MOUNT VERNON.- The Donald W. Reynolds Museum and Education Center features 23 galleries and theaters where visitors learn about Washington through interactive displays, an action adventure movie, short films produced by The History Channel, immersive experiences, and a rich and comprehensive collection of more than 700 objects which give an unprecedented look at the personal effects of the Washington family. The building also serves as Washington’s presidential library, with classroom space and computers that provide access to more than 20,000 letters written by Washington during his lifetime.

The Donald W. Reynolds Museum and Education Center was made possible by a $24 million donation by the Donald W. Reynolds Foundation, a national philanthropic organization founded in 1954 by the late media entrepreneur for whom it is named. “The Donald W. Reynolds Foundation’s generous contribution – the largest single donation in our history - enables us to give visitors an incredibly compelling experience at Mount Vernon,” said James C. Rees, executive director of Mount Vernon. “The Museum and Education Center will introduce visitors to the real George Washington through showing the fascinating details of his life.”

“We trust that the Donald W. Reynolds Education Center will enable future visitors to learn more about one of our nation’s most important Americans during their Mount Vernon visit,” said Fred W. Smith, chairman of the board of the Donald W. Reynolds Foundation. “This new education center promises to become the equivalent of a presidential library for the nation’s first and greatest hero.”

Museum Highlights - The Museum features over 500 objects in six permanent galleries and a changing exhibition space. The 6,000 square-foot Museum is not meant to be a generic decorative arts museum but instead a refreshing and insightful look into the taste, style, and personalities of the Washingtons through artifacts most closely associated with life at Mount Vernon, the Revolutionary War and presidency.

“The Houdon Bust Gallery” featured Mount Vernon’s most prized artifact, Jean-Antoine Houdon’s terracotta bust of George Washington. This remarkable sculpture – the most accurate likeness of Washington ever created – is exhibited with dramatic lighting in a circular, domed gallery designed exclusively to showcase the piece. The bust was installed at Washington’s height to give visitors an indication of how he towered over most of his contemporaries. A History Channel video nearby shows how the Houdon created the bust using a life mask made of Washington when he was 53.

The first gallery visitors encounter after the Houdon bust features highlights from Mount Vernon’s collection – extraordinary Washington objects from England, Europe, China, and America that reflect the man and his love of beauty, his refined taste, his status within his world, and his purchasing power. Mount Vernon’s holdings include a wealth of fine and decorative arts produced by some of the best artists and craftsmen of the Colonial period, and they are on display in the “Introducing Washington’s World Gallery” where they can be studied closely outside of the historic house.

The “From Soldier to Statesman Gallery” will be of great interest to visitors, since it focuses on the more public persona of George Washington and features beautiful and historic artifacts relating to his military career and presidency. Current visitors to the estate have little opportunity to learn more about these two important chapters of Washington’s life. Through this new gallery, they will gain a better sense of Washington during the Revolution and in the fledgling years of our nation.

The largest of all the permanent collection galleries in the new Museum, called “At Home with the Washingtons”, will give a glimpse of the Washingtons’ daily lives, whether at Mount Vernon or on the road. Visitors will leave this gallery with a far better idea of how the Washingtons lived “behind the scenes” and out of the public eye.

The cases in “The Washington Style Gallery” presents the personal objects owned and worn by George and Martha Washington, their children and grandchildren. From objects that were used on a daily basis, to those reserved for more special occasions, the style of the Washingtons will emerge. Personal objects highlight the emphasis placed on physical appearance and the importance of particular imports in Colonial America.

The “Books and Manuscripts Gallery” focuses on Washington’s insatiable hunger for knowledge, his keen curiosity, and his life-long desire to better understand the world around him, as shown through manuscripts, maps, prints, and books. These rare and important objects from two premier collections – that of Mount Vernon and the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History – address broader topics such as our country’s founding documents, slavery, and Washington’s Last Will and Testament. It is also enriched by loans from the Boston Athenaeum, the keeper of the largest collection of original books owned by Washington.

A 1,100-square-foot Changing Exhibitions Gallery will provide space for one or two temporary exhibitions a year organized by Mount Vernon and sister institutions. For the first time in Mount Vernon’s history, a variety of new and different shows will be mounted, with the inaugural exhibition focusing on the father-son relationship between Washington and Lafayette. This gallery will also showcase fragile and environmentally-sensitive textiles, miniature portraits, and works on paper from Mount Vernon’s own collection for brief periods of time.

Exhibit galleries in the Donald W. Reynolds Museum were designed by Quenroe Associates (www.quenroe.com). Fabrication for the exhibits in the Museum and Education Center was conducted by Art Guild, Inc. (www.artguildinc.com).