WILLIAMSBURG, Va. (WAVY) — A project nearly 20 years in the making is bringing light to recently stored away art pieces and the expansion of a popular tourist destination.
Colonial Williamsburg recently completed a nearly $42-million expansion to the DeWitt Wallace Decorative Arts Museum and the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Museum.
Ron Hurst, who is the Carlisle H. Humelsine chief curator and vice president for museums, preservation, and historic resource, says the project expanded exhibit space by 25 percent as well as added a new entrance, museum shop, and restaurant.
“The fact that we have been able to undertake more restorations, more reconstruction, and an expansion of the art museums speaks to the vitality of the organizations like Colonial Williamsburg,” he said. “It’s been very exciting. We feel the future does learn does learn from the past, either from its great success or its horrendous mistakes. We take history seriously,” he said.
Hurst says the concept behind the expansion sparked nearly 20 years ago and the foundation raised $41.7 million from donors before ground broke on the project nearly three years ago.
He’s excited for visitors to see all they have to offer including works that are not only significant to Virginian history but American history.
“We really feel this is a facility for learning about art and history together. Art for the aesthetic quality of the objects, and history because every object is a record of the time, place, and people who used it,” Hurst said.
The facility, which now covers 65,000 square feet, will continue to roll out new exhibits over the next couple of years for visitors.
And when it comes to visitors, Hurst says they’re actually seeing their fair share despite COVID-19.
Colonial Williamsburg is seeing slightly above-average attendance to historic sites when its compared to others nationally, according to Hurst.
He says they’re taking precautions to make sure those who do stop by are safe by following CDC guidelines.
“Masks are mandatory in the museum. Social distancing is encouraged. We monitor the number of people in the building every day,” Hurst said. “We have also curtailed normal guided tours and supplanted them with different kinds of learning experiences.”
That includes allowing trades workers, who would normally be in small shops on Duke of Gloucester Street, to work in front of visitors. Hurst says the small shops didn’t allow for proper social distancing but the museums’ expansion has given them a place.
He hopes that people will take advantage of the new updates while it’s not crowded, and believes that everyone can learn from the lessons, good and bad, that history has to offer.
“Coming to a museum like this is a wonderful way to get those lessons. Every citizen has a duty to carry out those responsibilities and you can’t figure that out unless you know where you came from,” he said.
To learn more about the museums hours and prices, click here.