A blog by staff and others about the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts
Adding to YOUR art collection @ VMFA
May 29, 2013
VMFA is fortunate to have endowed private funds which can only be used for art acquisition. Here are some recent acquisitions currently on view in the galleries. The curators have provided insights about the objects. Elaborate processional crosses made for Ethiopian churches are often inscribed with images and lettering that deepen their message. On this…
How are we open 365 days a year?
May 20, 2013
Recently, I was asked how we can afford to be free and open 365 days a year. My answer was simply, “How can we afford not to be?” One of the three basic tenets of our business model is accessibility. Accessibility is more than just compliance with Federal and State regulations on physical accessibility with…
A butterfly flowerbed with Victorian roots
May 15, 2013
Today, VMFA volunteers planted over 500 pots of annuals contracted by the VMFA and grown for us by Stranges Wholesale growing division in Mechanicsville. Most are exotic, some native, and all reflect the colorful bedding planting that was the style during the late 1800’s as the world’s plants were coming to Europe and North America…
A growing volunteer program
April 18, 2013
Virginia Museum of Fine Arts gardening volunteers, many of whom are on the The Council of the VMFA, have been completing spring projects. Shown here (L to R) are Bob Allen, Carmella Allen, Dave Herbst, Skip Walton, Alice Higgins, Bill Cooper and Richard Lister. The project shown is the mulching of newly planted trees along…
The welcome mat is out at VMFA
April 13, 2013
Most people do not typically see a museum as a fast-paced, dynamic and constantly evolving place. I think the popularnotion is that museums are stale and nice places to visit for a history class. Even though I have only been here for three weeks, I can honestly say VMFA is throwing a coup d’état on…
Remembering Marian Anderson
April 9, 2013
Today, April 9, 2013, marks the 20th anniversary of the death at the age of 96 of the internationally renowned singer and humanitarian, Marian Anderson. Since my childhood, I had known of Anderson’s great musicality and barrier-shattering reputation as the first African American artist to perform at the White House (in 1936) and sing a…
Caligula loses his head
February 26, 2013
Nearly two-thousand years after his brutal assassination by members of his own bodyguard, Emperor Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus Germanicus (popularly known as “Caligula”) has lost his head yet again in an operation performed over the course of several months at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. The operation was performed on a full-length marble statue…
VMFA 2013 Fellowship Awards
February 26, 2013
Marking the highest number of applicants in the program’s history! The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts awarded 28 fellowships to Virginia art students and professional artists in 2013-14 for a total of $168,000. VMFA received 771 applications for the 2013-14 cycle, the highest number since the program’s inception. During the Fellowship Program’s 73 years, the…
Jazz Family Day
February 1, 2013
This Saturday VMFA will host a a free, upbeat celebration of African and African American Art with Jazz, Big Band Swing, West African Drumming, and collaborative performances of Jazz chorale and step dancing. Join the Richmond Jazz Society’s Make Music With Me Band at 1:15pm, then watch a collaborative performance with Richmond CenterStage, area schools,…
Celebrating African American history
January 21, 2013
On this important day honoring Dr. Martin Luther King and the inauguration of Barack Obama, VMFA offers some important programs to add to your calendar: Radiance from Ancient Heights: Ethiopia’s Sacred Art in Context with Richard Woodward on Jan. 24. A vibrant outpouring of art and architecture has supported the continuity of the Ethiopian church,…