A Portrait of Persistence |
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A Thousand Portraits
A thousand portraits of suffragists make up the massive mosaic of Ida B. Wells in Union Station, to give a nod to the 100-year anniversary of the right-to-vote movement and the role the D.C. landmark played. From Aug. 24-28, the 1,000-square-foot mosaic, titled “Our Story: Portraits of Change,” is displayed on the marble floor, assembled from thousands of historical photos of suffragists, with each image telling its own story about the fight for women’s right to vote. “We’ve gathered together over 1,000 portraits of suffragists, and when you put those photographs together in a certain way and zoom out, those 1,000 portraits then become one very large portrait of suffragist and anti-lynching activist Ida B. Wells,” Anna Laymon, director of the Women’s Suffrage Centennial Commission, told WTOP. We thank Jeff Exton Howard for providing us with this photograph of the portrait. If you would like to read more about this please read HERE
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Derby Day on September 5th has pivoted to fun digital online ticketed events |
While there will be NO Derby Day event on September 5th at the museum, the whole of September will be filled with Derby Day treats that you can access online. This week we are sharing our favorite Derby Day cocktail with you and next week the Derby Day Hat Sweepstake will commence. If you are interested in buying a ticket and entering your favorite hat picture in the Sweepstake, send your photo to us at [email protected] and make a donation to the museum HERE.
Although the Kentucky Derby Day event is cancelled, don't wait to enjoy one of Chief Justice John Marshall's favorite drinks, the mint julep, before the summer is out. Preservation Virginia's curator of collections (and native Kentuckian) Lea Lane explores how this icy refresher made its way to Richmond in her new video. Visit her blog to watch and get the recipe to try for yourself.
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Camilla Williams sings during the March on Washington in 1963 |
On this day in 1963, more than 200,000 people gathered in Washington, D.C., for the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, now known as the March on Washington. The march was the brainchild of civil rights activists A. Philip Randolph and Bayard Rustin, who once said, “We need, in every community, a group of angelic troublemakers.” They worked diligently for nearly two years, convincing members of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference to put aside their differences and participate.
(Garrison Keillor, The Writers Almanac, August 28, 2020)
On this date in 1963, Camilla Williams, born in Danville, Virginia, sang the national anthem to begin the main events of the march before Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. presented his famous “I Have a Dream” speech. She sang the Star-Spangled Banner in front of about 250,000 people. Because of COVID-19 the museum has decided to keep up the Camilla Williams exhibition through December, which will allow more programing to happen around this compelling public figure that left her collection of opera costumes and theater possessions to the museum.
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ART ON THE LAWN stretched through summer in online formats! |
One of the Museums best beloved summer programs ART ON THE LAWN is cancelled this year because of COVID-19 safety concerns but will still come to you before the summer is out. Starting in September on through November you can join us on the Danville Museum FB page to see our weekly featured artists giving fascinating demonstrations on their studio practice.
This coming week's featured artist will be our own Swanson Studio potter Jonathan Scollo.
Stay tuned for more information by visiting our Danville Museum Face Book site HERE
Please help us gear up for a spectacular ART ON THE LAWN Festival next year by sending a donation HERE
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Early evenings with Summerstack bring out a crowd of "readers" sitting six feet apart. The first reading of a play adaptation for the stage by F. Andrew Leslie based on Shirley Jackson's The Haunting of Hill House, brought out 28 people on that first night! And who could blame them for enjoying every minute of being outside on a late summer evening with great companions - listening to the sound of buzzing cicadas rising and falling in both pitch and volume as the readings commenced:
“No live organism can continue for long to exist sanely under conditions of absolute reality; even larks and katydids are supposed, by some, to dream.”
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Lynchburg Riverview Gallery Call for Artists Entries |
Riverviews Artspace continues its Annual Juried Art Show for its 12th year in a row and you are invited to participate.
This group exhibition is open to artists across the nation, who work in a variety media with no limit on subject matter. Every year a juror is selected to handpick the artwork to be included and to award our prizes for 1st, 2nd and 3rd place. A People’s Choice Award will be selected by our visitors, who cast a vote for their favorite work during the first month of the exhibit. Our prizes are $1000 for 1st place, $500 for 2nd place, $250 for 3rd place and $100 for People’s Choice.Exhibition Run: November 6th through December 11th, 2020.
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Life Drawing Class in Swanson Studio |
Thank you to Jonathan and Harper Scollo, Hollis Stauber, Bob Dobson and Aiden Thomas for joining us for a life drawing session at the Swanson Studio's last night. Life drawing workshops will be offered on every last Thursday of every month throughout the fall and winter. We thank Lauren and Firefly Yoga for coming to our rescue when no life drawing sitter would venture out from the larger cities of Chapel Hill, Lynchburg or Greensboro! WE ARE LOOKING FOR LIFE DRAWING SITTERS. Please contact us at info @danvillemuseum.org if you know of any who would be interested in earning a small stipend for this. |
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Banned Books Week September 27 - October 3 |
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Celebrate Your Freedom to Read |
Banned Book Week, founded in 1982, honors intellectual freedom by highlighting often censored media. Whether you read to learn, relax or escape, books are an important presence in our lives. The best way to observe this annual event is by reading a frequently banned book. Visit The Danville Public Library for more information and check our Facebook page, @ReadDanvilleVA, throughout the week for fun facts and virtual activities.
Events for the week include 'Banned' Camp: a Discussion of Commonly Banned Books, a "Stand for the Banned" reading from Fahrenheit 451, and a writing session focused on censorship. Visit our website at readdanvilleva.org for more information on programs and events.
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