Volume III | July 17 2020
Manifestation of a Town's Character and Soul

We’ve had an unbelievable week with over 200 visitors at the DMFAH!!!

But do not worry, through careful planning and a great schedule set up by the new
DMFAH intern team: Annie Chappell, Aiden Thomas, Adessa Breakley, Alyssa Kidd, Tommy Dixon and Chris Glass, all went well. Visitors were filtered through the Virginia Museum of Fine Art exhibition: A View from Home – Virginia landscapes, in very small groups at a time. In spite of the “slow motion” walkthrough, excitement ran high from 2pm on Tuesday when the 76 foot VMFA Artmobile pulled into the back of the museum, to 9:30 am this morning when the VMFA curators departed with smiles on their faces. It has been a good week. On Wednesday and Thursday Clara Guiterrez provided Plein Air painting on the lawn; Felice McWilliams provided music; Firefly yoga provided yoga classes and the Boys and Girls Club worked on a beautiful outdoor mandala.

So if you are longing to escape, don't leave town – find the sweet spots in your hometown. Take the short trip to DMFAH where stories abound and are waiting to be discovered. Visit the Camilla Williams Exhibition, the much beloved House museum, relax early morning or late evening near the new museum sculpture in the garden doing yoga, reading a play, or stop by the  DMFAH shop to buy your new museum T-shirt , and extend your outing by stopping by Crema & Vine for a cup of coffee, lunch or dinner.

There are also more opportunities than ever before to experience VMFA at home. For now,  full tours have given way to self guided tours but can still be accessed virtually and the Covid19 DADAD Collage project is being offered as a virtual gallery. Innovative educational videos brought to you by DMFAH instructors are available on DMFAH YouTube channel. Check out our newly designed museum website by Momenta. Thank you Beth Deatherage for your tremendous work on this during the shutdown. Please give us your feedback at info@danvillemuseum.org

Stay Safe, Stay Vigilant and Stay Aloof – COVID19 is Still With Us
When you visit the museum, mask wearing is required indoors, and disposable masks will be available. Capacity levels have been adjusted for the sake of visitor comfort, safety, and enjoyment. To plan your visit or to learn more about the precautions in place, check out our website.

"Shade trees are heroes to a lowly, overheated  plein-air  painter." ( Brenda Behr )
Interns Aiden Thomas and Chris Glass beating the heat to smile under their masks at visitors who ventured out to see the VMFA Artmobile.
Explore Virginia's Natural Beauty in a New Exhibition
Celebrate the efforts in preservation and horticulture made by the Garden Club of Virginia (GCV) during its 100-year history with their new exhibition,  A Landscape Saved: The Garden Club of Virginia at 100 at the Virginia Museum of History & Culture in Richmond.
The Garden Club of Virginia is now a partnership of 3,400 community and civic leaders active in 48 garden clubs across the state. Today, when environmental issues have risen to new levels of concern, GCV’s leadership role in preservation efforts remains as relevant as ever. Learn more at  HERE

Service Spotlight: The Boys and Girls Club
Thank you to the BGC who came to help out with the Artmobile visit. The mission of the Boys & Girls Club is to inspire young people to realize their full potential as productive, responsible and caring citizens. Boys & Girls Clubs of the Danville and Chatham area focus on four key areas of impact: Academic success; good character, leadership, healthy lifestyles and the arts. This organization established in 1998, is a non-profit organization dedicated to serving youth ages 6 -18 years, in Danville and Pittsylvania County. It is part of a nationwide movement of community-based organizations, which collaborate with Boys & Girls Clubs of America to help youth develop the qualities needed to become productive leaders and citizens.

smokestack Reading on the Lawn
Summer Reading on the Lawn
16 heads bowed over playbooks attended this weeks Summerstack Reading on the Lawn. The next Reading on the Lawn will take place July 29 at 6:30pm. Check for info HERE  Some of the play selections may wind up being produced on stage by Smokestack in the future, so you may be getting a sneak peek before anyone else. Participants are encouraged to join the FB group and discuss the readings throughout the week and to bring a blanket or a lawn chair and join in the next reading. 
 
Character & Soul
Small Town Museums are the Physical Manifestation of a Town’s Character and Soul
Reporter Jeff Burnside from the Seattle Times says: “Nothing captures a small town’s character, soul and past like its museum — but their futures face serious modern-day perils. Small-town museums exhibit uncommon devotion in an era of historic challenges. That’s the beauty of small-town museums. They’re like shared family albums. Rather than each family storing memories in attics or barns and losing them to time, they bring their collective history to local museums. They are the physical manifestation of a town’s character and soul.” Read about how small town museums may not recover from the pandemic unless collective efforts are made. Read about it  HERE .
Most small-town museums depend on visitor donations to stay afloat. Please renew your museum membership or make a donation today.