It’s become a summer family tradition to head to Richmond for a few Wednesdays every month. We spend the morning at a museum, grab a bite to eat at a restaurant that we don’t have in Charlottesville, and then hit half-price game day at Dave & Busters. An afternoon of overstimulation and video games is well-balanced with a morning at a museum.
Richmond is filled with museums; even though we’ve been doing our Wednesdays in RIC for years, we’ve never run out of places to visit. At the Virginia War Memorial we were lucky enough to talk with an aging WWII veteran and hear first-hand stories from his front-line experiences. The Virginia Historical Society offers a fascinating dichotomy in museum displays from a 1920s era mural room glorifying the Confederacy in one wing to extensive interactive displays addressing slavery, reconstruction, the “cult of the lost cause,” and the diversity of today’s Virginia. Both the Children’s Museum of Richmond and the Science Museum of Virginia offer hours of hands-on fun for kids of all ages – don’t miss the rat basketball at the Science Museum!
One of our favorite museum experiences was the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts (VMFA). We love art museums…in small doses! A morning is the perfect amount of time for our crew. Our favorite way to keep everyone engaged at an art museum is a family gallery hunt. The VMFA offers some really great gallery hunts at the Visitor Services desk and online. I love that these keep you on your toes to find specific works while also providing additional detail about each piece.
Sometimes, we create our own challenge where everyone picks out certain highlights to share at the end; some ideas: favorite, ugliest/weirdest, most colorful, biggest, tiniest, oldest. For the DIY gallery hunt, we share phone cameras to snap pictures for a show-and-tell later.
Whether we love it or can’t quite see the value in it, the artwork always prompts some really interesting observations and discussions. We all got a giggle out of the piece titled Birds Don’t Care Whose Head They Crap On. On the other hand, a giant painting titled Willem van Heythuysen Posing with a Sword got us talking about how people of color are so rarely depicted in positions of strength and beauty in the “Old Master paintings.”
We usually just hit the permanent galleries when we visit, but it’s definitely worth keeping an eye on special exhibitions. In 2015, we were able to take advantage of a Chihuly exhibit with some truly stunning displays!
The VMFA is open 365 days a year, 10 am until 5 pm, with extended evening hours on some days. Admission is FREE to the permanent galleries, although there may be an entrance fee for special exhibitions or programs. Parking is free in the parking deck adjacent to the museum. Be sure to visit the museum website prior to your visit to confirm details!
After you’ve had your fill of artwork, it’s just a short 10 minute walk to some fantastic restaurants on West Cary Street. With a wide selection to satisfy nearly any palate, it’s a great way to take a break and share everyone’s museum highlights. We are devoted ice cream eaters, so we stopped for some treats at Bev’s Homemade Ice Cream and Café before walking back to the parking deck to head out.
Sometimes I feel like the kids are barely tolerating my museum requirement in the mornings before the real highlight at the arcade, but the VMFA was a win for all of us!
More on the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts:
Kelly works part time as an independent contractor serving companies with her writing and instructional design expertise. With a BA from William and Mary and an MEd from Penn State, she has a passion for education and making difficult concepts easy to understand. Outside of work, her favorite thing to do is travel with her family. On a normal day when that’s not possible, Kelly can be found baking sourdough, cheering on her teenagers at sports events, or volunteering with the treatment team at the Wildlife Center.