A new day dawns at the Art Museums of Colonial Williamsburg with an expanded building, new exhibitions and more
The First Art Newspaper on the Net    Established in 1996 Saturday, October 12, 2024


A new day dawns at the Art Museums of Colonial Williamsburg with an expanded building, new exhibitions and more
In addition to the physical enhancements to the Art Museums’ building, there are four new exhibitions that await guests.



WILLIAMSBURG, VA.- The first large-scale expansion and upgrade to the building that houses the Art Museums of Colonial Williamsburg since they were first joined under one roof in 2007 is complete. Guests at the DeWitt Wallace Decorative Arts Museum and the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Museum are now able to enjoy an enhanced visitor experience through a new wing that adds 65,000 square feet to the building, numerous improved amenities as well as several new exhibitions.

“Colonial Williamsburg’s collection reflects the scope and diversity of our shared history, and its objects tell remarkable stories that allow us to interpret that history,” said Ronald L. Hurst, Colonial Williamsburg’s Carlisle H. Humelsine chief curator and vice president for museums, preservation and historic resources. “We’ve been successful over the years in engaging guests through the Art Museums’ remarkable exhibitions and programs. Now, thanks to the generosity of our donors, we can offer an even more inviting, welcoming experience and share even more with our guests.”

The new Art Museums experience begins for visitors when they arrive at the new entrance, the Dixie D. Wolf Pavilion, located on South Nassau Street across from the pastoral site of the John Custis House and Garden. The entryway significantly improves public access to the building as well as enables better visibility of the complex for those visitors arriving on foot from Colonial Williamsburg’s Historic Area. Once inside, visitors are led directly into the main level of the building and greeted by a welcoming vista through a grand concourse, Wolf Hall, off of which can be found some of the enhanced amenities at the Art Museums. These include a new lobby and orientation space in addition to access to both museums. Also, the museum café and store, which can now be accessed without a ticket, are significantly enlarged and bathed in natural light through expansive, new windows overlooking the picturesque Bicentennial Park.

Additional improvements include guest services, such as considerably improved car parking and parking for the mobility challenged; the Colonial Williamsburg bus stop is now situated at the main entrance as well. New and upgraded mechanical and climate-control systems are also included in the new wing as is space and equipment for efficient operations and exhibition presentations. This entirely donor-financed, $41.7 million project, which broke ground in April 2017, has been one of the primary capital priorities of The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation’s recently completed $600 million comprehensive campaign.




“Colonial Williamsburg’s mission brings us face to face with our shared history, allowing us to engage with one another, and ourselves, about its importance and complexity,” said Cliff Fleet, president and CEO of The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation. “At the Art Museums of Colonial Williamsburg, we showcase the relevance of our material culture, from practical items of the past to familiar masterpieces. The museums expansion creates a larger showcase for the Foundation’s collections, and serves as a gathering place for guests and the community to have meaningful conversations about how far we have come as a nation and how far we have to go to form a more perfect union. We invite everyone to join us, and we thank the generous donors who made this all possible.”

Designed by Samuel Anderson Architects of New York City, the new wing to the Art Museums provides a 25-percent increase in gallery space, which allows guests the ability to see considerably more of these outstanding collections on view. New galleries are designated for an introduction to the collections as well as for folk art; coins, currency and medals; archaeology; musical instruments; costumes; maps, prints and drawings; toys and dollhouses; tools and weapons; architectural preservation; paintings; silver and metals; as well as an additional space for changing exhibitions.

To herald the expanded Art Museums are two new exhibitions in the AARFAM: The Art of Edward Hicks and American Folk Pottery: Art and Tradition. Edward Hicks (1780-1849), one of the country’s best-known folk artists, painted a series of more than five dozen paintings of the beloved biblical prophecy of the lion and lamb known as the Peaceable Kingdom. Colonial Williamsburg owns the largest single collection of material by Hicks, and this exhibition which celebrates the artist’s life and art, marks the first time these works have been on view together since 1999. The objects featured in American Folk Pottery mark a celebration of the form, function and whimsical flourishes of these clay vessels that were made for both their functionality and the needs of their communities. Through nearly 50 examples, the work of their makers reflects the regional styles and traditions that were passed down through generations and inspire many modern folk potters from this rich legacy. A third new exhibition, Early American Faces, will also premiere at the DeWitt Wallace Decorative Arts Museum. Through paintings and watercolors from both the Art Museums’ fine art and folk art collections, this exhibition will show visitors that the stories of all Americans—men, women, children, free, enslaved, American Indian, African American and people of European descent—are represented at these museums and within their collections. Some of the most iconic paintings in the collections, such as Charles Willson Peale’s Washington at the Battle of Princeton and Gilbert Stuart’s Portrait of Thomas Jefferson, will be on display. Also new at the Wallace museum is The Virginia-British Connection: British Paintings with Virginia Ties, a portraiture exhibition that illustrates the strong ties between the British colony and its motherland. Featured are portraits of British rulers as well as lesser British subjects; some lived for a time in Virginia, while others had an impact on life in the colony through their actions or achievements. Also included are English portraits of Virginia-born citizens.

These four new exhibitions accompany British Masterworks: Ninety Years of Collecting at Colonial Williamsburg, which opened at the Wallace Museum shortly before the museums closed due to COVID-19. Showcasing significant examples of British portraits, furniture and ornate decorative arts, these works had not been on view for many years until now.

The Art Museums’ new era will continue throughout 2020 with more fascinating exhibitions opening later in the year. Among them will be Promoting America: Maps of the Colonies and the New Nation, which is scheduled to open in October and will explore how America’s indigenous peoples, flora, fauna and landscapes influenced iconography on maps of the continent and how those symbols changed, evolved or stayed the same over the course of two centuries. Featured in the exhibition will be maps that date from 1590, which depicts the “New World” as a literal Garden of Eden and will be on view for the first time, to an 1822 map celebrating the relatively newly established United States as well as recent acquisitions and other maps never before exhibited at the Art Museums. Another forthcoming exhibition, Keeping Time: Tall Case Clocks, which is scheduled to open in November, will examine how people kept time in the eighteenth century and how the new innovation for telling time to the exact minute was developed. Visitors will see more nearly 30 tall case clocks from different regions and spanning a century of timekeeping from 1700 to 1820.










Today's News

July 30, 2020

Exhibition questions how impressionist painting found expression in sculpture

Senate report: Opaque art market helped oligarchs evade sanctions

Mystery solved: Scientists trace source of Stonehenge boulders

Adding a new name to the canon in clay: Doyle Lane

Artist Concha Jerez presents 'Our Memory Is Being Stolen' at Museo Reina Sofía

Christie's presents Trespassing, an online-only sale including cross-category selections by KAWS and Banksy

'Solidarity', the Magnum's Square Print Sale, in collaboration with Vogue supports NAACP

Karyn Olivier is now represented by Tanya Bonakdar Gallery

Marilyn Monroe's personal pearl necklace and private letter at Heritage Auctions

Gil Elvgren pinups make auction debut in October

A new day dawns at the Art Museums of Colonial Williamsburg with an expanded building, new exhibitions and more

QUINT Gallery opens new gallery space devoted to showing one artwork at a time

Artist utilises 3D modelling and rendering software to imagine artworks within exhibition spaces

Carlo Mollino's Casa del Sole side chair could bring $50,000+ in Heritage Design Auction

Christie's handbags online: Summer in the City sale achieves $2.26 million

When a quarantine Comic-Con keeps fans at a distance

Has the lockdown forever changed the art, vintage and antiques industry?

Gropius Bau's Yayoi Kusama exhibition postponed to March 2021

Bent Fabric, pianist and composer known for 'Alley Cat,' dies at 95

Exhibition commemorating the centennial of the 19th Amendment opens in Kansas City

Christie's Magnificent Jewels New York achieves $28.1 million

Columbus Museum of Art announces 'No Mere Button Pressers'

Sotheby's Wine presents The Scholarly Cellar of Dr Gordon Ku

Jenny Holzer and Avant Arte launch limited edition in collaboration with the New York City AIDS Memorial

11 Things To Take Note Of Before Moving To Your New Home

Tips to Improve the LinkedIn Profile with the Help of Recommendations




Museums, Exhibits, Artists, Milestones, Digital Art, Architecture, Photography,
Photographers, Special Photos, Special Reports, Featured Stories, Auctions, Art Fairs,
Anecdotes, Art Quiz, Education, Mythology, 3D Images, Last Week, .

 



Founder:
Ignacio Villarreal
(1941 - 2019)
Editor & Publisher: Jose Villarreal
Art Director: Juan José Sepúlveda Ramírez
Writer: Ofelia Zurbia Betancourt

Attorneys
Truck Accident Attorneys
Accident Attorneys
Holistic Dentist
Abogado de accidentes

Royalville Communications, Inc
produces:

ignaciovillarreal.org juncodelavega.com facundocabral-elfinal.org
Founder's Site. Hommage
to a Mexican poet.
Hommage
       

The First Art Newspaper on the Net. The Best Versions Of Ave Maria Song Junco de la Vega Site Ignacio Villarreal Site Parroquia Natividad del Señor
Tell a Friend
Dear User, please complete the form below in order to recommend the Artdaily newsletter to someone you know.
Please complete all fields marked *.
Sending Mail
Sending Successful