15th Anniversary Preview

Colonial Williamsburg in the News THE CAMPAIGN FOR COLONIAL WILLIAMSBURG For information visit www.colonialwilliamsburg.com; www.history.org The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation plans a major expansion of its award-winning art museums to enrich Americans’ appreciation of their nation’s history through the power of art and material culture. The $40-million project represents the first large-scale expansion and upgrade of the building that houses both the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Museum and the DeWitt Wallace Decorative Arts Museum since its opening in 1985. When complete, the project will add 8,000 square feet of new gallery space to the Art Museums of Colonial Williamsburg—as the two museums are collectively known—and greatly improve public access to the building. The Art Museums of Colonial Williamsburg boast internationally renowned collections of American folk art through the present day and of British and American fine and decorative arts from 1670–1830. These diverse, extensive collections play critical roles in Colonial Williamsburg’s mission to inform and engage Americans in the dramatic story of their country’s founding. The project is part of “The Campaign for History and Citizenship,” which has already raised more than $300 million toward a goal of $600 million. Funding goals include the preservation of Historic Area buildings, gardens, and landscapes; a proposed archaeological collections building; endowment for key positions; new Revolutionary City programming and operations; and historical analysis and research. Funds will enable Colonial Williamsburg to extend its mission beyond Williamsburg through new teaching and learning initiatives; investments in new media and technology; teacher professional development; and a colonial trades television series. The most important capital priority is the expansion of the Art Museums of Colonial Williamsburg, which includes—in addition to a 22 percent increase in gallery space and new lobby and entrance—new museum exhibitions, operations, programming, acquisitions, and enhancements. 15th Anniversary 20 www.antiquesandfineart.com HIGHLIGHT S EXHIBITIONS Birds, Bugs, and Plants: Observing the Natural World in the 18th Century Dewitt Wallace Decorative Arts Museum February 21, 2015– September 5, 2016 This exhibition explores the growth of interest in natural history during the eighteenth century. Fascinated by the plants and animals that were native to the New World, gentlemen on both sides of the Atlantic exchanged specimens and ideas and sponsored the avid collecting and documenting of birds, bugs and plants. Gardens, carefully planned and laid out, furthered the studies and enjoyment both privately and publically. Beautiful watercolors, hand-colored prints and period books illustrate this story. A Handsome Cupboard of Plate: Early American Silver in the Cahn Collection Through May 25, 2015 ANTIQUES FORUM & SYMPOSIA 67th Colonial Williamsburg Antiques Forum: New Findings in the Arts of the Southern Backcountry February 20–24, 2015 Recent developments in topics such as seating furniture of the Shenandoah Valley, the pottery of East Tennessee, Quaker cabinetmakers in the Carolina Piedmont, Kentucky silver, and the arts of the Georgia Piedmont, to name but a few, will be presented. Image of butterflies and insects likely completed by Eleazar Albin (1690–1742), ca. 1710–1720. Original watercolor, 15 x 12½ inches. This is an example of original works that were compiled by collector’s and connoisseurs into an album or scrapbook. Courtesy, The Art Museums of Colonial Williamsburg (1990–177,53). Artist’s rendering of the planned South Nassau Street entranceway to the expanded Art Museums of Colonial Williamsburg. Courtesy, The Art Museums of Colonial Williamsburg. Chest, Johannes Spitler, Shenandoah (now Page) County, Virginia, 1800-1805. Yellow pine, chestnut, and paint. Courtesy, Art Museums of Colonial Williamsburg. Colonial Williamsburg Museum Purchase (1990.2000.1). Textile Symposium: Stitching Together A National Identity March 15–17, 2015 Explores regional variations in American textiles from the eighteenth through twentieth centuries.