February 3, 2015
In celebration of the 75th anniversary of the VMFA Visual Arts Fellowship program, we will be running a series of stories about the impact of these Fellowships on select recipients over the past 15 years. Please watch this blog for future stories. Alyssa Salomon: Winning Two Fellowships Took Her Work to New Levels Winning VMFA…
October 28, 2014
Applications due November 7 “In a finance-based culture, sometimes it’s difficult to rationalize being an artist at all,” explains Rachel (Rainier) DeFrank, who received a VMFA Arts Fellowship in 2011. “All cultural measurements of achievement—in my case earning a living, having children, so many other things—are ignored in order to pursue something abstract and seemingly…
September 5, 2014
Few people have watched the creation of a work of art that is a part of a museum’s permanent collection. However, as of today, VMFA gives you that unique opportunity as renowned South African artist Esther Mahlangu paints two mural-scale works to serve as a gateway to the museum’s African Art Gallery. These 9- by…
August 5, 2014
Need help with your art school tuition? How about some cash for art supplies? Over the past 74 years, the VMFA Visual Arts Fellowship program has awarded more than $4.6 million to help more than 1,100 professional artists, art students, and art historians in Virginia realize their educational and career goals. “This Fellowship is really…
July 22, 2014
If you are not familiar with Edward Hopper, you ought to take a few minutes to look at his work, even if that means not reading the rest of this post. The beauty in his work is eerie and solitary, but nonetheless striking. What pushes the elegance of his paintings is the strong presence of…
April 22, 2014
An Art & Design class at Virginia State University developed terrific Posing Beauty poster models. : See their Tumblr site with all the designs here.
August 28, 2013
“If I could go back in time and talk to my fifteen-year-old self, I would say ‘Smile a little, talk to people, and don’t be such a sheltered little nerd’.” Usually you don’t hear such honest self-reflection from anyone, let alone a world famous Hollywood producer, director, and writer! But Vince Gilligan is no ordinary…
July 11, 2013
Kids summer camps are in full swing at the museum this week! The children are having a ball creating art at the MVW Art Education Center and learning about art in the galleries. From pastel still-life drawings to colorful sculptures, these summer camps offer a variety of artsy subjects to explore. After lunchtime today, a…
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…
November 6, 2012
As this highly charged election season nears its end, a quietly reflective look at some topical and historical American art currently on view in VMFA’s galleries seems in order. This 1856 print after George Caleb Bingham’s Stump Speaking is a great place to begin. The image may be understood as a personal expression of the…
