Featured Events

Lee Miller, 1929, Man Ray (American, 1890–1976), gelatin silver print. Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Arthur and Margaret Glasgow Endowment, 2021.72. ⓒ Man Ray 2015 Trust/Artists Rights Society (ARS), NY/ADAGP, Paris 2021

Creating Identity: The Legacy of the Modern Woman

with Facilitated by Crystal Mason, current co-founder Queering Dreams, former Queer Rebels Productions; Dr. Carmen D. Higginbotham, Dean, VCUarts; Emily Smith, Director, 1708 Gallery; and Dr. Sarah Kennel, Aaron Siskind Curator of Photography and Director of the Raysor Center at VMFA

Wed, Dec 8, 2021 | 6:30–7:30 pm

VMFA'S LESLIE CHEEK THEATER

Inspired by the 1920s photographs of Berenice Abbott, Lee Miller, and other modern women in VMFA’s Man Ray: The Paris Years exhibition, this conversation will offer perspectives on today’s modern woman and gender equity in the arts.

Aspens, Northern New Mexico, 1958, printed 1973–75, Ansel Adams (American, 1902–1984), gelatin silver print. Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Adolph D. and Wilkins C. Williams Fund

Ansel Adams: America – Opening Talk and Performance

with Dr. Christopher C. Oliver, the Bev Perdue Jennings Assistant Curator of American Art, VMFA, and Michael Jefry Stevens

Fri, Sep 24, 2021 | 6–7:30 PM

VMFA'S LESLIE CHEEK THEATER

Celebrate the opening of the special exhibition Ansel Adams: Compositions in Nature with excerpts of “Ansel Adams: America,” composed by Chris and Dave Brubeck and performed by pianist/composer Michael Jefry Stevens, as a tribute to one of America’s most celebrated photographers. Dr. Oliver, the exhibition curator, will introduce the concert with an exploration of Adams’s…

Mount Williamson, Sierra Nevada, from Manzanar, California, 1944, printed 1973-1975, Ansel Adams (American, 1902-1984), Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Adolph D. and Wilkins C. Williams Fund, 75.29.2, © The Ansel Adams Publishing Rights Trust

Talk and Book Signing: Ansel Adams and the Natural Scene

with Dr. Rebecca Senf, Chief Curator, Center for Creative Photography

Fri, Dec 10, 2021 | 6:30–8:30 pm

Talk: 6:30 pm | Leslie Cheek Theater

Book Signing (Free, no tickets required): 7:30 pm | Conference Center Suites

Ansel Adams scholar Rebecca Senf recently published Making a Photographer: The Early Work of Ansel Adams, a new book on the acclaimed photographer that looks at the source of his lifelong investments in landscape and environmentalism. She will discuss how his early experiences connected him to the wilderness and how his decades of thinking about…

VMFA Celebrates Native American Heritage Month 2021

VMFA Celebrates Native American Heritage Month 2021 During Native American Heritage Month and throughout the year, the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts invites you to join its ongoing celebration of the artistry and cultures of America’s Indigenous peoples. From the museum’s permanent collection to programs and educational content, there are many opportunities to learn about…

The Wheat Field behind St. Paul's Hospital, St. Rémy, 1889, Vincent van Gogh, (Dutch, active in France, 1853–1890), oil on canvas. Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon

Paul Mellon Lecture – Van Gogh and the Olive Groves

with Dr. Nicole R. Myers, The Barbara Thomas Lemmon Senior Curator of European Art, Dallas Museum of Art

Thu, Nov 4, 2021 | 6:30—7:30pm

VMFA'S LESLIE CHEEK THEATER

Between June and December 1889, Vincent van Gogh produced a stunning series of fifteen paintings dedicated to the olive groves that dotted the rugged countryside outside his residence at the asylum in Saint-Rémy-de-Provence. Bold and experimental, they comprise one of the most ambitious series in the artist’s oeuvre. Yet despite the aesthetic and symbolic significance…

VMFA Photo Challenge

VMFA Photo Challenge

Challenge #1: The Splendor of Nature Nov 2021 Inspired by the exhibition Ansel Adams: Compositions in Nature, our first challenge invites you to capture the drama and splendor of the American landscape. What places of natural beauty matter to you? How might you showcase the landscape’s pure beauty, breathtaking vistas, and elegant details through photography?…

Ron Smith, former poet laureate of Virginia, in the exhibition Man Ray: The Paris Years

The Poetic World of Man Ray

Wednesdays starting Nov 3, 2021 through Feb 16, 2022 | 1–1:30pm

MEET AT MAN RAY EXHIBITION ENTRANCE

Enjoy live readings of poetry selections by Gertrude Stein, William Carlos Williams, Virginia Woolf and other writers featured in Man Ray photographs. Selections vary week to week and are presented by Ron Smith, former poet laureate of Virginia, and VMFA staff. Please note, due to the holidays, there will be no readings on Nov 24…

Cohen Film Collection LLC

Man Ray & Friends Film Night: Significant Logic Goes Without Saying

with an introduction by Dr. Michael Taylor, Chief Curator and Deputy Director for Art and Education, VMFA

Fri, Jan 14, 2022 | 6:30—9 pm

VMFA'S LESLIE CHEEK THEATER

A slate of five experimental films inspired by the Dada or Surrealist modes. Three made by Man Ray himself and two by Marcel Duchamp and Jean Cocteau, fellow noted artists who sat for portraits. These moving image productions complement and enhance the exhibition of Man Ray’s still photographs. By Man Ray: Retour à la raison…