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Shenandoah Valley Museum – a treasure
The Museum of the Shenandoah Valley in Winchester offers an extraordinary historical experience and a unique opportunity for a quick nearby trip.The museum gives one a sense of belonging to our area like no other museum. You will feel perfectly “at home” as it pays tribute to our area’s interesting past—from the earliest settlements that moved West in the 1700s to those hard working men and women who made their lives here in the past 300 years.
Architecturally, the three-year old museum, designed by the famous Michael Graves firm, is an astonishingly beautiful contemporary building which houses four major gallery spaces. It also has state-of-the-art multi-media slide shows that should not be missed. The diorama in the main building helps bring history alive for this fabled region.
In addition to its outstanding Shenandoah Valley collections, the benefactor Julian Glass has given the museum a stunning collection of his personal art, including paintings by John Constable, Thomas Gainsborough and James Whistler.
There also is a miniature house with exact reproductions in the smallest detail of Glass’ home—a work of art that will fascinate adults as well as children. One also must take a tour of the lovely formal gardens as well as the Glen Burnie mansion owned by the Glass family—founders of Winchester in the mid 1700s.
Currently, the museum is showcasing a new exhibition of “British Paintings from the Berger Collection.” This remarkable exhibition, chosen from paintings from the Berger Collection of the Denver Art Museum and on loan for this show, presents 31 paintings of special merit to anyone interested in the history of England at the time before and shortly after our independence.
If you go
This is a museum where one could easily spend the whole day, beginning with a tour of the museum, lunch in its attractive “Tea Room,” and then take a tour of the historic mansion and gardens in the afternoon—or vice versa.
The museum is open from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday. Admission is free to museum members. For all others, an adult combination ticket to visit the house, gardens, and museum is $12; senior and youth combination tickets are $10 each. Admission to the museum galleries only is $8 for adults and $6 for senior and youth.
Thanks in part to a grant from the Berger Collection Educational Trust, admission to the MSV galleries is free to youth 18 and under through Aug. 31. For more information call 888-556-5799, ext. 235 (toll free), or visit their website at www.shenandoahmuseum.org The museum is approximately 50 minutes from Rappahannock County, just off Interstate 81.
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GARDENS: The six acres of beautifully planned gardens of historic Glen Burnie House are a beauty to behold in all seasons.
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TREASURE: The Museum of the Shenandoah Valley is less than an hour away in nearby Winchester. Both the contemporary building and its treasures are well worth a visit and will be of interest to young people as well as adults.
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TEA ROOM: One of the unexpected pleasures of visiting the Museum of the Shenandoah Valley is having lunch or afternoon tea in the museum’s “Tea Room.” The meals—mainly sandwiches, salads, and fruit as well as tempting desserts, are both tasty and reasonably priced.
Shenandoah Valley Museum – a treasure
By Richard Lykes
Special to the Rappahannock News
The Museum of the Shenandoah Valley in Winchester offers an extraordinary historical experience and a unique opportunity for a quick nearby trip.
The museum gives one a sense of belonging to our area like no other museum. You will feel perfectly “at home” as it pays tribute to our area’s interesting past—from the earliest settlements that moved West in the 1700s to those hard working men and women who made their lives here in the past 300 years.
Architecturally, the three-year old museum, designed by the famous Michael Graves firm, is an astonishingly beautiful contemporary building which houses four major gallery spaces. It also has state-of-the-art multi-media slide shows that should not be missed. The diorama in the main building helps bring history alive for this fabled region.
In addition to its outstanding Shenandoah Valley collections, the benefactor Julian Glass has given the museum a stunning collection of his personal art, including paintings by John Constable, Thomas Gainsborough and James Whistler.
There also is a miniature house with exact reproductions in the smallest detail of Glass’ home—a work of art that will fascinate adults as well as children. One also must take a tour of the lovely formal gardens as well as the Glen Burnie mansion owned by the Glass family—founders of Winchester in the mid 1700s.
Currently, the museum is showcasing a new exhibition of “British Paintings from the Berger Collection.” This remarkable exhibition, chosen from paintings from the Berger Collection of the Denver Art Museum and on loan for this show, presents 31 paintings of special merit to anyone interested in the history of England at the time before and shortly after our independence.
If you go
This is a museum where one could easily spend the whole day, beginning with a tour of the museum, lunch in its attractive “Tea Room,” and then take a tour of the historic mansion and gardens in the afternoon—or vice versa.
The museum is open from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday. Admission is free to museum members. For all others, an adult combination ticket to visit the house, gardens, and museum is $12; senior and youth combination tickets are $10 each. Admission to the museum galleries only is $8 for adults and $6 for senior and youth.
Thanks in part to a grant from the Berger Collection Educational Trust, admission to the MSV galleries is free to youth 18 and under through Aug. 31. For more information call 888-556-5799, ext. 235 (toll free), or visit their website at www.shenandoahmuseum.org The museum is approximately 50 minutes from Rappahannock County, just off Interstate 81.
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