Before you read about the new Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, take a minute to peruse this interview (scroll down) with blues legend Taj Mahal. We spoke about some great world music, what Jimi Hendrix had to do to make it, and why America wasn’t—and still isn’t, he says—ready for the Rising Sons, the band he started with Ry Cooder in the 1960s.
Now, onward. As a life-long lover of looking at beautiful, famous things in quiet spaces, I was pretty amped to get a sneak preview at the totally revamped Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. Read my column about that here. Scroll down for an exclusive look inside.
Bam! The brand new McGlothlin wing, which opens Saturday. Courtesy of VMFA.
The museum reopens this week after a massive, $150 million addition, $50 million of which came from the state. The space for major traveling exhibitions has doubled, placing VMFA in the top 10 comprehensive art museums in the nation, they say.
Museum Director Alex Nyerges introduces the museum’s new features.
Sol LeWitt’s "Splotch #22," the artist’s final work, stands tall in the atrium.
Robert Arneson’s "A Likeness of Francis B." in one of the newly-renovated galleries.
A team works hard to hang a wall full of modern fare.
Inside one of the cool new sculpture labs that overlook Richmond’s Boulevard. Tubular!
Will you take the trip?
