Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, the operating company for the restored colonial village in Virginia’s Tidewater region, will open the new Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Museum (AARFAM) on February 3. The opening is timed to coincide with its Antiques Forum to be conducted February 3–8.
Ron Hurst, vice president in charge of museums, recently provided a preview tour and discussed the new facility. Clearly pleased with the new design and construction, Hurst was enthusiastic about the new building and all its details, which have been created to enhance their collections and exhibits. Room colors are bright with clerestory windows at roof line and window walls; there are even windows placed to catch the sunlight at certain times of the day to show special objects.
Formerly the folk art collection was housed in a modest building next to one of the hotels, but it was so small that exhibits were changed frequently. Much of the collection was either scattered about the village or in storage. The new facility will enable Williamsburg to have many times more objects on display for viewing and, as such, make it a real attraction for the public.
The new facility was built as an attachment to the Dewitt Wallace Gallery, the museum of Americana objects used in the colonies in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries. This museum was expanded and reopened in December and will now have more exhibit space as well. Both museums will be open year round, as is the entire historic center.
For information, 757-229-1000 or www.cwf.org.
