Events

Wednesdays, Feb 5–Apr 30, 2025
5–6:30 pm
Free; registration required
Pauley Center Studio B

VMFA's Girl Action Team is a twelve-week program developed by Girls for a Change and hosted at the museum. It empowers young women to explore the vibrant world of art through self-discovery and creativity. With guidance from Coach Nickey McMullen and Sistah Austin Miles, participants will draw inspiration from women artists including Frida Kahlo as they reflect on their identities beyond societal narratives.
 
In anticipation of the upcoming exhibition Frida: Beyond the Myth, participants will delve into activities such as creating symbolic self-portraits, storytelling through art, exploring cultural heritage, and collaborating on mural projects. These experiences will help participants embrace their individuality, celebrate resilience, and express themselves authentically through art. Students in grades 6 through 12 are invited to register. The first session will include an orientation to the program.
 
Girls for a Change (GFAC) was formed in 2000, and achieved nonprofit status in 2004, with the idea of empowering young women by inviting them to design, lead, fund, and implement social change projects that tackle issues girls face in their own neighborhoods. For more information, please visit www.girlsforachange.org/

Fri, Feb 7, 2025
6–8 pm
Free; no tickets or registration required
Cochrane Atrium

Thu, Feb 13, 2025
6–7 pm
Free; no tickets required
Cochrane Atrium
 
Join VMFA and host Ashley Hendricks, 12 On Your Side, for the exciting unveiling of an art project dedicated to this year's honorees of RVA Community Makers. This will be the first presentation of sculpted artwork that Kourtenay Plummer created for the occasion and the reveal of our 2025 honorees, who were selected for their outstanding leadership in the Richmond community. Hear from Plummer and from artist Hamilton Glass, who has led our annual RVA Community Makers throughout its seven-year history.
 
This year’s program also includes remarks by VMFA curator Valerie Cassel Oliver. She will discuss artist Fred Wilson’s chandelier No Way But This, which served as inspiration for the 2025 project. Recently added to the VMFA collection and on view near the museum's historic 1936 entrance, No Way But This challenges colonial assumptions on history, culture, and race, as well as ideas of the western canon and power relations in institutions. Attendees are encouraged to view Wilson's work before or after the program.

Thu, Feb 13 – Mon, Mar 31, 2025 
Free; no tickets required 
Cochrane Atrium