Welcome to VMFA’s Virtual Family Day Event
Let’s explore. On the event page below, you will find four buttons that will lead you to a variety of activities, demonstrations, and resources. Take your time and check out everything. You can access these activities and presentations through February 2023.
Have fun, explore, and let your imagination roam.
★ Performances and Demonstrations
Follow the links provided below to view all presentations.
Cooking Demonstrations with Alexander Tan
Watch as Alexander creates traditional Chinese chicken soup with aroma oil and spiced cider bubble tea. Alexander finds cooking rewarding as it exposes us to different tastes and cultures. He feels blessed enough to have two loving Chinese parents, and the food that they cook helps him connect to his heritage. Alexander believes everyone should have the chance to experience Chinese culture and wants to encourage all those watching to try these recipes. They’re delicious and easy to make. Happy Chinese New Year to all!
Exploring the Winter Lantern Festival: Washington D.C.
The Lantern Festival is traditionally held at the end of the Chinese New Year on the Lunar calendar. This year it took place on January 22, 2023. This Chinese New Year celebrates the Water Rabbit. The rabbit symbolizes longevity, peace, and prosperity in Chinese culture. The year 2023 is predicted to be one of hope.
As part of this celebration, a team of artisans from China’s Sichuan Province came to the United States to stage several amazing Lantern Festivals along the East Coast, including one near VMFA in Washington, D.C. This year’s festival includes hundreds of handmade lanterns. Families pass through a maze of giant animals inspired by Chinese myths and legends, including the monkey king, Sun Wukong, from the Chinese classic Journey to the West. Mountains and Seas tells the story of nature and appreciation of the environment. See clips of this festival in the video shared here.
VMFA Learn
Click here to explore resources, watch artist videos, and engage with more art from around the world! Here are just a few of the resources you will find on Learn:
China: Qing Dynasty Porcelain and Global Exchange
Learn MoreTerracotta Army: Armor
Learn MoreTalks & Lectures: Archaeology Forum
Learn More
★ Art Activities
It’s time to make art! Next to each art activity listed below, you will find a document with instructions and a list of supplies needed to complete each project.
At-Home Lantern-Making with 1708 Gallery
Paper lanterns are a big part of the Chinese Lunar tradition dating back thousands of years in China. Lanterns are associated with the Lunar New Year and specifically the Lantern Festival on the 15th day (the last day) of the Lunar New Year celebrations. Lanterns represent a wish for a bright future—including prosperity, good luck, health, wealth, and harmony.
1708 Gallery is a nonprofit arts organization founded by artists in 1978. The gallery’s mission is to present exceptional new art. 1708 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.
Create Your Own Handprint Rabbit
Trace, cut, and color your own handprint to create a rabbit!
Create Your Own Paper Plate Dragon
Celebrate the importance of the dragon in Chinese culture by assembling your own majestic dragon!
Fold a Lucky Money Envelope
Use the printable template provided below to make a red paper envelope. Learn about the red envelope and how it is used. Follow the instructions provided here to begin your project.
Tangram Puzzle: Horse and Warrior
Use the printable template provided here to make a red paper envelope. Learn about the red envelope and how it is used by clicking here. Follow the instructions provided to begin your project.
Make a Faux Jade Sculpture
Jade is rare, comes in many different beautiful colors, and is very hard, making it difficult to carve. Because of these characteristics, it was one of the most highly prized materials of ancient China. Create your own sculpture using ‘faux’ jade.
Learn MoreWhat Does Your Dragon Look Like?
Explore images and meanings of the Chinese dragon through writing exercises and art making. Use your imagination and create your own dragon!
Learn More
★ Virtual Gallery Activities
Explore galleries and gallery activities through the links provided below.
Unrolling and Viewing a Chinese Handscroll
There are a variety of formats used in traditional Chinese painting and calligraphy. Typically, these works are created by artists on sheets of paper or silk laid on a flat surface and then mounted onto similar material with water soluble glue. Because of their fragility, most of these works of art are intended only for occasional display. Watch as Palace Museum Conservator Wang Yanjing demonstrates the proper technique for unrolling and viewing a Chinese handscroll. In this video she examines VMFA’s painting made in the style of Xi Gang The Pleasures of Fishing in a Mountain Stream in the Frank Raysor Center for the Study of Works on Paper.
Learn MoreLearning about the Art of Calligraphy
Calligraphy, or the art of writing, was considered the highest visual art form in China. Watch as calligrapher Yi Hao, a volunteer teacher from the Confucius Institute at the College of William and Mary, writes different characters including peach, crane, lotus, plum, and chrysanthemum.
Learn MoreChinese Seals
Traditionally made from precious stones, seals contain the names of artists, collectors, and their studios, or even a favorite poetic phrase. Learn about carved seals and their use and symbolism.
Learn MoreAncient Writing
As early civilizations developed, societies became more complicated. Record keeping and communication demanded something beyond symbols and pictures to represent the spoken word. Explore this resource to learn about the early writing systems of four ancient civilizations: Mesopotamia, Egypt, China, and Mesoamerica.
Learn More
★ Explore More
East Asian Gallery Preview
Explore VMFA’s East Asian Galleries virtually! Follow the link below to learn more about this collection and take a closer look at one work of art!
Learn MoreAccessing 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. 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 work from Virginia artists. Explore VMFA’s Shop here:
ShopAt a Glance: Performances and Demonstrations
10 am-4:30 pm | Museum Wide, Art Activities
10 am–4:30 pm | Reynolds Lecture Hall – Video Showcase
10 am–4:30 pm | Art Education Center – UR CSSA Calligraphy & Paper Cutting Demos
10:15–10:30 am | Atrium – Choy Wun Dance Troupe
10:30–11 am | Leslie Cheek Theater – Yu Dance Arts
11 am–12:30 pm | Marble Hall – Nga Weaver
11:15–11:45 am | Leslie Cheek Theater – Ethnobeat
11:30–noon | Atrium Richmond – Moy Yat Kung Fu Academy
noon–12:15 pm | Atrium – Choy Wun Dance Troupe
12:15–12:30 pm | Atrium – On the One Dance Company
12:30–12:45 pm | Leslie Cheek Theater – Ethnobeat
1–1:30 pm | Leslie Cheek Theater – Yu Dance Arts
2–3:30 pm | Marble Hall – Nga Weaver
2:15–2:25 pm | Atrium – Pacific Arts Troupe
2:30–3 pm | Atrium Richmond – Moy Yat Kung Fu Academy
3–3:15 pm | Atrium – Choy Wun Dance Troupe
3:15–3:25 pm | Atrium – Pacific Arts Troupe
3:30–4 pm | Leslie Cheek Theater – Yu Dance Arts
Generously sponsored by
Celebrate African and African American Art | Sat, Jun 17, 2023, 10 am-1 pm