UR students design exhibition focusing on visitors to Richmond

The University of Richmond Downtown’s Wilton Companies Gallery, located at 626 E. Broad St., is hosting a new exhibition titled, “Greetings from Richmond, Virginia: Visitors through the Centuries.”

The exhibition will highlight 26 visitors to Richmond, the stories of why they came and the insights their visits revealed about Richmond at the time. Featured visitors include movie stars such as Daniel Day Lewis, heads of state like Queen Elizabeth II and athletes like Yogi Berra. Vintage postcards will be on display throughout the exhibition, and an interactive section will invite visitors to write their own reflections of RVA.

This exhibition was created by twelve University of Richmond students in an American Studies capstone seminar, under the instruction of Nicole Sackley, associate professor of history and American Studies, and Alexandra Byrum, UR Downtown educational programming coordinator. Capstones focus on significant achievements both inside and outside of the classroom and act as the culmination of the American Studies major.

The students in the class selected visitors spanning three centuries. The exhibition draws on the students’ knowledge of Richmond’s history and allows them to apply what they’ve learned about museum studies to designing their own exhibition, from conceptualization to installation. The students have worked closely with archivists and curators from The Valentine Museum, the Virginia Historical Society, and the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts.

“This project taught me what goes into putting on an exhibition. I love that we got to learn from incredible institution like the Valentine Museum and the VMFA where we talked to curators about their methods”, said Kasey McGhee a student in her third year at UR.

The exhibition is made possible by the American Studies program at the University of Richmond, Boatwright Library, UR Downtown and the Bonner Center for Civic Engagement. The exhibition will open today from 5 to 7 p.m. as a part of RVA First Fridays and be on view through Aug. 1.

The Gallery is open Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. For more information, visit downtown.richmond.edu.

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