Art I'm Seeing #49, VMFA 01

The first reason to visit the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts is to see the new addition. Named for the principle contributors, the new James W. and Frances G. McGlothlin Wing opened to the public this past May 1, 2010. Always a wonderful regional museum, the expansion that included a new multilevel parking facility, sculpture garden and sloping hillside "amphitheater" transforms it into a major regional art museum.

The new addition creates an impressive 3 story atrium with glass elevators and glass enclosed causeways on various levels between the old and the new.

The space is designed as town commons with a nearly irresistible set of comfortable sets that quickly became the place some patrons found to await the arrival of others, or sit out their companion's visit to the expanded gift shop. Treated like another gallery the space included additional works from the series on display in the new sculpture gardens; as well as, affording the museum the perfect showplace for exhibiting large works of art like this by the late Sol LeWitt, entitled Splotch #22.



Areas within the new space our opened to the world without via glass walls giving you wonderful views of the new exterior landscaping, like the reflecting pools and sculpture gardens.

To inaugurate the E. Claiborne and Lora Robins Sculpture Gardens the VMFA has an exhibition featuring colossal sculpture by master ceramicist Jun Kaneko. Seen here from a second floor vantage point in the new atrium, the ability to enjoy the works of art from various angles and in the comfort of the climate controlled interior of the museum is assured.

And judging from the crowds I encountered today, the museum's popularity among Richmond's citizenry is a pretty sure bet, too. Always a personal favorite, at free to the public, it's a museum worth going out of your way to experience.