The Virgina Museum of Fine Arts

There are some things that I expect to meet resistance with when mentioned in my house.  "Make your bed, empty the dishwasher, the baby made a stinky, and we're going to a museum" are all usually followed by "Moooommmmm" and then a total look of displeasure.  So when I suggested a trip to the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts (VMFA) I was totally prepared for a negative response.  Only I didn't get the one I expected.  Maybe they had heard the local media hype about the new facility or maybe it was the fact that I had been talking about it for a couple weeks and they knew it was coming.  Either way we all packed in the car....two cars actually and made our first visit to the museum. 



That rabbit is made from legos!

 The museum was first opened in 1936, according to their website, and in May of 2010 it open it's doors with a brand new expansion.  General admission to the museum is free.  Special exhibits have a charge that varies according to what they are showing.  There is so much to see so if you are planning a trip give your self at least a couple hours.  They have everything from African art to Art Deco, from Faberge to Ancient Art.  We saw collections of furniture to collections or hair clips.  Paintings from artist that I had read about in college and many more that I had never heard of.    

Portrait of Lydia Schabelsky, Baroness Staël-Holstein

Franz Xaver Winterhalter  (German , 1805 - 1873 )



The museum has a cafe, a gift shop, offers tours to adults/students and has audio tour for various collections.  They are open 365 days a year and Thursday-Friday they are open until 9pm. Other days they are only open until 5pm.  Since they opened with the new expansion they have had a collection of Tiffany Glass and The Faberge Revealed as special exhibits. There have been others but those two stuck out in my head.  In November they will have Mummy: Secrets of the Tomb.  I have yet to take in one of the special exhibits but I plan on making it to see that one....us Mummies have to stick together....ha ha. 



Mahavairocana Buddha (Dainichi) in the Womb Realm



The kids seemed to have enjoyed the trip well enough.  No one left in tears, the museum was still in one piece and I only got told to back up from a painting once by security.  Apparently there is a rule about not getting too close....who knew!