Come to VMFA for this year’s Family Day celebration of African and African American arts and culture. Explore new themes each year through artwork in VMFA’s collection, artist demonstrations, performances, and music. Participate in art activities for hands-on learning!
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Past Events
2024 | Celebrate African and African American Art: Nigeria
During this free, public event, VMFA hosted performers, artists, and presenters including: Elegba Folklore Society, DJ Mikemetic, Kevin LaMarr Jones from CLAVES UNIDOS, Studio 4 Dance, an Egungun Masquerade, Ricky K. Micou (Master Percussionist), and artist Sunday Olaniyi. Throughout this event, visitors had the opportunity to explore Family Day by watching dynamic performances and an artist demonstration, taking part in different hands-on art activities, and participating in various gallery interactives.
Activities & Collaborations: Art activities included: Paper Beading; Design a Container; Create a Watercolor Resist; and visitors contributed to our Community Mural collaborative project. A take-home art activity inspired by VMFA’s vibrant mural Procession, a site-specific, commissioned work by Nigerian-born American artist Odili Donald Odita was also provided to visitors.
Generously Sponsored by:
2023 | Celebrate African and African American Art: Art + Community
Join us as we explore the theme of art + community in African and African American art, culture, and tradition! Bring your family and friends to VMFA to watch engaging performances, to create art, to explore VMFA’s galleries, and to learn about art and artistic processes through incredible artist demonstrations and workshops!
Activities & Collaborations: Projects and workshops/demonstrations for this family day event included the following: Create your Community, My Story, Inspired by Whitfield Lovell, At Home Activity: Shape Your City, The Life and Work of Benjamin Wigfall, and Whitfield Lovell Artist Interview.
Generously Sponsored by:
2022 | Celebrate African and African American Art: Global Community
Join us for a celebration of African and African American art, culture, and traditions! Create art inspired by pieces in VMFA’s collection that reflect the international reach and influence that artists and cultures have had over the years.
Activities & Collaborations: Projects and workshops/demonstrations for this family day event included the following: Construct Your Own Woven Building, Esther Mahlangu @ VMFA, I Am: Identity in African Art, Gaye Adegbalola “Front Porch Blues”, and Create a Community Sculpture.
Generously Sponsored by:
2019 | Celebrate African and African American Art: Mali
Join VMFA to celebrate the music, artistic traditions, and culture of Mali. Enjoy storytelling, dancing, performances by musician Cheick Hamala Diabate, and so much more. Participate in collaborative hands-on art making projects and create your own pieces inspired by jewelry, masks, and textiles from Mali.
Activities & Collaborations: Projects and workshops/demonstrations for this family day event included the following: Mask and Mythos: Construct a Headdress Inspired by Sculpted Masks of Mali, Rulers and Riches from the Malian Empire: Create Your Own Crowns and Adornments, Ancient Trade and Transportation: Create a Camel Magnet, Mali Metalwork: Design a Necklace Inspired by Ancient Jewelry from the Niger River, Bògòlanfini: Make a Paper Gift Bag Inspired by Mudcloth and Textiles of Mali,
Generously Sponsored by:
2018 | Celebrate African and African American Art: Ethiopia
Come to VMFA for this year’s Family Day celebration of African and African American arts and culture. Explore Ethiopia through artwork in VMFA’s collection, beautiful music and dance performances, and vivid storytelling. Be a part of collaborative projects such as a Community Independence Textile with the Elegba Folklore Society and participate in hands-on art activities by creating an Ethiopian Black-Maned Lion Collage and making your own Ethiopian-inspired Foil Pendant!
Activities & Collaborations: Projects and workshops/demonstrations for this family day event included the following: Create an Ethiopian-Inspired Folding Book, Ethiopian Black-Maned Lion Collage with SCRAP RVA, Design an Ethiopian Metal Pendant, Make a Wosene Worke Kosrof-Inspired Greeting Card, Decorate your own Gourd, Spices and Natural Healing Remedies of Ethiopia with the Nile, Ethiopian Moving Mural and Storytelling with Books to Brushes, Ethiopian Coffee Ceremony presented by Addis, Animals of Ethiopia Selfie Station, Ethiopian Film Screening, Community Painting Project Inspired by Julie Mehretu, and the Freedom and Independence Textile with Elegba Folklore Society.
Generously Sponsored by:
2017 | Celebrate African and African American Art: Adornment
Art Activities: Create a Zulu-Inspired Beaded Necklace, Create a Maasai-Inspired Belt, Create a Hunter’s Shirt Design, Create your own Raffia Textile, Dance with the Ancestors! Make an Egungun Mask, Runway Selfie Station, Community Runway Gesture Drawing with Sukenya Best, Collaborative Hunter’s Shirt Design with Teen Stylin,’ Community Weaving Project
2016 | Celebrate African and African American Art: Culture King
Art Activities: Selfie Station, Create an Ile Ori Head Shrine, Design a Stained Glass Window, Make a Yoruba-Inspired Necklace, Create a REclaimed Portrait, Fabric Design
Generously Sponsored by
Past Performers, Demonstrators, and Community Partners
Elegba Folklore Society: Enjoy captivating dance, music, and oral tradition performances by the Elegba Folklore Society. Elegba, from the Yoruba cosmology of West Africa, is an orisa, or intercessor who opens new roads, bringing clarity out of confusion. The Elegba Folklore Society is a year-round, lively celebration of African and African American culture.
Richmond Boys Choir: Join the Richmond Boys Choir for two dynamic vocal performances highlighting both light classical and popular musical selections. The choir is a nonprofit organization, open to boys and young men who live in the Richmond-metro area, ages 7 to 17.
Virginia Union University NPHC Greek Step Performance: Enjoy rhythmic step performances by Virginia Union University’s National Pan-Hellenic Council (NPHC) Greek organizations.
DJ Mikemetic: Experience the Afro-futuristic sounds of DJ Mikemetic and the Afro Beta Drummers as they engage audiences through cosmic cadence and spiritual guidance in a creative musical arts event.
Afrika Arkestra: Listen to artist and musician Ashby Anderson’s original composition that tells the story of Richmond’s African burial grounds.
Step Afrika!: Step Afrika! is an internationally acclaimed step group that will make you literally feel the patterns in the rhythm. In stepping, the body becomes an instrument, creating intricate rhythms and sounds through a combination of footsteps, claps, and the spoken word. Stepping’s movements draw inspiration from African foot dances such as Gumboot, originally conceived by miners in South Africa as an alternative to drumming.
Keith Ramsey: Local artist Keith Ramsey designs and creates his FOUNDPUNK Wrist Wear by RAMSEY.
Jay Sharpe: Richmond-based artist Jay Sharpe demonstrates his unique and beautiful jewelry construction and design.
Hlengiwe Dube: African artist Hlengiwe Dube demonstrates the intricate beading of Zulu designs.
Noah Scalin: Observe local artist Noah Scalin’s installation of a large scale anamorphic portrait based on an image from the collection of The Valentine. Materials generously donated by Diversity Thrift.
S. Ross Browne: Artist S. Ross Browne paints images to challenge and inspire.
Sukenya Best: See the work of local artist and Virginia Union University visual arts professor Sukenya Best. Experiment and collaborate using some of her watercolor techniques!
VMFA’s Teen Stylin’ Class of 2017: Work with VMFA’s 2017 Teen Stylin’ students to adorn a life-size version of the Hunter’s Shirt with fabric, shells, and found materials.
The Valentine: Check out works by ART 180 team and discover the photographs from The Valentine’s collection that inspired them.
ART 180: Visit an exhibition featuring portraits created by teens at ART 180. These pieces were inspired by works in The Valentine’s collection and the art of Kehinde Wiley.
Celebrate African and African American Art in Pictures
