiration for the present. The film is bilingual (Spanish and English) with subtitles and combines biography, poetry, and ritual, with the energy of live performance.
“Entre Puerto Rico y Richmond: Women in Resistance Shall Not Be Moved” was directed by Alicia Díaz and co-created with dramaturg Patricia Herrera, dance artists Christine Wyatt and Christina Leoni-Osion, interdisciplinary artist Luis Vasquez La Roche, percussionist Héctor “Coco” Barez, actor/singer Yaraní del Valle, and produced and edited by David Riley. Videography by Departure Point Films. Color and Sound correction by Digital Fruit Snax.
Commissioned for the 2020 exhibit “Commonwealth” at the Institute for Contemporary Art at VCU (ICA@VCU) in collaboration with Philadelphia Contemporary and Beta Local (Puerto Rico). On view Sep 12-Jan 17, 2020. Curators Stephanie Smith and Noah Simblist. Additional support from The University of Richmond.
Year: 2020
Runtime (min): 17:21
View the Trailer
Learn More
Virginia Hispanic Foundation
Hispanic Heritage Month runs from September 15th through October 15th each year and celebrates the history and contributions of Hispanics and Latinos. At this year’s Family Day, the Virginia Hispanic Foundation joins the VMFA to discover and explore the culture of Puerto Rico in celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month. Often called an island, Puerto Rico is actually an archipelago, which is a chain of islands. Here are some more fun facts about Puerto Rico you might not have known! Learn more about the Virginia Hispanic Foundation’s Que Pasa Festival here.
Click to learn some fun facts!
★Art Activities
It’s time to make art! Check out the art activities listed below. Under each art activity title and description, you will find an activity resource document with instructions and a list of supplies needed to complete each project.
Shape your own Pendant
Create a Taino pendant inspired by Taino rock carvings!
Click to Download Instructions
Create a Bioluminescent Jellyfish
Create a colorful jellyfish inspired by the sea creatures in Puerto Rico’s bioluminescent bay!
Click to Download Instructions
Construct a Guiro
Create a Guiro inspired by music from Latin America!
Click to Download Instructions
Create a Lantern with 1708 Gallery
Using supplies and materials you have at home, follow Kerry Mills at 1708 Gallery to create a bottle lantern. Bring your lantern to InLight 2021!
1708 Gallery is a nonprofit arts organization founded by artists in 1978. Their mission is to present exceptional new art. 1708 Gallery is committed to providing opportunities for artistic innovation for emerging and established artists and to expanding the understanding and appreciation of new art for the public.
Click to Download Instructions
Click to See the VideoWhat is InLight?
InLight is 1708’s annual public exhibition of contemporary art. InLight takes place at night and each year is in a different location in Richmond. InLight features multimedia, sculpture, installation, performance, community-based works, and virtual projects that utilize light-based platforms (projections, lighting design, and more) to be experienced in the dark. Past sites include Chimborazo Park, the streets, facades and alleyways of the downtown Arts District, and the sculpture garden and grounds of the VMFA.
InLight 2021 will occur November 12 and 13 at Great Shiplock Park, Chapel Island, and nearby sites along the Virginia Capital Trail and Low Line in Richmond. Great Shiplock Park is located at a former shiplock constructed as part of the James River and Kanawha Canal system. Artists are invited to propose projects that engage with and expand upon the multiple themes and histories that can be found at these sites, such as trade and labor of then-enslaved peoples of African and Indigenous descent during and following the industrial revolution, the environmental impact—especially concerning water resources—of commerce and infrastructure, and the cultivation of spaces for alternative forms of historical preservation.
★Virtual Gallery Activities
See works of art from the VMFA’s permanent collection, learn, explore, and participate in activities listed below.
Interactive Exercise: Be the Artist
Artworks can offer an opportunity to consider creativity in places and times that may be different from our own. Spending time to look carefully at the form, imagery, texture, and patterns of a work of art can help students consider and become curious about the materials and techniques, artistic conventions, and cultural contexts of unfamiliar objects. Use this interactive exercise to guide students as they examine an Ancient American work of art, document the ideas it presents to them, and consider how their thoughts connect with what we know about the artist’s own ideas and intentions.
Writing to Learn: Words in their Mouths and Thoughts in their Heads
Use speech and thought bubble templates to activate critical thinking and inspire learners to creatively consider different points of view.
Thematic Exploration: Portraits
Explore the different ways artists represent individuals in portraits and see what we can learn about the time period in which they were created, the lives of the subjects, and the thoughts of the artists.
Writing to Learn: Haiku
Use an artwork as a prompt for a haiku poem. This activity enables students to activate their imaginations, gives them a framework for connecting personally with art, and their critical observation skills.
Interactive Exercise: Question into Monologue
Artworks can offer an opportunity to consider different perspectives. Artists are intentional about how they depict people alone or in groups. Spending time to look carefully at expressions, body language, and contextual clues in figural artwork can help students consider ideas about identity, community, and belonging. Use this interactive exercise to guide students as they explore a work by Kehinde Wiley, creatively document the ideas it presents to them, and consider how their thoughts connect with the artist’s own ideas and intentions.
Gallery Hunt: Emergence of a Global Age: 1500-1800
Transoceanic voyages during the European Age of Discovery connected the Eastern and Western hemispheres as never before. Changing patterns in long distance trade created the beginnings of an interdependent global economic system. The growth of new trade networks facilitated the movement of goods, people, technologies, and ideas. This cultural exchange will change economic, political, and social systems around the world. Travel through the VMFA galleries to see examples of an increasingly interconnected world!
Gallery Preview: Ancient American Art
Before your visit to VMFA, introduce your students to the galleries. Let them explore the space and imagine what they can find there!
Little Eyes Look: Bloodline: The Matriarchs by Holly Wilson
Join a VMFA Early Childhood Educator for a children’s guided contemplation of Lineage: The Matriarchs, by Holly Wilson.
Little Hands Create: Leaf Prints
Create colorful stamps using leaves and paint.
★Explore More
Discovering VMFA’s Permanent Collection
Learn about and discover all of the permanent collections VMFA offers.
Make sure to check our our upcoming exhibitions, including:
Ansel Adams: Compositions in Nature – ON VIEW FROM SEPTEMBER 25, 2021–JANUARY 2, 2022
Man Ray: The Paris Years – ON VIEW FROM OCTOBER 30, 2021 – FEBRUARY 21, 2022
Accessing VMFA’s Library
The Margaret R. and Robert M. Freeman Library of the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts is the oldest and one of the most extensive art resources in Virginia, with visual arts reference material that addresses virtually all the humanities. In addition to serving museum staff, it also acts as a non-circulating library for scholars, students, researchers, writers, and the general public.
To help limit the risks of COVID-19, the Margaret R. and Robert M. Freeman Library space is currently being redesigned to ensure public safety and to maintain physical distancing. The library is open by appointment only. You can explore the library’s digital collections online. For reference assistance, please contact the library at library@vmfa.museum or 804.340.1495
Shop VMFA
The VMFA Shop searches the world to provide a diverse selection of unique jewelry, home accessories, toys, stationery, and books, focusing on merchandise related to the museum’s collections and exhibitions as well as educational items and works by Virginia artists.
VMFA Learn
Explore resources, watch artist videos, and engage with more art from around the world!
Exploring e-Books
Interested in exploring and assessing free e-books through your local library? Check out apps such as Hoopla and The Libby App (OverDrive) that will connect you with e-books for a virtual reading experience. Please note: you need a library card to access e-books and other resources on these apps.
Learn more about the Libby App
Conservation at VMFA
Join Painting Conservator Meredith Watson in the VMFA Conservation Department as she discusses the study and treatment of Consume #2, 1969. The painting is a round abstract oil and paper on canvas by Betty Blayton (1937-2016), an African American artist also recognized as an activist and educator in Harlem beginning in the 1960s. The video discusses Blayton’s artistic process, as well as some of the goals and decision-making in the treatment of the painting.
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