Image courtesy of Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Gift of Edgar William and Bernice Chrysler Garbisch, 50.2.1
Washington as Statesman at the Constitution Convention, 1851, Junius Brutus Stearns (American, 1810–1885), oil on canvas.
Looking to map out fun ways to explore the 250th anniversary of the American Revolution this year?
The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts (VMFA) recently announced its plans to observe the semi-quincentennial anniversary of Virginia’s role in the American Revolution as part of the commonwealth’s VA250 initiative. Beginning in February 2026, VMFA will offer two relevant exhibitions and associated programs. The museum is located at 200 N. Arthur Ashe Blvd. in Richmond, about a two-hour drive or train ride from Alexandria.
“The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts aims to engage our visitors in an important and unique dialogue about Virginia’s role in American history, emphasizing founding principles, current challenges and future aspirations,” said Director and CEO Alex Nyerges. “We’re delighted to be one of the few art-centered institutions in Virginia involved in commemorating the 250th anniversary of the American Revolution.”
VMFA will leverage the visual arts to demonstrate the many ways that the commonwealth’s story is the American story through art exhibitions and programs that both complement and challenge historical and contemporary narratives related to American independence.
Titus Kaphar and Junius Brutus Stearns: Pictures More Famous than the Truth
On view at VMFA from Feb. 14 through July 26, 2026, the free special exhibition Titus Kaphar and Junius Brutus Stearns: Pictures More Famous than the Truth will juxtapose scenes from President George Washington’s life by painter Junius Brutus Stearns (American, 1810–1885) and contemporary works — artistic responses to the American Revolution — by Black artist and MacArthur Fellowship winner Titus Kaphar (American, born 1976).
Although born more than 150 years apart, Stearns and Kaphar’s works both illustrate how Washington’s monumental image can mask a more complicated truth. Stearns’ works helped mythologize the omnipotent figure of the Virginia-born president and his place in history, while Kaphar’s works deconstruct the legends surrounding Washington and reclaim part of this narrative for the enslaved individuals long excluded from the dominant story.
Organized by Dr. Leo G. Mazow, the Louise B. and J. Harwood Cochrane Curator of American Art at VMFA, Titus Kaphar and Junius Brutus Stearns: Pictures More Famous than the Truth will be the first time that Stearns’ five renowned paintings of Washington have ever been exhibited together.
Student groups can connect with the exhibition Titus Kaphar and Junius Brutus Stearns: Pictures More Famous than the Truth via tours grounded in the Virginia Standards of Learning.
Virginia as America: Navigating ‘Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness’
From February through December 2026, the exhibition Virginia as America: Navigating ‘Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness’ — featuring more than a dozen paintings, prints and decorative objects from the VMFA’s permanent collection — will travel statewide aboard the museum’s Artmobile, VMFA on the Road.
This free special exhibition will bring works drawn from the museum’s permanent collection to within an hour’s drive of all Virginians. Virginia as America: Navigating ‘Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness’ will also offer opportunities for kindergarten through 12th-grade students to connect to Virginia Standards of Learning content in person and through available resources.
Since the founding of the country in 1776, Americans have aspired to create a nation based on the democratic ideals of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. That ambition has informed both the promise that all Americans might live, think, worship and labor freely within the confines of the law and the consequences arising from historical inequities. Still, 250 years on, the ideals that inspired the American Revolution remain fundamentally relevant, uniting an otherwise diverse and often divided population towards the realization of a “more perfect union.”
Virginia as America: Navigating ‘Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness’ is curated by Dr. Susan J. Rawles, Elizabeth Locke Associate Curator of American Decorative Arts.
Historical Thinking with Art: VA250
Throughout 2026, VMFA will present Historical Thinking with Art: VA250, a virtual distance-learning offering for Virginia students in grades 3 through 12 and commonwealth college students. Participating students will examine artworks that address the early years of the United States. Sifting through the imagery in these artworks, students can hone historical, critical and creative thinking skills as they unpack the complex ideas these objects present about the civic, social and cultural landscape of the United States.
VMFA is also planning a range of programs, including lectures and classes based on content related to the 250th anniversary of the American Revolution. For more information about the museum’s VA250 exhibitions and programs, and about hosting VMFA on the Road, visit VMFA.museum.
About the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts
The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts in Richmond, Virginia, is one of the largest comprehensive art museums in the United States. VMFA, which opened in 1936, is a state agency and privately endowed educational institution. Its purpose is to collect, preserve, exhibit and interpret art, and to encourage the study of the arts. Through the Office of Statewide Partnerships Program, the museum offers curated exhibitions, arts-related audiovisual programs, symposia, lectures, conferences, and workshops by visual and performing artists.
In addition to presenting a wide array of special exhibitions, the museum provides visitors with the opportunity to experience a global collection of art that spans more than 6,000 years. VMFA’s permanent holdings encompass more than 50,000 artworks, including the largest public collection of Fabergé outside of Russia, the finest collection of Art Nouveau outside of Paris and one of the nation’s finest collections of American art.
VMFA is also home to important collections of Chinese art, English silver, French Impressionist, Post-Impressionist, British sporting and modern and contemporary art, as well as renowned South Asian, Himalayan and African art. In May 2010, VMFA opened the James W. and Frances G. McGlothlin Wing I after a transformative expansion, previously the largest in its history. A new expansion, the McGlothlin Wing II, is planned to open in spring 2029. Comprising more than 170,000 square feet, it will be the largest expansion in the museum’s history and will make VMFA the fourth largest comprehensive art museum in the United States.
Named the 11th-best art museum in the U.S. by The Washington Post, the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts is the only art museum in the United States open 365 days a year with free general admission. For additional information, telephone (804) 340-1400 or visit VMFA.museum.
