Virginia Museum of Fine Arts facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Virginia Museum of Fine Arts

VMFA in 2010
Established	March 27, 1934 (1934-03-27)
Location	200 N. Arthur Ashe Blvd., Richmond, VA 23220
Type	Art museum
Accreditation	American Alliance of Museums
Key holdings	Fabergé eggs Rumors of War by Kehinde Wiley
Collections	Modern and Contemporary art
Collection size	22,000 works (as of 2011)
Architect	Rick Mather & SMBW (2010 addition)
Public transit access	Greater Richmond Transit Company bus route 16, stop at Grove Ave. between Thompson & Robinson.

The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts (VMFA) is a famous art museum located in Richmond, Virginia, USA. It first opened its doors in 1936. The state of Virginia owns and runs the museum. However, private donations and gifts help support its programs, buy new artwork, and provide extra funding.

The VMFA is one of the biggest art museums in North America, based on how much space it has for showing art. Its huge collection includes art from Africa, America, Britain (especially sporting art), and the Himalayas. It also has a special collection of Fabergé eggs. The VMFA was one of the first museums in the Southern United States to get money from the state. It offers free entry to its main galleries, but sometimes there's a charge for special exhibits.

The VMFA is next to the Virginia Historical Society. Together, they form the "Museum District" in Richmond, an area also known as "West of the Boulevard".

The museum also has the Leslie Cheek Theater, a place for live performances. For 50 years, a theater group called TheatreVirginia performed here. The theater was built in 1955 inside the museum. It started as a community theater and also showed dance, film, and music events. After closing in 2002 due to money problems, it reopened in 2011. Now, it hosts many different live shows as part of the museum.

Discover the VMFA's History

VMFA Lewis Galleries in 2021

How the Museum Started

The VMFA began with a gift in 1919. Judge John Barton Payne gave 50 paintings to the state of Virginia. During the Great Depression, Judge Payne worked with Virginia's Governor John Garland Pollard. They got money from a federal program called the Works Projects Administration. This helped them add to state funds and create the art museum in 1932. Payne gave his art in memory of his wife and mother.

The museum was built on Richmond's Boulevard. It was near a large piece of land that used to be a home for soldiers who fought in the Civil War.

The main building of the VMFA was designed by Peebles and Ferguson Architects. Its style is called Georgian Revival or English Renaissance. Construction started in 1934, and the museum opened on January 16, 1936.

Growing Collections and First Expansions (1940–1969)

The Peter the Great Egg by Fabergé, given to the museum in 1947.

In 1947, the VMFA received a huge gift: the Lillian Thomas Pratt collection. This included about 150 jeweled items by Peter Carl Fabergé and other Russian artists. It has the largest public collection of Fabergé eggs outside of Russia. That same year, the museum also got the "T. Catesby Jones Collection of Modern Art."

More gifts came in the 1950s from families like the Williams and Glasgows. These gifts created the museum's oldest funds for buying new art. In 1951, the museum bought an abstract painting called "Chimneys." It was made by Benjamin Leroy Wigfall, a 20-year-old art student. He was the youngest artist whose work the museum had ever bought.

Leslie Cheek, Jr. became the museum's director in 1948 and served until 1968. He brought many new ideas to the museum. In 1953, he started the world's first "Artmobile." This was a truck that carried art exhibits to small towns. In 1960, he was the first in the U.S. to keep an art museum open at night.

Cheek also helped build the first addition to the museum in 1954. This addition included a 500-seat theater. It was meant to be a central place for dance, music, and film events.

The Leslie Cheek Theater's Journey

The theater inside the VMFA was built in 1955. It was first known as the Virginia Museum Theatre. Director Leslie Cheek, who was also an architect, helped design it. He wanted the theater to bring drama, acting, design, music, and dance to the museum.

In the 1960s, the theater hosted a volunteer community theater group. They put on plays and musicals for thousands of people each year. The theater also hosted annual events for Virginia's dance, music, and film groups.

In 1969, Keith Fowler became the artistic director. He made the theater more professional. He started Richmond's first resident Actors Equity company, hiring both local actors and professionals from New York. The company became known as VMT Rep. They focused on classic plays, musicals, and new works.

The theater faced financial challenges over the years. In 2002, the board decided to close TheatreVirginia. For eight years, the theater was empty. It was renovated and reopened in 2011. It was renamed the Leslie Cheek Theater to honor its first director. Today, it hosts special theater, music, film, and dance shows.

Museum Building Expansions (1970–1990)

The museum added a second part, the South Wing, in 1970. This wing had new galleries, a library, and offices. In 1971, Sydney and Frances Lewis gave money to buy Art Nouveau objects and furniture.

A third addition, the North Wing, was finished in 1976. It had a sculpture garden with a waterfall. This wing was meant to be the new main entrance. However, its curved walls were not very practical. This wing and garden were later removed to make space for a new expansion.

In 1985, the museum opened its fourth addition, the West Wing. This large wing was designed by Hardy Holzman Pfeiffer Associates. It now holds the collections given by the Lewis and Mellon families.

Modern Campus and McGlothlin Wing (1991–2010)

Home for Confederate Women
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Location	301 N. Sheppard St., Richmond, Virginia
Area	2 acres (0.81 ha)
Built	1932
Architect	Lee, Merrill
Architectural style	Federal, Federal Revival
NRHP reference No.	85002767
Significant dates
Added to NRHP	November 7, 1985

Robinson House 2014

In 1993, the Robinson House property was given to the VMFA. This nearly 14-acre area was once a camp for veterans. The museum started planning how to use this land in 2001.

By the 1990s, the nearby Confederate Home for Women closed. In 1999, this building became the Pauley Center. It now houses the museum's Office of Statewide Partnerships.

The VMFA started a big expansion project that cost $150 million. This added 165,000 square feet of gallery space. The new wing opened in 2010 and was named the McGlothlin Wing. It brought back the main entrance to the Boulevard, just like the original 1936 entrance.

The new design includes a large, bright atrium with tall glass walls. London architect Rick Mather worked with Richmond architects SMBW on the design. The landscaping included a new 4-acre sculpture garden. The McGlothlin Wing mainly features American art. Its design won an award for architectural excellence in 2011.

Recent Additions and Future Plans (2010–Present)

In 2019, a large sculpture called Rumors of War was placed on the museum's front lawn. It was created by artist Kehinde Wiley and had been shown in Times Square before coming to Richmond.

In June 2021, the VMFA announced plans for another big expansion. This $190 million project will add more space and update existing areas like the Evans Court and Leslie Cheek Theater.

Explore the Permanent Collection

The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts has many different collections of art. These are organized into several main areas:

• African Art: This collection has grown to about 500 objects. It is especially strong in art from the Kuba, Akan, Yoruba, and Kongo peoples, as well as art from Mali.
• American Art: This collection started with 20 paintings from the original John Barton Payne gift. Since the 1980s, the museum has worked to collect more American art. In 2005, the McGlothlin family promised to donate their valuable collection of American art.
• Ancient American Art
• Ancient Art: This collection began in 1936. It includes works from Ancient Egyptian, Greek, Etruscan, Roman, and Byzantine civilizations. It has an ancient Egyptian mummy named "Tjeby."
• Art Nouveau & Art Deco: This collection started with furniture and decorative arts given by the Lewis family in 1971. It includes works by famous artists like Louis Comfort Tiffany and Frank Lloyd Wright.
• East Asian Art: This collection began in 1941. It includes Chinese, Japanese, and Korean art. You can see Chinese jade, Japanese sculptures, and Korean ceramics. In 2004, the museum added two imperial Buddhist paintings from the Qing dynasty. The collection also features about 800 works by Japanese artist Kawase Hasui.

Miniature watercolor painting from Rajasthan, in the South Asian collection

• European Art: The European collection started with the 1919 Payne donation. It now includes works by artists like Poussin, Goya, and Gentileschi.
  • In 1970, Ailsa Mellon Bruce donated about 450 European decorative objects. These included beautiful gold, porcelain, and enamel boxes.
  • Pinkney L. Near was a curator at the VMFA for 30 years. He helped the museum buy many European artworks. This included a portrait by Francisco Goya of General Nicolas Guye. This painting is now in the Pinkney Near Gallery.
  • Paul Mellon gave many French Impressionist and Post-Impressionist works. He also donated a collection of British Sporting Art in 1983. When he passed away in 1999, he left even more French and British art to the museum.

• English Silver: In 1997, Jerome and Rita Gans gave the museum a collection of English silver from the 18th and 19th centuries.
• Fabergé: The Pratt Fabergé collection is the largest outside of Russia. It includes five special Imperial Easter Eggs: the Rock Crystal Egg, the Pelican Egg, the Peter the Great Egg, the Tsarevich Egg, and the Red Cross with Imperial Portraits Egg.
• The South Asian collection has art from countries like India, Pakistan, and Tibet. It started in the late 1960s.

VMFA Cochrane Atrium in 2021

• • When the 2010 wing was finished, a huge 27-ton marble garden pavilion from Rajasthan was placed inside the galleries.
• Modern and Contemporary Art: The main part of this collection came from Sydney and Frances Lewis. They collected over 1,200 works in the mid-to-late 20th century. They even traded products from their company, Best Products, with artists for their artwork.
  • In 2019, the VMFA asked artist Kehinde Wiley to create a large sculpture. This work, called Rumors of War, was placed in front of the museum. It was inspired by statues on Monument Avenue in Richmond.

Gallery of Artworks

Special Art Exhibitions

Besides its permanent collections, the VMFA also hosts special art exhibitions. These shows feature art from its own collection, other museums, or works by current artists.

In 1941, the museum showed Modernist works by artists from the School of Paris. In the 1950s, VMFA created shows like "Furniture of the Old South" and "Design of Scandinavia." In the 1960s, there was a major exhibition of British painting.

In 1983, the museum presented "Painting in the South: 1564–1980." This was a unique exhibition that gained international attention.

In 1996, VMFA was one of five major American museums to host "Fabergé in America." This show featured over 400 objects and 15 imperial Easter eggs. More than 130,000 people came to see it in Richmond.

In 1999, the museum presented "Splendors of Ancient Egypt." This exhibition had art from the Pelizaeus Museum in Germany. Nearly a quarter of a million people saw the show in Richmond. It was one of the largest Egyptian art exhibitions to tour the United States.

In 2011, the VMFA was one of only seven museums worldwide chosen to show 176 paintings by Pablo Picasso. This huge exhibit lasted from February to May 2011. It showed Picasso's work from his entire career.

Learning and Programs at VMFA

The museum's Office of Statewide Partnerships offers programs and exhibitions across Virginia. It works with over 350 non-profit groups like museums, schools, and colleges. Through this program, the museum provides traveling exhibits and art-related videos. It also hosts talks, workshops, and events by artists. The traveling artmobile program helps students learn about art.

VMFA also has educational programs at the museum itself. These include classes in drawing, painting, sculpture, photography, and digital arts.

Guided tours are available daily for groups. Tours for K-12 school groups are also offered. All college student tours of the VMFA's permanent collection are free. You can ask for a tour online.

VMFA's ARTshare is a digital project to share the museum's collection more widely online.

The VMFA started a Fellowship Program in 1940. By 2011, it had given over $5 million in grants to Virginia artists. The money for these fellowships comes from a special fund. Famous artists like Vince Gilligan and Nell Blaine have received these grants.

See also

In Spanish: Museo de Bellas Artes de Virginia para niños