ROANOKE, Va. (April 19, 2018) — From locally roasted coffee and espresso drinks to house made soups, sandwiches, salads, wraps and more — the Taubman Museum of Art is pleased to welcome Morning Brew Coffee Company as the Museum’s new café partner.

Morning Brew Coffee Company is independently owned and operated by Toya Jones, a Roanoke native who also owns and operates the popular Dojo Grill food truck.

“It’s only natural and ideal for a coffee shop to want to be in or at least near an art museum district,” said Jones. “After several meetings with the executive director, the staff, board members and volunteers, it was clear that I wanted to make The Taubman Museum of Art home to Morning Brew Coffee Company. I’m a huge fan of downtown Roanoke. I used to live in downtown Roanoke and I am super happy to be back. I’m surrounded by all of the things that I love…art and coffee!”

Morning Brew launched with a soft opening Monday, April 16, and along with the Taubman will host a grand opening celebration Thursday, May 3, at 11 a.m.

“After meeting Toya, learning about her business plan, and enjoying her delicious food, we knew she would be a great fit for the Museum,” said Cindy Petersen, executive director of the Taubman Museum of Art. “She’s a very savvy business woman who has a passion for creativity and delivering the best guest experience possible. We think she will be the perfect partner for the Museum.”

Morning Brew is open daily 7 a.m.-5 p.m., with extended hours until 9 p.m. on the first Fridays of each month as part of the Museum’s Art by Night programming.

In addition to breakfast, lunch and the occasional late night offerings, Morning Brew also offers a variety of catering options, from coffee and pastries to heavy hors d’oeuvres. To-go orders are also accepted by phone at 540.206.2183.

Blue Ridge Catering will remain the Museum’s other exclusive catering partner for events held on-site.

ROANOKE, Va. (March 10, 2018) — The Taubman Museum of Art is pleased to present Genesis Chapman: Fire on the Mountain, a new solo exhibition by the Museum’s first juried triennial winner, Genesis Chapman. The series documents the environmental impact of oil and gas pipelines across the United States, and reflects Chapman’s personal struggle with the proposed Mountain Valley Pipeline, which will cross his homeland in Bent Mountain, Va., in several places.

The exhibition is on view March 10-Aug. 12, 2018, and is free and open to the public.

Chapman will give artist talks Friday, April 6, at 4:30 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. The talks are $8 for the general public, $5 for students and educators, and free for members.

Beginning in 2015, Chapman started documenting cases of pipeline explosions linked to companies including Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E), Williams, Columbia Gas Transmissions, and the Colonial Pipeline Company. In 2017 he noted, “…there have been so many happening just this year I have found it hard to keep up…In all honesty, there is no lack of documented pipeline explosions from the past 10 years.”

Chapman’s ink on Yupo paper paintings mounted on wood-carved company logos document the destructive power of flame and smoke in almost hyperrealistic detail while the surrounding environment is left seemingly unfinished and stark white, perhaps alluding to a story that is still unfolding. The artist says of his process, “My drawings and paintings reflect the pattern, movement, and energy of nature.”

Chapman’s forest fire paintings are timely on a national scale, though they were initially inspired by a brush fire that engulfed a portion of the land near his Bent Mountain cabin in November 2012.

The showpiece of this exhibition, an 8-foot-tall depiction of an explosion, is titled Pillar of Fire: Mountain Valley Pipeline Nightmare. This large-scale ink painting is a fearful imagining of what could happen on the stretch of Bent Mountain and Bottom Creek visible from the artist’s cabin if there were a Mountain Valley Pipeline explosion. At the heart of Chapman’s extensive environmental studies, he simply states, “My art aims to examine and investigate Bent Mountain, Va., which is the place I grew up, and a place I deeply love.”

The Taubman Museum of Art’s Homeward Bound triennial exhibition in 2017 was a major juried show presenting work in all media by artists living in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Guest juror Bradley Sumrall of the Ogden Museum of Southern Art chose 74 works by 59 artists out of a total of 1,137 artworks submitted. As the first place winner of the Taubman’s first-ever triennial, Chapman was presented with the opportunity to present his work in a solo exhibition at the Museum.

Chapman received his Bachelor of Arts from the Kansas City Art Institute and his Master of Arts in painting from Virginia Commonwealth University. His work has been shown in exhibitions in Kansas, Virginia, and New York, and most recently in a solo exhibition at Art Space in Richmond.

Genesis Chapman: Fire on the Mountain is curated by Eva Thornton, Curatorial Coordinator, and is on view in the David R. and Susan S. Goode Regional Gallery.

ROANOKE, Va. (Feb. 9, 2018) — After a nearly eight month wait, Flower Bomber has finally taken flight. The site-specific installation by sculptor Paul Villinski is now on view through February 2019 in the City of Roanoke Atrium at the Taubman Museum of Art.

Originally slated for exhibition beginning in June 2017, the rental truck carrying the work was stolen outside of Villinski’s Long Island City, N.Y., studio the night before Villinski was to drive it to Roanoke. The truck and work were recovered a few days later, only a little worse for the wear. After some repair work this past fall, Villinski debuted Flower Bomber at the Taubman Feb. 9.

Representing one of the artist’s most ambitious projects undertaken to date, Flower Bomber weighs 750 pounds, has a wingspan of 30 feet and features a complex wooden structure with a skin of translucent fiberglass attached with 3,000 rivets. The work is a scaled-to-size World War II bomber airplane modeled after the North American B-25 Mitchell. Manufactured by North American Aviation (NAA), it is named in honor of Major General William “Billy” Mitchell, a legend of U.S. military aviation.

Suspended in mid-flight, Flower Bomber delivers a payload of more than 3,000 aluminum flowers onto the atrium floor, where they accumulate into a large pile. The aluminum is from cans that were harvested by canners employed by Sure We Can, a non-profit recycling center in Brooklyn. Seven different flower species are represented, each laser-cut and shaped by hand in Villinski’s studio.

The sculpture transforms a weapon that was considered a symbol of violence into an emblem of beauty.

For the artist, Flower Bomber “connotes mankind’s desire to leave the world behind.” The son of an Air Force navigator, as a boy Villinski was fascinated with flight. In his 30s, he became an experienced pilot of sailplanes, paragliders and single-engine airplanes.

Villinski’s site-specific installation continues an ambitious and experimental atrium program established by the Museum in 2010. This program invites artists to create new work that stretches the limits of their production while offering them compelling opportunities to explore fresh ideas in their work.

Flower Bomber replaces another of Villinski’s flight-themed works, Passage, a glider with 1,000 black aluminum butterflies seemingly lifting it into mid-air above the atrium floor. The work will be returned to the Blanton Museum of Art at the University of Texas-Austin, which loaned the piece for exhibition.

Villinski’s solo retrospective Farther is also on view at the Taubman Museum of Art through July 15, 2018. The exhibition highlights several new works made specifically for the Taubman that explore recurrent themes in the artist’s work, including flight, community, the environment, and more intimate narratives such as addiction and recovery, all united by Villinski’s central preoccupation, transformation.

“I’m fascinated by the simple alchemy of transforming humble, discarded materials into things of beauty and layered meaning,” said Villinski. “This speaks to the idea of potential, of the surprising things that can be done with imagination, commitment, risk, and hard work — with enough love. My work is an exploration of the possible, at the heart of which is hope.”

Once Farther closes this summer, it will join the Taubman’s roster of exhibitions available for travel to other museums.

Villinski has created studio and large-scale artworks for more than three decades. He received a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art in 1984. His work has been included in numerous exhibitions nationally, recently including the McNay Art Museum in San Antonio, Texas; the Blanton Museum, University of Texas in Austin; and the Museum of Arts and Design in New York, New York.

He has been a recipient of a National Endowment for the Arts grant and has been an Artist-in-Residence at the Serenbe Institute in Georgia; Socrates Sculpture Park, New York; the Millay Colony, New York; the Ucross Foundation, Wyoming; the Djerassi Foundation, California; and the Villa Montalvo Arts Center, California.

He is represented in New York by Morgan Lehman Gallery; in New Orleans, La., by Jonathan Ferrara Gallery; in Jackson Hole, Wyo., by Tayloe Piggot Gallery; and in Palm Desert, Calif., by Austin Art Projects.

The exhibitions Paul Villinski: Flower Bomber, Passage, and Farther are supported in part by the Foundation for Roanoke Valley.

ROANOKE, Va. (Jan. 29, 2018) —The Taubman Museum of Art, Local Colors and Roanoke Valley Sister Cities invite the community to celebrate Lunar New Year Saturday, Feb. 3, 12-2 p.m. at the Taubman Museum of Art, 110 Salem Ave. SE.

Lunar New Year is a special celebration recognized by Asian communities throughout the world, and is a time when families mark the changing of the traditional Chinese calendar with special foods, gifts and customs. The upcoming year is the Year of the Dog, the eleventh of 12 signs that make up the Chinese zodiac.

“Lunar New Year is a wonderful opportunity for our community to learn about the cultural traditions of our Asian friends and neighbors living right here in southwest Virginia,” said Cindy Petersen, Taubman Museum of Art executive director. “We invite everyone to come out and enjoy this special, free community day with spectacular dances, performances and art making.”

Added Local Colors Executive Director Beth Lutjen: “Roanoke is home to a large Asian population with rich cultural traditions, and many local groups are looking forward to sharing them at this event. And new this year — some local downtown businesses are getting into the spirit and will offer Lunar New Year attendees discounts that day. We’ll have a full list for guests the day of the event.”

Event highlights include:

• David White and the Shaolin Dragon Martial Arts Academy performing lion and dragon dances
• Jane Wang and her accomplished students showcasing traditional Chinese string compositions
• Blacksburg Chinese School demonstrating Chinese Yo-Yo’s and performing traditional Chinese dances
• 1550 Dance Group performing the dance “Flying Kites”
• Art projects for children and families representing cultural celebrations from a variety of Asian cultures
• Ice cream for sale by Blue Cow Ice Cream Company
• Guests also are invited to visit Art Venture, the Museum’s interactive children’s gallery, featuring 14 hands-on creativity stations. Art Venture is free Feb. 3 from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. as part of the celebration.

The event concludes with Lutjen distributing traditional Chinese Red Envelopes with well wishes to children in attendance along with a group sing-along of the traditional New Year’s song, “Gong xi Gong xi.”

About Local Colors

Local Colors is Roanoke’s premiere, year-long multicultural program that recognizes and embraces people of diverse origins, races and ethnic backgrounds. Throughout the year, Local Colors works with diverse communities in the valley advocating for inclusion and providing referrals and access to community services. Visit their website to learn more about future events and programs, and how you can support Local Colors.

About Roanoke Valley Sister Cities

Roanoke Valley Sister Cities provides connections to four continents and seven different countries through its artistic, education, medical, municipal, social, humanitarian and business exchanges.

ROANOKE, Va. (Jan. 19, 2018) — The Taubman Museum of Art is pleased to present NoTiNoRdeR, an exhibition of mixed media drawings and assemblage sculptures by California artist Joan Tanner, on view Jan. 19-June 17, 2018, in the Bank of America Foundation/Dominion Resources Gallery.

The exhibition is organized by Julien Robson, independent curator and director of Great Meadows Foundation. “Joan is compelled by a curiosity to engage contradiction and an impulse to disrupt assumptions about spatial relations,” noted Robson.

NoTiNoRdeR provides an opportunity for audiences to explore and enjoy the inventiveness of Tanner’s art, and take pleasure in the play of imagination it evokes.

Over a career spanning six decades, Tanner’s art has developed across disciplines to encompass many media, including painting, photography, video, sculpture and assemblage. With an instinctive resistance to conventional ideas of order, she has created provocative and engaging works that defy simple categorization and sometimes logic.

She has exhibited her paintings, drawings, photographs, sculpture and site-specific installations across the United States since 1968, beginning shortly after she moved to Southern California from the Midwest. Her work is held in a number of collections, including The Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles; Harvard University, Houghton Library, Department of Printing and Graphics, Cambridge, Mass.; New York Public Library, Spencer Collection; Speed Art Museum, Louisville, Ky.; and the Santa Barbara Museum of Art, California.

Tanner has served as a visiting lecturer at the University of California Santa Barbara; Ohio University in Athens; Illinois State University at Normal; and, most recently, as an artist-in-residence at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.

ROANOKE, Va. (Jan. 15, 2018) — The Taubman Museum of Art is pleased to present the Second Annual Tastings at the Taubman, a trio of delicious events celebrating the art of fine wines and craft spirits.

USA Today recently named the series among the coolest food and beverage festivals in the United States. 

Featuring a Spanish theme, Wine + Dine on Thursday, January 18, begins with a guided tour of the galleries with exhibiting artist Joan Tanner. Guests then retreat to an intimate theater for a guided, five-course dining experience with Pablo Rodriguez, the third generation vineyard owner of the acclaimed Hispano Bodegas vineyards. Tickets are $110 each, and advance registration is required.

Guests can sample more than 30 wines from around the world (along with a few craft beers!) while they enjoy live music and expertly paired hors d’oeuvres and desserts at the Fifth Annual International Wine Festival presented by Kroger on Sunday, January 28. Seasoned wine stewards will enhance guests’ experiences with tasting notes to help them discover their favorite new wines.

Coca-Cola will provide a designated driver service after the festival to those who are within a 15-minute radius of the Museum. Tickets are $45 in advance and $55 the day of the event.

Bourbon + Bacon on Friday, February 9, will offer an unforgettable evening featuring generous pours and tapas-style savory pork creations by local chefs. Guests can round out their experience with a spotlight talk by Virginia Tech Senior Instructor John Boyer about whiskey-making traditions, dance along to live music, and visit the galleries to enjoy hundreds of works on view. Tickets are $55 in advance and $65 the day of the event.

Tastings at the Taubman is generously sponsored in part by Kroger, Blue Ridge Beverage, Coca-Cola, 101.5/102.5 The Mountain, City Magazine, Blue Cow Ice Cream Company, Blue Ridge Catering and chocolatepaper.

ROANOKE, Va. (Jan. 4, 2018) — The Taubman Museum of Art Board of Trustees announced today the appointment of Cindy Petersen as the Museum’s new executive director.

Petersen is an experienced leader in nonprofit management, having worked over the past two decades with organizations in Virginia and in business consulting in Europe. She has been with the Taubman since 2011 as deputy director of education and visitor engagement before serving as interim executive director following the departure of former executive director Della Watkins in September 2017, who left to join the Columbia Museum of Art in South Carolina.

During her time as a senior staff member, Petersen was integral to the development and enhancement of visitor-based programming. Among her accomplishments, Petersen created a Learning Lab for Leaders training series that has received accolades from the likes of MuseumNext, based in England; designed Art Venture, the Museum’s interactive children’s discovery center; led the redevelopment of the Museum’s education programs to mirror K-12 curriculum plans; started a Museum School, offering classes for children, teens and adults; and provided strategic guidance that helped the Museum earn accreditation from the American Alliance of Museums. The average length of guest visits to the Museum also tripled during her tenure.

“Having worked closely with Cindy over the past few years, the Board has the utmost confidence in her abilities,” said Leon Harris, chairman of the Board of Trustees. “She has a deep understanding of this Museum and our community. She is a compassionate leader who is able to bring out the best in her teams. She has strong relationships with key organizations and individuals across the Commonwealth. She is a proven fundraiser and knows how to balance a large budget. And she is an innovative thinker who can turn challenges into opportunities. We’re delighted to work with Cindy in this new capacity and know many wonderful things are ahead for the Taubman Museum of Art and for our community.”

According to Petersen, her visitor-first commitment will continue in her new role. “My vision is to meet the community where they are: to offer participatory educational opportunities and exhibitions that reflect their interests, yet educate and connect them to the broader world. We want the Taubman to be everyone’s art museum—accessible, a place for discovery, and inspiring—and somewhere that, before they even leave, they’re already planning their next visit.”

The community is invited to a drop-in Coffee with the New Executive Director Thursday, Jan. 25, 8:30-10:30 a.m. to meet Petersen and share their ideas on the future of the Museum.

Petersen earned a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and a Master of Education from Harvard University. She serves on the Carilion Children’s Advisory Board, the Roanoke City Public Schools Education Foundation and the Southwest Virginia Ballet Board of Directors.

ROANOKE, Va. (Dec. 20, 2017) — The Taubman Museum of Art is pleased to present Reclamation! Pan-African Works from the Beth Rudin DeWoody Collection, featuring nearly 100 works from various media highlighting the global migration of peoples across the world.

Drawn from DeWoody’s significant contemporary African diaspora collection, it features world renowned artists such as Willie Cole, Hank Thomas Willis, Kerry James Marshall, Kara Walker, Romare Bearden, Kehinde Wiley, Sanford Biggers, Nathaniel Mary Quinn, and Yinka Shonibare MBE (RA) among others working in a broad reach of media and conceptual approaches.

The exhibition opens March 3, 2018, with a special ticketed Q&A with DeWoody Friday, March 2. Exhibiting artist Nathaniel Mary Quinn will be on hand for the Q&A event. The exhibition is on view through Sept. 2, 2018.

“I am delighted to share this important selection of Pan-African artwork with the Taubman Museum of Art and Roanoke community,” said DeWoody. “Reclamation! introduces themes of globalization and diaspora that I feel are especially timely and important within art history. It is truly special to me that this exhibition will include my very first acquisition, by Benny Andrews in 1969, alongside major works in my collection spanning the 1940’s to present. It has been a pleasure working with the Taubman Museum of Art to develop this wonderful exhibition, and I look forward to the opening in March 2018.”

The exhibiting artists create work that investigates the universal conversation of migration, history, race and representation in art being made today. The exhibition captures the personal stories and collective histories of artists reflected through installations, videos, paintings and sculptures. The exhibition aims to represent artists whose work references ownership of their own home countries while developing narratives that embrace global histories.

About the Collector: Beth Rudin DeWoody, art collector and curator, resides between Los Angeles, New York City, and West Palm Beach, Fla. She is president of The Rudin Family Foundations and executive vice president of Rudin Management. Her Board affiliations include the Whitney Museum of American Art, Hammer Museum, The New School, The Glass House, Empowers Africa, New Yorkers for Children, and The New York City Police Foundation. She is an honorary trustee at the Brooklyn Academy of Music and on the photography steering committee at the Norton Museum of Art in West Palm Beach.

This month, DeWoody opened a private art space in West Palm Beach, which will present viewable storage of her collection, as well as exhibitions. The space will hold private tours and events.

Reclamation! Pan-African Works from the Beth Rudin DeWoody Collection is co-curated by the Taubman Museum of Art with Laura Dvorkin of the Beth Rudin DeWoody Collection.

The exhibition is presented by The Secular Society, with education programming support provided by the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities.

ROANOKE, Va. (Nov. 13, 2017) – More than 400 of the region’s top female professional and philanthropic community members came together today to celebrate women, art and education at the Taubman Museum of Art’s 13th Annual Women’s Luncheon.

Carilion Clinic President and Chief Executive Officer Nancy Howell Agee served as the event’s honorary chair and master of ceremony. On behalf of the Museum, she presented awards to two area women for their work furthering arts and education in the community: Cynthia Fralin and Dr. Sharon Ramey.

Cynthia Fralin was presented with the Ann Fralin Award, which annually recognizes a woman for her vision, commitment and support of the arts, education and quality of life in the community.

Cynthia and her husband, Heywood, are avid collectors of mid-19th to early 20th-century American art. Through the Horace G. Fralin Charitable Trust, they have directed funds to build the permanent American art collection at the Taubman Museum of Art. Significant gifts include paintings by John Singer Sargent, Winslow Homer and Norman Rockwell, thereby providing the Roanoke community opportunities to see world-class art in their own hometown.

Cynthia has been engaged in several non-profits in the region – her most recent board service includes the Mill Mountain Theater, Virginia Foundation for the Humanities and, for the past 12 years, the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts.

Dr. Ramey received the Sheila S. Strauss Art Venture Award, which recognizes a woman for her outstanding leadership in arts education and for her volunteerism in partnership with the Taubman Museum of Art.

Dr. Ramey is a distinguished scholar of human development at the Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute who holds professorships in Psychology, Neurosciences, and Human Development at Virginia Tech and Psychiatry at the Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine. Her lifelong scientific contributions include the development and rigorous testing of new treatments to improve outcomes for children with developmental disabilities and those with economic and social challenges as well as promoting healthier pregnancies.

She has written award-winning books and television programs for parents and educators and authored hundreds of scientific articles. In Roanoke, Drs. Sharon and Craig Ramey have applied their scientific knowledge about children and literacy to the Star City Reads partnership – which emphasizes the arts – and to Roanoke’s success in winning the All-America City Award in 2012 and 2017.

Nationally renowned multidisciplinary artist Angela Ellsworth delivered the luncheon’s keynote address. Her Seer bonnets, made from thousands of long, pearl-tipped, steel corsage pins, is currently on view in the exhibition, Tangled: Fiber Art Now!, and explore notions of family, spirituality and identity. Raised in a Mormon community, Ellsworth is the great-granddaughter of Lorenzo Snow, the fifth prophet and president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

The 13th Annual Women’s Luncheon was presented by Kroger with additional lead support provided by Advance Auto Parts, Carilion Clinic, Blue Ridge Beverage, Coca-Cola, Moss & Rocovich Attorneys-at-Law, Diane and Bill Elliot, Garnett Smith, Lesleigh Strauss, and Jenny and Nicholas Taubman.

ROANOKE, Va. (Oct. 20, 2017) — The Taubman Museum of Art is pleased to share that the Virginia Commission for the Arts has named Jenny and Nicholas Taubman and Cynthia and Heywood Fralin among their “50 for 50 Arts Inspiration Award” honorees.

The Taubmans and Fralins were among the founding trustees and champions for the Taubman Museum of Art and have been instrumental in the Museum’s continued growth. They also have supported a number of other arts organizations and endeavors across the state, from the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts in Richmond to the Fralin Museum of Art in Charlottesville.

They were named to the Inspiration Awards’ “Arts Leaders and Supporters” category.

According to the Commission, these honorees “have demonstrated a serious sustained leadership in the arts that have made a significant contribution to their communities, have encouraged decision makers to create a sustainable environment for artists and arts organizations, have taken an original approach to arts leadership and encouraged the engagement of others, and have championed a broad role for arts organizations and artists to play in their own respective communities.”

“You can’t think of the arts in Virginia without thinking of the Taubmans and Fralins,” said Leon Harris, chairman of the Taubman Museum of Art Board of Trustees. “Their generosity of spirit and vision for the future have helped build celebrated permanent collections and world-class art museums that will inspire and educate Virginians for generations to come.”

Established in 1968, the Virginia Commission for the Arts is commemorating 50 years of supporting and celebrating the arts in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The “50 for 50 Arts Inspiration Awards” were designed to recognize programs, individuals and organizations critical to the arts in Virginia during that same time period.

More than 350 individuals and organizations were nominated for the awards. A panel of former Commissioners and arts leaders selected the winners, who were then confirmed by the Commission Board.

Honorees will be recognized at a reception at the Executive Mansion with Governor Terry McAuliffe and First Lady Dorothy McAuliffe at a later date. The Commission also will recognize honorees at an anniversary program at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts January 31, 2018.