The exclusive U.S. presentation of a major international touring exhibition of ancient Egyptian antiquities from the British Museum’s world famous collection opens at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts on November 19, 2011 and continues through March 11, 2012. A 7000-square-foot exhibition of more than 100 ancient artifacts is brought to life and contextualized by a 3-D film exploring the life, mummification and afterlife of an Egyptian priest.
In honor of Mummy: Secrets of the Tomb, VMFA is offering programs, lectures, tours and more.
November
Student groups
Docent facilitated visits (beginning Nov. 29th), Tuesday – Friday, 9:30 and 10 a.m.
$8 per student; 1 free chaperone for every 10 students; $8 group adult
December
Student groups
Docent facilitated visits, Tuesday – Friday, 9:30 and 10 a.m.
$8 per student; 1 free chaperone for every 10 students; $8 group adult.
Mummification: Resurrection of an Ancient Art
Thursday, Dec. 1
6:30 – 7:30 p.m.
Leslie Cheek Theater
$8 (VMFA members $5)
With Bob Brier, Senior Research Fellow, C.W Post Campus, Long Island University. Brier discusses his findings of his mummification project of a human body and how it illuminates the ancient Egyptian knowledge of anatomy and medicine.
3 in 30: Egyptomania
Dec. 6, 2011, 11 a.m.
Dec. 8, 2011, 6:30 p.m.
FREE
With Celeste Fetta, VMFA adult programs manager
Young @ Art: All about Egypt
Dec. 6, 7, 8, 13, 14, 15
10 – 11 a.m.
$8 (VMFA members $5)
Learn about the art of Egypt and explore the mysteries behind this ancient culture.
Teen Stylin: Life Ever After
Wednesday, Dec. 7
6:30 – 9 p.m.
FREE
Join us in an evening of art making, music, and a teen fashion show extravaganza!! Student designers in grades 6-12 unveil their creative clothing creations inspired by works of art reflective of the theme Life Ever After. First 300 guests (18 and under) will receive a free VMFA t-shirt to transform into their very own work of wearable art.
Teacher Workshop: Sacred Symbols: Hieroglyphs and Amulets of Ancient Egypt
Thursday, Dec. 8
4:30 – 7 p.m.
$20 (VMFA members $18)
Enjoy the captivating art of ancient Egypt and begin to understand its symbolic language with Chief Educator Della Watkins. We will explore the scribe’s skills, major symbols found on paintings and sculpture and the key to ancient Egypt, the Rosetta Stone. This workshop will include a journey into the VMFA Egyptian and Teaching Galleries and a studio session in which participants paint hieroglyphs on papyrus and make amulets. This teacher workshop is generously sponsored by MeadWestvaco.
December Lecture & Film Event
Saturday, Dec. 10
10:30 a.m. – 4 p.m.
Leslie Cheek Theater
$8 (VMFA members $5)
Speaker: Cathy Whitlock
Cinema Style: The Making of Hollywood’s Cleopatra
Designer and author Cathy Whitlock will give a presentation about the art direction and behind-the-scenes stories of the 1963 Cleopatra, in addition to comments on the 1934 Cleopatra and other Egyptian spectacles. Whitlock lectures throughout the country and recently published Designs on Film: A Century of Hollywood Art Direction (Harper Collins).
Movie (after a lunch break): Cleopatra (1963, 4 hrs 8 mins.)
Dir. Joseph Mankiewicz
Starring Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, Rex Harrison, Roddy McDowall
20th Century Fox
Made in Hollywood’s “Platinum Era,” infamous for nearly bankrupting its studio, and fueled by the sizzling personal lives of its lead actors, this quintessential epic movie of the tragic love affairs between leaders of great empires is without equal in the pantheon of over-the-top Hollywood productions. VMFA Curator of Ancient Art Peter Schertz will briefly address the authenticity issues in the film’s depiction of ancient Egypt.
January
Student groups
Docent facilitated visits, Tuesday – Friday, 9:30 and 10 a.m.
$8 per student; 1 free chaperone for every 10 students; $8 group adult.
Art History Class: Understanding Hieroglyphs and the Riddle of the Rosetta Stone
2 sessions, Jan. 12 and 19
Thursday, 1 – 2:30 and 6 – 7:30 p.m.
Founders Conference Room and Galleries
$35 (VMFA members $25)
Enjoy the rich and captivating art of Ancient Egypt and begin to understand its symbolic language with VMFA Chief Educator Della Watkins. In these lectures, learn how the riddle of the Rosetta Stone was the key to interpreting a 5,000-year-old ancient Egyptian civilization known for its longevity, exceptional achievements and fabulous treasures. In hieroglyphs and amulets, you will recognize familiar pictures and symbols as we journey through Egyptian art in the VMFA collection.
Book Club Event: Cleopatra: A Lifeby Pulitzer-prize winning author Stacy Schiff
Thursday, Jan. 19
5:30 – 7 p.m.
$8 (VMFA members $5)
Background lecture by Dr. Peter Schertz, Jack and Mary Ann Frable Curator of Ancient Art.
Book Discussion led by Lee Viverette, Director of Library, Museum and Statewide Resources and Rare Book Librarian.
After School Art Club: Egypt’s Treasures
Thursday, Jan. 12
4:30 – 6:30 p.m.
$20 (VMFA members $18)
Tour the ancient Egyptian gallery and uncover the secrets of the mummy! Young artists will explore art from this ancient world and create a sarcophagus-style box to hold their most sacred belongings.
Young @ Art: Ancient Art and Languages
Tuesdays: 10, 17, 24, 31
Wednesdays: 11, 18, 25
Thursdays: 12, 19, 26
$8 (VMFA members $5)
Discover the secrets of ancient languages in the teaching gallery and craft Rosetta Stone-inspired works of art.
Friday Family Art Night: Egyptian Jewelry Making
Friday, Jan. 27
5 – 7p.m.
Ages 5 – 12, each child must be accompanied by an adult
$32 per session (VMFA members $28); enrollment fee includes both child and adult
Fabricate jewelry from pins to pendants and bring home your original works, ready to gift!
February
Student groups
Docent facilitated visits, Tuesday – Friday, 9:30 and 10 a.m.
$8 per student; 1 free chaperone for every 10 students; $8 group adult.
Film 101: Illusion and Spectacle: Hollywood’s Egypt and Mummies
4 sessions, Feb. 6 – March 5 (no class on Feb. 20)
Mondays, 1 – 4 p.m.
Reynolds Lecture Hall
$85 (VMFA members $70)
Ancient Egypt and mummies have offered highly creative inspiration for feature films. Join Trent Nicholas, VMFA Media Programs Coordinator and VCU Adjunct Instructor of Film History, for a four-session class that complements Mummy: Secrets of the Tomb. The class will provide historical background on the art and tendencies of the genre. Each session will consist of a lecture, a break and one movie.
Beer Tasting
Uncorking The Past: Ancient Ales, Wines, and Extreme Beverages
Lecture and Tasting
Friday, Feb. 10, 6:30 – 8 p.m.
$45 (VMFA members $20), includes admission to Mummy: Secrets of the Tomb and unlimited beer tasting.
With Patrick McGovern, Scientific Director of the Bimolecular Archaeology Laboratory for Cuisine, Fermented Beverages, and Health at the University of Pennsylvania Museum
Ancient Egyptian Percussion
Thursday, Feb. 23
6:30 p.m.
Reynolds Lecture Hall
$10 (VMFA members $8)
Yousif Sheronick, musician and world percussionist, and Layne Redmond, drummer and author of When Drummers Were Women (Random House, 1997) will present a visual survey of ancient Egyptian percussion drawn from temple walls and tomb paintings. Sheronick and Redmond will perform a recreation of ancient Egyptian percussion following the talk.
March
Student groups
Docent facilitated visits, Tuesday – Friday, 9:30 and 10 a.m.
$8 per student; 1 free chaperone for every 10 students; $8 group adult.
STATEWIDE PROGRAMS
VMFA’s statewide programs are available to the museum’s partners.
Cleopatra and the Art of Ancient Alexandria
Available: July 2011 – June 2013
The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts' nearly life-size sculpture Cleopatra (William Wetmore Story, 1865) as well as its ancient Greco-Roman portrait coin of Cleopatra are but two examples of today's fascination with the Queen of the Nile and last of the Ptolemaic rulers and her famous city. This program addresses long-held questions: Who was Cleopatra? (Certainly no more Egyptian by birth than Elizabeth Taylor!) Was she really that beautiful? (Judge for yourself from the sculptured heads said to be her likeness.) What about ancient Alexandria, now a lost city? (For starters, it boasted one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World and the greatest library in antiquity and left such famous writers as Plutarch and Cicero at a loss for words to describe its beauty and cultural significance.) You don't need to brush up on your hieroglyphics (mostly used for official records anyhow!) to enjoy renewing your acquaintance with a fascinating woman and an equally fascinating city. This program is led by art historian Dr. Mary Sweeney Ellet, has been organized by the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts and is funded, in part, by the Jean Stafford Camp Memorial Fund.
Symbols in Ancient Egypt
Available: July 2011 – June 2013
Enjoy the rich and captivating art of ancient Egypt and begin to understand its symbolic language. In this lecture learn how the riddle of Rosetta Stone was the key to interpreting a 5,000-year-old remarkable ancient Egyptian civilization known for its longevity, exceptional achievements and fabulous treasures. In hieroglyphs and amulets, you will recognize familiar pictures and symbols as we journey through Egyptian art in the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts’ collection. This program is led by VMFA Chief Educator Della Watkins, has been organized by the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts and is funded, in part, by the Jean Stafford Camp Memorial Fund.
Egyptomania
Available: July 2011 – June 2013
What do Napoleon and King Tut have in common — besides being the same height? They both fueled the Egyptian look in decorative arts and culture, spawning sphinx tables, pyramid clocks and Cleopatra eyes. Discover how these eclectic objects came to be part of the multi-century craze known as Egyptomania! This program is led by VMFA Adult Programs Manager Celeste Fetta, has been organized by the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts and is funded, in part, by the Jean Stafford Camp Memorial Fund.
Thomas Jefferson and Egypt
Available: July 2011 - June 2013
In the late 18th and early 19th centuries, the sage of Monticello paused many times in his long life to contemplate Egypt—as he put it, a culture “so celebrated in antiquity and so worthy of our attention.” This lecture explores Jefferson’s fascination with Egyptian history, art, and architecture as revealed in his writings, furnishings, and design for his own grave. This program is led by VMFA Associate Curator of American Art, Dr. Elizabeth O’Leary, has been organized by the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts and is funded, in part, by the Jean Stafford Camp Memorial Fund.
About the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts
With a collection of art that spans the globe and more than 5,000 years, plus a wide array of special exhibitions, the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts (VMFA) is recognized as one of the top comprehensive art museums in the United States. The museum’s permanent collection encompasses more than 23,000 works of art, including the largest public collection of Fabergé outside Russia and one of the nation’s finest collections of American art, Art Nouveau and Art Deco. VMFA has one of the largest permanent collections of ancient art in the southeast United States. In terms of chronological range, the collection reflects some six thousand years of human development, ranging from the Neolithic cultures of the Near East to the fall of Byzantium. The museum is home to acclaimed collections of English Silver and Impressionist, Post-Impressionist, British Sporting and Modern & Contemporary art, as well as renowned South Asian, Himalayan and African art. In May 2010, VMFA opened its doors to the public after a transformative expansion, the largest in its 75-year history. Programs include educational activities and studio classes for all ages, plus fun after-hours events. VMFA’s Statewide Partnership program includes traveling exhibitions, artist and teacher workshops, and lectures across the Commonwealth. General admission is always free. For additional information, telephone 804-340-1400 or visit www.vmfa.museum.
# # #