William King Museum of Art is excited to announce that it will celebrate the opening of three new exhibits on First Thursday, January 5, 2017 from 6-8 p.m.
Virginia 360°: Photographs by Thomas R. Schiff is an exhibit of contemporary photographs on loan from the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. Using a panoramic camera, Mr. Schiff captures iconic images of Virginia landscapes and buildings including George Washington’s Mount Vernon, the Sir Christopher Wren Building, several Frank Lloyd Wright houses, and Arlington National Cemetery. e perspective achieved through the panoramic process engages the viewer and questions their perception of the familiar image. e exhibit is open from December 19, 2016 through March 12, 2017.
The Compassion Project: Walk a Mile in My Shoes is also opening that same evening. In the Museum’s first crowdsourcing effort, this special month-long exhibit features pairs of used shoes donated by the community accompanied by a story about the history of those shoes. e exhibit, which runs through January 29, 2017, seeks to promote empathy, compassion, and tolerance for people from all walks of life.
Visitors to the Museum on First Thursday will also be treated to an informal gallery talk by current Panoramic Gallery Artist Alan O’Neal. His exhibit, Objects Lost and Found is displayed alongside Gregory Davis’ Impermanence of Knowledge through the month of January. In this shared exhibit, O’Neal comments on consumer culture while Davis looks at how we store information and pass on knowledge.
These events are free and open to the public. For more information visit www.williamkingmuseum.org or call 276-628- 5005.
William King Museum of Art is located at 415 Academy Drive, o West Main Street or Russell Road, in Abingdon. The Museum features five exhibition galleries, artist studios, and an outdoor sculpture garden. Educational programs in the visual arts are offered year-round for both children and adults, and school audiences are served by in-house and outreach programs. Accredited by the American Alliance of Museums, the William King Museum of Art is a partner of the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, a member of the Virginia Association of Museums, and is funded in part by the Virginia Commission for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts.