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September 21, 2012

Art Museums of Colonial Williamsburg Offer New Programs This Fall

This fall Colonial Williamsburg’s DeWitt Wallace Decorative Arts Museum invites guests not to simply view the works of art on display but to ask questions about them and then learn how to create a piece of artwork to take home.

During “Backstory” learn more about the history of individual objects. Take a 45-minute guided tour of the museum and explore the hidden stories behind the objects on display such as paintings, ceramics, textiles and more. Discover who made the object and why or how the piece is in the Colonial Williamsburg collection. 1:30 p.m. Tuesdays, Oct. 2 – Nov. 20.

The hour-long program, “Explore Baltimore Album Quilts,” focuses on learning about and working with textiles. Guests learn about the colorful, creative and unique 19th-century album quilting traditions while exploring samples in the museum’s collection made around Baltimore. Then guests are invited to explore their creativity with a hands-on activity. 1:30 p.m. Wednesdays, Oct. 3 - Nov. 21. This program is being held in conjunction with the exhibition, “Quilts in the Baltimore Manner,” in Colonial Williamsburg’s Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Museum.

Family museum programs returning for the season include:

  • “Kids in Art” scouts the galleries for depictions of kids in art. After the one-hour tour, guests can create their own kid-inspired masterpiece to take home. 10:30 a.m. Friday, Oct. 5 – Nov. 16.
  • “Accessorize” examines 18th- and 19th-century portraits that illustrate fashion accessories. After the tour, guests can create a work of art to take home inspired by objects in the collection. 1:30 p.m. Fridays, Oct. 5 –Nov. 16. This program is held in conjunction with the exhibition, “Fashion Accessories from Head to Toe,” at the DeWitt Wallace Decorative Arts Museum.
  • “Scherenschnitte…What’s That?” delves into the German art of scissor cutting. During this interactive tour, guests learn about a popular art form for Swiss and German immigrants in the 18th and 19th centuries and can choose between creating simple silhouettes or more intricate designs for keepsakes to take home. 10:30 a.m. Saturdays, Oct. 6 – Nov. 17.

    These programs are all included in Colonial Williamsburg admission, museum admission, Annual or a Good Neighbor Pass. For more information, call 1-800-HISTORY or (757) 220-7724.

    Programs and exhibitions at The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation’s DeWitt Wallace Decorative Arts Museum are supported by the DeWitt Wallace Endowment Fund.

    These programs have been funded by a grant from Target in Williamsburg, Va.

    The Art Museums of Colonial Williamsburg include the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Museum and the DeWitt Wallace Decorative Arts Museum. The Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Museum is home to the nation’s premier collection of American folk art, with more than 5,000 folk art objects made during the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries. The DeWitt Wallace Decorative Arts Museum exhibits the best in British and American decorative arts from 1670–1830.

    The Art Museums of Colonial Williamsburg are located at the intersection of Francis and South Henry Streets in Williamsburg, Va., and are entered through the Public Hospital of 1773. Museum hours are 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily. For museum program information, telephone (757) 220-7724.

    The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation is the not-for-profit educational and cultural organization that preserves and operates the restored 18th-century Revolutionary capital of Virginia as a town-sized living history museum, telling the inspirational stories of our nation’s founding men and women. Williamsburg is located in Virginia’s Tidewater region, 20 minutes from Newport News, within an hour’s drive of Richmond and Norfolk, and 150 miles south of Washington, D.C., off Interstate 64. For more information about Colonial Williamsburg, call 1-800-HISTORY or visit Colonial Williamsburg’s website at www.history.org.

    Media Contact:
    Penna Rogers
    (757) 220-7121



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