Objects Conservation Internship Experience

Our names are Keisha Horne and Sydney Johnson, and we were the Andrew W. Mellon interns in Objects Conservation at VMFA during summer 2016. Both of us are recent college graduates—Keisha from James Madison University and Sydney from Virginia Commonwealth University—with bachelors’ degrees in art history and a strong interest in objects conservation. We wanted…

A Top 20 Museum in the USA!

“Fantastic free museum! VMFA has so many wonderful artworks, historic artifacts, and collections to browse and learn about.” – Nikki L. Thank you for all your support in making VMFA one of Yelp’s top-ranked museums in the USA! Read the entire article here!

Free Speakers Bureau Presentations Introduce VMFA to the Community

Did you know that viewing the VMFA permanent collection is free? Do you have any idea of the next exhibition that’s coming to the museum? Did you know VMFA is open 365 days a year? No? Then perhaps you should have the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts’ Speakers Bureau present at your social or civic…

Art-Worthy Frames

We recently made improvements to the Mellon French Galleries. While I have received much positive feedback from visitors about the changes, I get the same question again and again: “What’s with that white frame?” Glad you asked. Although the simple white frame on Georges Seurat’s Landscape with Houses (which VMFA recently received from the Life…

The Mellon Gallery – A Privilege and an Honor

It is always a privilege to install great works of art in an extraordinary museum such as VMFA, and sometimes it is an honor. This was certainly the case earlier this week as I worked with VMFA’s skilled production team as we entirely reinstalled the collection of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon. The gallery walls…

Start the New Year with ChinaFest!

VMFA is ringing in the New Year with a cross-cultural celebration in honor of the Forbidden City exhibition. The 10th annual ChinaFest! Year of the Wood Sheep Family Event on Saturday, January 3, will feature nine treasure-making art activities as well as multiple performances and demonstrations. Here are some things that we learned while planning…

The Commonwealth’s Governor Calls on Virginia’s Art Museum for Christmas Card Art

When First Lady Dorothy McAuliffe decided she wanted a different sort of Christmas card this year—not her usual photo of the kids but a painting of the Governor’s Mansion and the family dogs instead—the obvious resource was VMFA’s Studio School.  Mrs. McAuliffe’s executive assistant, Victoria Lewkow, headed to the Studio School to talk to director,…