Member Events
Members of the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts are invited to enhance their experience through a variety of events including exhibition preview days, exclusive opportunities that highlight the permanent collection, and special programs that are tailored to specific membership levels and philanthropic interests. Click here to learn more or contact Sarah Burgess at 804.204.2676 or sarah.burgess@vmfa.museum.
All Members
Member Appreciation Events and Programs
These opportunities to engage with VMFA are open to all current museum members.
Member Appreciation Nights | A Long Arc and American, born Hungary
Wednesdays | 5–9 pm
Oct 9, 2024–Jan 22, 2025
Free; tickets required
VMFA members and their guests are invited to join us for a series of evenings with special access to the exhibitions A Long Arc: Photography and the American South since 1845 and American, born Hungary: Kertész, Capa, and the Hungarian American Photographic Legacy.
Single-cardholder members may reserve one free guest ticket each week and dual-cardholder members may reserve two.
Advance reservations strongly recommended. VMFA will close to the public at 5 pm on Dec 25 and Jan 1, so there will be no Member Appreciation Nights on those dates.
Member Appreciation Nights are proudly sponsored by Hamilton Beach Brands.
Friends Circle
VMFA Circle Lectures
Open to members at the Friends Circle level, the VMFA Circle Lecture Series features speakers sharing their expertise on a variety of topics in the art world as they relate to VMFA’s permanent collection and special exhibitions.
VMFA Circle Lecture Series | Sarah Magnatta
Thu, Dec 12, 6 pm | Reynolds Lecture Hall
The Sum of its Parts: A Closer Look at Contemporary Himalayan Art
with Sarah Magnatta, Assistant Professor of Art History at the University of Denver
Tsherin Sherpa’s Luxation I, on view in the South Asian gallery exhibition Local Spirits, joins an emerging list of contemporary Himalayan artworks that embody both tradition and innovation and that require us, as viewers, to reexamine our expectations. This presentation explores works by Sherpa and others, asking how we might bring contemporary Himalayan art into conversations that recognize continuity but also engage with broader global art trends and topics.
The VMFA Circle Lecture Series is open to all members beginning at the Friends Circle level. This program will be offered in person and virtually, via Zoom. Click here to register for the livestream.
VMFA Circle Lecture Series | Emmet Gowin & Sarah Kennel
Thu, Jan 16, 6 pm |Leslie Cheek Theater
Artist Talk: Only Chance Is Fair
with photographer Emmet Gowin and Dr. Sarah Kennel, VMFA’s Aaron Siskind Curator of Photography and Director of the Raysor Center
In conversation with curator Dr. Sarah Kennel, renowned photographer and Virginia-native Emmet Gowin reflects on his life in photography, his deep connections to Virginia, and the centrality of family and nature to his work. Learn more about several of Gowin’s works featured in the exhibition A Long Arc: Photography and the American South since 1845, on view at VMFA October 5, 2024 through January 26, 2025.
The VMFA Circle Lecture Series is open to all members beginning at the Friends Circle level. This program will be offered in person and virtually, via Zoom. Click here to register for the livestream.
Cocktails with a Curator
This virtual program series is a special offering for VMFA members beginning at the Friends Circle level. We hope you will join us for a virtual cocktail and live Q&A with a museum curator.
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Supporters Circle
Curator’s Choice
Curator’s Choice programs are a benefit for members beginning at the Supporters Circle level. We invite you to engage with the museum’s encyclopedic permanent collection and nourish your passion for art through exciting programs designed by the museum’s curatorial staff. These unique opportunities promise to provide the latest information about curatorial collecting strategies, care of the collections, and more!
Curator’s Choice: Dr. Sarah Powers
Tue, Nov 19, 6–8 pm
Talk | 6 pm |Leslie Cheek Theater
Reception | 7 pm |Cochrane Atrium
Frida: Beyond the Myth
with Dr. Sarah Powers, Exhibition Curator, Virginia Museum of Fine Arts
Frida Kahlo’s jewel-like paintings are among the most memorable and haunting images of the 20th century, yet she continues to elude our understanding. Highlighting works in the upcoming exhibition, Frida: Beyond the Myth, this talk will explore the personal imagery and symbolic motifs embedded in Kahlo’s paintings, delving into the biographical events that defined her as an individual. Frida: Beyond the Myth will be on view at VMFA from April 5 to September 28, 2025.
Curator’s Choice programs are a benefit for members beginning at the Supporters Circle level. This program will be offered in person and virtually, via Zoom. Click here to register for the livestream.
Partners Circle
In addition to the option to bring four guests per visit to special ticketed exhibitions, at no charge, members beginning at the Partners Circle may elect to join Canvas.
Canvas Programs
In addition to all the benefits of their chosen level of membership, Canvas members receive invitations to two exclusive Canvas events per year, a quarterly online Canvas newsletter, and the opportunity to learn about and lend support to the museum’s newest initiatives and most urgent needs.
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Patrons Society
Leadership Programs
Leadership Giving Society members provide vital ongoing philanthropic support to advance the museum’s mission. The following opportunities, including opening-night preview events, are available to all Leadership Giving Society members, beginning at the Patrons Society level.
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Fellows Society+
Fellows Programs
VMFA is delighted to offer Fellows Programs as a benefit for members beginning at the Fellows Society level. This special series of programs will provide high-level, exclusive access to the work of VMFA curators, thought leaders, and museum-field experts.
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Leadership Programs
Leadership Giving Society members provide vital ongoing philanthropic support to advance the museum’s mission. The following opportunities, including opening-night preview events, are available to all Leadership Giving Society members, beginning at the Patrons Society level.
Check back soon for events in this category
In addition to the member events outlined above, a number of highly customized events and programs are planned throughout the year that are tailored to specific membership levels and philanthropic interests. Leadership level members are invited to opening receptions for major exhibitions, members of Glasgow Society who have made planned gifts in support of VMFA’s mission are invited to learn about the impact of their giving, art donors are brought together to celebrate the growth of VMFA’s permanent collection each year as part of the John Barton Payne Society. These are just a few examples of the many wonderful opportunities to engage with VMFA and its mission that are provided each year. Click here to learn more or contact Caitlin Green, Annual Giving Officer, at 804.340.1427 or caitlin.green@vmfa.museum.