A blog by staff and others about the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts
The Krater’s Story: A Tale of Provenance and Reconstruction
May 10, 2023
This is the story of an ancient Greek vase that came to the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts as hundreds of fragments and small pieces and is now fully reassembled, conserved, and on view in the museum’s niche gallery in the Cochrane Atrium through June 5, 2023. And it’s all thanks to the generosity of…
M.LiT Teens Develop Educational Programs
March 22, 2023
M.LiT participants explored Isaac Julien’s film installation, which meditates on the life and work of 19th-century abolitionist Frederick Douglass, his contemporary relevance, the role of photography in crafting an image, and Douglass’s masterful speeches. Matoaca High School student Safiyyah James and her group focused on speechwriting and hosted an event at VMFA on January 5.…
Take a Deeper Dive into Storied Strings with the Exhibition Catalogue
December 6, 2022
The accompanying catalogue to Storied Strings: The Guitar in American Art further investigates a range of cultural questions raised by the guitar’s ubiquity, accessibility, and ability to empower. Written by the exhibition’s curator, Dr. Leo Mazow, who is VMFA’s Louise B. and J. Harwood Cochrane Curator of American Art, the 250-page book features insightful essays…
Storied Strings: The Guitar in American Art
November 22, 2022
by Dr. Leo Mazow, VMFA’s Louise B. and J. Harwood Cochrane Curator of American Art On view at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts through March 19, 2023, Storied Strings: The Guitar in American Art explores the guitar as visual subject, enduring symbol, and storyteller’s companion. In the latest issue of VMFA magazine, Dr. Leo Mazow, the exhibition’s curator,…
7 Songs and Their Storied Strings
November 1, 2022
Storied Strings: The Guitar in American Art, at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, runs through March 19, 2023. For true music lovers who want to enhance the exhibition experience, there’s a Storied Strings Spotify playlist available for further reflection and listening enjoyment. Its tracks are inspired by the exhibition’s narrative and themes and pay…
“Nothing Stands in Her Way”—Women Artists in Whistler to Cassatt: American Painters in France
July 7, 2022
On view at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts through July 31, 2022, Whistler to Cassatt: American Painters in France offers visitors a riveting narrative and immersive experience. In a rare compilation, more than 100 works by many of the biggest names in American art are assembled. While the majority of them are men, including…
Civil Rights Trail: Turning Points and Shifting Perspectives
June 27, 2022
As a Black woman who was raised in New England, Paula Saylor-Robinson, VMFA’s Director of Audience Development and Community Engagement, has viewed the South, especially the Deep South, through the experiences of her South Carolina–born parents, who moved north for more opportunities. This past March she reconsidered her long-held assumptions of the southern region of…
American Art, French Influence, and a Transitional Age
May 18, 2022
On view at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts from April 16 through July 31, 2022, Whistler to Cassatt: American Painters in France explores American painting in the advent of modernism, uncovering the rich variety and complexity that developed when French avant-garde philosophies and styles melded with American individualism. The exhibition is assembled from international…
VMFA Publishes Tsherin Sherpa: Spirits
May 10, 2022
The following excerpt is from the introductory essay to the exhibition catalogue Tsherin Sherpa: Spirits, published by the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. Written by Dr. John Henry Rice, the exhibition’s curator and VMFA’s E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter Curator of South Asian and Islamic Art, the 162-page book explores the trajectory of Sherpa’s…
VMFA’s Teen Terns Reflect on The Dirty South Exhibition
August 31, 2021
This summer, the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts had five “Teen Terns” join the Education and Marketing teams during the months of June, July, and August. Teen Ternships are paid internship opportunities for Richmond-area high school students who have previously participated in VMFA’s Museum Leaders in Training (MLiT). This year, we had an additional Teen…