University of Mary Washington students and alumni with connections to the James Monroe Museum had an impromptu reunion at a recent Virginia Association of Museums workshop on event planning held at Gari Melchers Home and Studio. 

The Library of Virginia announces a daylong symposium, To Be Sold: The American Slave Trade from Virginia to New Orleans, on Saturday, March 21, 2015. Supporting the LVA's current exhibition, the symposium is a two-campus, live videoconference between the Library of Virginia, the Historic New Orleans College, and the Midlo Center for New Orleans Studies. This symposium is free and open to the public, but registration is required. Get more information and register.

The Stabler-Leadbeater Apothecary Museum reopens Sunday, February 1 after being closed for two months of repairs and restoration. Projects included plaster repairs and repainting of the historic retail space on the first floor. The repainting is based on a paint analysis, returning the room to its circa 1900 appearance.

In December, Stratford Hall's partners at the University of Georgia's College of Environment and Design visited Stratford to take video and still photographs of the property from a drone. The joint initiative, the Stratford Hall Cultural Landscape Laboratory, is the dynamic partnership between RELMA and UGA-CED to guide the interpretation and stewardship of the Stratford Hall landscape. UGA-CED was able to fly the drone 400 ft. in the air to take stills of the Great House and the Potomac River.

From the Old Coast Guard Station: Invitation to everyone in the Virginia museum community to join a new social club for museum professionals who enjoy lively chat about museum related topics over libations ~ Drinking About Museums South Hampton Roads Virginia. Inaugural meeting coming soon! For more information, "Join" us on Facebook or email [email protected]. 

On Friday, January 9th, a pipe burst at the Gadsby's Tavern Museum causing flooding in the 1785 building. Luckily, museum staff - onsite at the time of the flood - acted quickly in accordance with their disaster plan. Steps are already underway to dry and dehumidify the structure, conserve the historical collection, and implement sprinkler repairs to prevent a re-occurrence. In the meantime, Gadsby's Tavern Museum will remain closed to regular tours for several weeks. 

Virginia Foundation for the Humanities celebrated its 40th anniversary at the Library of Virginia with a live broadcast of BackStory with the American History Guys, featuring renowned U.S. historians Ed Ayers, Brian Balogh, and Peter Onuf. Opening remarks were made by Governor Terry McAuliffe. Following the broadcast, guests were invited to a reception and a private viewing of To Be Sold: Virginia and the American Slave Trade, a Library of Virginia exhibition curated by Maurie D. McInnis, VFH Board Member, University of Virginia Vice Provost for Academic Affairs and Professor of Art History, and former VFH Fellow in Residence.

The Valentine, in conjunction with the University of Richmond, Virginia Commonwealth University, Church Hill Activities and Tutoring and its Academy, is excited to present the exhibition Made in Church Hill, which opened January 22nd. The exhibition will be on display at The Valentine through June 28th. A free community opening took place January 22nd to kick of the exhibition. Congratulations!

The pilot for Point of Honor, the Civil War drama written by Lynchburg native Randall Wallace, premiered January 15th on Amazon. Wallace named the show for the historic house, Point of Honor, managed by the Lynchburg Museum System.

The Mariners' Museum Library at Christopher Newport University has received a $325,500 grant from the Council on Library and Information Resources. The grant will fund the cataloging of 22 collections of photographic negatives currently in storage. The library is the premier resource for maritime research, housing the largest maritime history collection in the Western Hemisphere. The Cataloging Hidden Special Collections and Archives grant will be used to bring to light photographic negatives that are currently inaccessible.

The Virginia Aquarium recently opened its newly refurbished and branded National Geographic 3D Theater. The large format film of the past has been replaced with digital technology and this sparked the Aquarium's total renovation of the theater equipment and furnishings as well as a new partnership with National Geographic.

The Garland and Agnes Taylor Gray Foundation, a supporting organization of The Community Foundation Serving Richmond and Central Virginia, has provided a grant of $150,000 in support of the American Revolution Museum at Yorktown, planned to replace the Yorktown Victory Center in late 2016.  In recent years the Gray Foundation has awarded grants totaling $259,000 for the project.

 

You might smell French Fries when Virginia Living Museum staffers Robby Ackerman, Mike Behan and George Mathews, Jr. drive by. That's because their cars are powered by used frying oil from the museum's Wild Side Cafe. The project, which began several years ago, now involves five area personal vehicles and 100% of the cafe's used frying oil. It has earned the museum a Green Travel Leader Award from the Virginia Green Program.

The Virginia Sports Hall of Fame announced its class of 2015 recently at the Virginia State Capitol in Richmond, as chosen by the statewide Honors Court committee. Kudos to all! Read more. 

Henricus Historical Park announced it has been awarded a $5,000 grant from The CarMax Foundation to assist in the execution of SOL- and STEM-aligned, cross-curricular programming for students enrolled in the After School Program for Richmond City Public Schools for grades K-5.

VTC recently posted "15 for '15: Historic Sites for History Buffs" on their blog. Kudos to the many VAM members noted! 

Scoutology.com recently named its Top 20 Virginia Museums. Many VAM-ers made the list.

Patrick Henry's Red Hill announced they received an award of 30,000 from the E. Stuart James Grant Charitable Trust. This grant allows Red Hill to create a new visitor orientation video to be completed by the end of 2015.