Talks

Wed, Nov 3 - Feb 16, 1:00–1:30pm | Meet at Man Ray exhibition entrance

Enjoy live readings of poetry selections by Gertrude Stein, William Carlos Williams, Virginia Woolf and other writers featured in Man Ray photographs. Selections vary week to week and are presented by Ron Smith, former poet laureate of Virginia, and VMFA staff. 

Nov 3
Nov 10
Nov 17
Dec 1
Dec 8
Dec 15
Dec 29
Jan 5
Jan 12
Jan 19
Jan 26
Feb 2
Feb 9
Feb 16

Please note, due to the holidays, there will be no readings on Nov 24 and Dec 22.

If you require in-gallery seating, please collect a gallery stool from Coat Check prior to the reading. Please see Visitor Services for more information.

Free with exhibition ticket. 

Tue, Jan 4, 11–11:30 am | Meet at Visitor Services 
with Jeffrey Allison, Director, Statewide Programs and Exhibitions & Paul Mellon Collection Educator

Explore three works of art that are a part of the Surrealism Movement, a 20th-century avant-garde movement in art and literature which sought to release the creative potential of the unconscious mind. This program is inspired by the special exhibition Man Ray: The Paris Years.

Free, no tickets required.

Thu, Jan 6, 11–11:30 am | Virtual Gallery Program
with Jeffrey Allison, Director, Statewide Programs and Exhibitions & Paul Mellon Collection Edcuator

Free, registration via Zoom required.

Wed, Dec 8, 6:30–7:30pm | Leslie Cheek Theater
Facilitated by Crystal Mason, current co-founder Queering Dreams, former Queer Rebels Productions

Dr. Carmen D. Higginbotham, Dean, VCUarts

Emily Smith, Director, 1708 Gallery

Dr. Sarah Kennel, Aaron Siskind Curator of Photography and Director of the Raysor Center at VMFA

Inspired by the 1920s photographs of Berenice Abbott, Lee Miller, and other modern women in VMFA's Man Ray: The Paris Years exhibition, this conversation will offer perspective on today's modern woman and gender equity in the arts.

Free, tickets required.

Fri, Dec 10, 6:30–8:30 pm | Leslie Cheek Theater
Dr. Rebecca Senf, Chief Curator, Center for Creative Photography

Talk 6:30 pm | Leslie Cheek Theater
Book Signing 7:30 pm (free, no tickets required) | Conference Center Suites

Ansel Adams scholar Dr. Rebecca Senf recently published Making a Photographer: The Early Work of Ansel Adams, a new book on the acclaimed photographer that looks at the source of his lifelong investments in landscape and environmentalism. She will discuss how his early experiences connected him to the wilderness and how his decades of thinking about nature and photography led to the creation of his celebrated signature style. Her talk will feature his iconic images and lesser-known early works and will provide a sense of who Ansel Adams was and how that influenced who he came to be.

$8 (VMFA members $5)

Fri, Jan 28, 6:30–8:30pm | Leslie Cheek Theater
ARTHUR LUBOW, journalist and biographer, and DR. MICHAEL TAYLOR, Chief Curator and Deputy Director for Art and Education, VMFA

6:30–7:30pm | Conversation | Leslie Cheek Theater | $8 ($5 VMFA members)
7:30–8:30pm | Book Signing | Conference Center Suites | Free, no tickets required

Join acclaimed writer and journalist Arthur Lubow and Dr. Michael Taylor, curator of VMFA's exhibition, Man Ray: The Paris Years, for a conversation about Man Ray's life and work in connection with Lubow's new biography, Man Ray: The Artist and His Shadows (2021, Yale University Press, Jewish Lives series). Following the conversation, Lubow will sign copies of Man Ray: The Artist and His Shadows, which is available for purchase in the VMFA Shop. This program is timed to coincide with the museum's special exhibition, Man Ray: The Paris Years.

Thu, Feb 3, 6:30–7:30pm | Leslie Cheek Theater
with Dr. Michael Taylor, Chief Curator and Deputy Director for Art and Education, VMFA
The Family of Ruby Richards will join Dr. Taylor for a roundtable discussion and audience Q&A. 

In 1938 the African American dancer and singer Ruby Richards moved to Paris to replace Josephine Baker as the star attraction at the Folies Bergère. The famous cabaret music hall commissioned Man Ray to help introduce Richards to French audiences through his innovative portrait photographs. Timed to coincide with VMFA's special exhibition, Man Ray: The Paris Years, this talk will explore the artistic collaboration between Richards and Man Ray, which continued after World War II. By that time Richards was an international star whose performances and personal life were regularly featured in entertainment magazines, especially after the release of her acclaimed album, Zizi de Paris.

Free, tickets required.