VMFA Blog

A blog by staff and others about the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts

Pleinair

PleinAir Richmond – Painting Outdoors at VMFA

En plein air, translating to “in the open air,” is often used to describe painting outdoors. With natural light and the plethora of subjects readily available to them, artists—particularly the impressionists—have favored this style of painting for hundreds of years. This week, 33 nationally acclaimed artists have set up their easels (and their umbrellas) in…

Crowds Outside of a Fashionable Negro Church After Easter Sunday

Family Day on Saturday Brings Many New Faces to VMFA and Posing Beauty

Family Day on Saturday Brings Many New Faces to VMFA and Posing Beauty by Nicole Gilpin Hood, PhD, chapter journalist for Richmond (VA) Chapter, The Links, Incorporated Last Saturday, from 1 pm until 4 pm, the doors were open and the whole world came. The family event was called Celebrate African and African American Art…

by IllStyle & Peace Productions

VMFA Family Events: Fun and then Some!

With performances, demonstrations, and a variety of activities, VMFA’s Family Events are a whole lot of fun! But beneath the busy atmosphere, VMFA has a much larger mission for these celebrations. Our Family Events help us introduce the museum and collections to a larger community. By giving families a taste of the museum in an…

Sylvia Yount

VMFA and The Metropolitan Museum of Art Are Channels for Talent

It is with pride and a touch of wistfulness that we congratulate Sylvia Yount, Chief Curator and the Louise B. and J. Harwood Cochrane Curator of American Art, who will be joining the staff of New York’s The Metropolitan Museum of Art this September as the Lawrence A. Fleischman Curator in Charge of The American…

Tar Beach

Memories of “Tar Beach”

I experienced a déjà vu moment recently while viewing Faith Ringgold’s Tar Beach quilt, which is part of the Identity Shifts exhibition at VMFA. Many years ago, I lived in New York City and served on the board for Children’s Museum of Manhattan, a great organization. I vividly recall a wonderful exhibit at that museum…

Piece

Poets’ term for poetry inspired by art: Ekphrastic

The Poetry Society of Virginia group wrote for an Ekphrastic Day visit to VMFA. As you may know, ekphrastic means poetry inspired by art. STUDY FOR HOMAGE TO THE SQUARE: TRANSMUTE A square yellow box, inside a square aqua box, inside a square box, slate-grey, inside a square box, russet. (Their colors a lush, blotched…

In Memory of Rachel Lambert Mellon

Rachel Lambert Mellon, nicknamed “Bunny,” died on March 17 at age 103. A longtime supporter of the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Mrs. Paul Mellon contributed substantially to VMFA’s permanent collection with donations of the jewelry and objects d’art she commissioned from Jean Schlumberger. In memory of Mrs. Mellon, Flower Pot, a Schlumberger work in…

Moments with Need Supply Co.

Thanks Need Supply Co. for featuring Posing Beauty in this week’s Moments with Sunday. By: Molly Szkotak, PR & Social Media Manager, Need Supply Co. The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts (VMFA) has an incredible collection of art from all eras, and luckily for us it’s right in our backyard. Their newest exhibit, Posing Beauty,…

VMFA in the summertime

And the winner is…

Richmond is a city full of great things to do and see. In most parts of town, you don’t have to go much more than a block to find a historic site, a museum, or a fabulous restaurant or shop that looks intriguing and lures you inside to enjoy. That’s why it’s such an honor…