Member Events

Thu, Apr 17, 6 pm | Leslie Cheek Theater
Understand the Landscape of Indigenous Art with Virginia Native Arts Alliance
with Rebecca Hill, Director of the Virginia Native Arts Alliance (VNAA) and Pamunkey Tribal Council Member, and Siera Hyte, VMFA’s Schiller Family Curator of Indigenous American Art

In conversation with Siera Hyte, Rebecca Hill will discuss the transformative power of art as a vessel for cultural expression and the importance of educating the public about the historic and contemporary experiences of Indigenous communities. Learn more about the VNAA’s goals and the current landscape of Indigenous art in what is now known as Virginia.

The VMFA Circle Lecture Series is open to all members beginning at the Friends Circle level. This program will be offered in person and virtually, via Zoom. Click here to register for the livestream.

Tue, May 6, 6–8 pm
Talk | 6 pm | Leslie Cheek Theater
Reception | 7 pm |Cochrane Atrium

Hung Liu’s Matriarchs
with Dr. Dorothy Moss, Director of the Hung Liu Estate  

A groundbreaking Chinese American artist whose work recently entered VMFA’s collection, Hung Liu (1948-2021) came of age under Mao Zedong and spent four years laboring in the countryside as part of the Communist regime’s proletarian reeducation program. Through the strength of the women in her family, Liu survived war, displacement, and political turmoil before emigrating to the US to study art. Her work honors those matriarchal ancestors with monumental “shaped canvas” portraits that not only bridge painting and sculpture but also visualize an ancestral feminism that enabled her to break barriers as a woman, artist, and educator. 

Curator’s Choice programs are a benefit for members beginning at the Supporters Circle level. This program will be offered in person and virtually, via Zoom. Click here to register for the livestream. 

Thu, May 29, 6 pm | Leslie Cheek Theater
Taste and the Antique: An Art History Classic Forty Years On
with Dr. Adriano Aymonino, Director of the MA in Art Market, Provenance, and the History of Collecting at the University of Buckingham, and Dr. Sylvain Cordier, VMFA’s Paul Mellon Curator and Head of the Department of European Art 

Originally published in 1981, Francis Haskell and Nicholas Penny’s Taste and the
Antique: The Lure of Classical Sculpture, 1500–1900 offered the first accessible
introduction to the enormous impact of ancient sculpture on Western visual arts
and culture. Join Dr. Adriano Aymonino and Dr. Sylvain Cordier for a presentation
and discussion of Dr. Aymonino’s revised and expanded edition of this art history
classic, published in three volumes in December 2024 with support from VMFA
and the Joseph and Robert Cornell Memorial Foundation.

The VMFA Circle Lecture Series is open to all members beginning at the Friends Circle level. This program will be offered in person and virtually, via Zoom. Click here to register for the livestream.

Thu, Jun 12, 6 pm | Leslie Cheek Theater
Tracing the Ludwig and Rosy Fischer Collection
with Dr. Meike Hoffmann, Kunsthistorisches Institut, Freie Universität, Berlin, Germany 

Dr. Meike Hoffmann has written widely on the fate of modern art under the National Socialist regime, including Hitler’s Art Dealer: Hildebrand Gurlitt. At Freie Universität, she leads a provenance research program that engages students in ambitious projects such as contributing to an extensive database of art confiscated from German museums in the 1930s as part of the “Degenerate Art” campaign. Hoffmann recently collaborated with VMFA’s Associate Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art, Dr. Sarah Eckhardt, to teach a seminar focused on finding lost works from the original Ludwig and Rosy Fischer collection of German Expressionist art, of which VMFA’s extraordinary portion of 200+ works comprises less than half.

The VMFA Circle Lecture Series is open to all members beginning at the Friends Circle level. This program will be offered in person and virtually, via Zoom. Click here to register for the livestream.