HANNAH & JOHN
ART LOVERS
The Art Museums of Colonial Williamsburg
Both the Abby Aldridge Rockefeller and the Dewitt Wallace museums are located in the gorgeous, newly renovated Art Museum building on the corner of Francis and Nassau Streets. Both museums are an absolute treat!
The Abby Aldridge Rockefeller is the premier, and oldest, museum in the U.S. dedicated to the collection and preservation of American folk art; weathervanes, quilts, toys, cigar store Indians, the amazing art of Edward Hick’s Peaceable Kingdom, and a 20th century carousel (whose animals include an ostrich, a cat with a fish in its mouth and a pig!) are on display.
The DeWitt Wallace museum is dedicated to British and American fine and decorative arts between 1670 and 1840. Here you’ll find furniture, clocks, weapons, textiles, portraits, silver, and gorgeous china, all beautifully displayed with interesting and straight forward descriptions. Some of the exhibitions are interactive – sit down to test the comfort of chairs from different time periods!
Your Colonial Williamsburg ticket includes admission to the museums, but you can also buy a day ticket ($15 as of this writing). Enter the museums from S. Nassau street – ample parking is provided. There is a cafe on site and a really nice gift shop.
Insider Tip: The nation’s first public hospital for the mentally ill is connected to the art museums; admission is included with your tickets.
Current exhibition and ticket information: www.colonialwilliamsburg.org/explore/art-museums/current-exhibitions/#aa
Further reading:
www.antiquesandthearts.com/colonial-williamsburgs-newly-expanded-art-museums-open/
The Muscarelle Museum of Art (on the Campus of William & Mary)
The Muscarelle is an extraordinary college museum with impressive credentials. In the last two years alone, the small museum has featured world-renowned exhibitions on Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci and Caravaggio, and was one of only two venues in the U.S. to showcase an exhibit on Sandro Botticelli. The museum is in the midst of a significant expansion as it becomes part of the new, multi-million dollar, state-of-the-art Martha Wren Briggs Center for the Visual Arts.
news.artnet.com/exhibitions/botticellis-venus-go-view-united-states-first-time-828893
