This week, Randolph-Macon College (RMC) prepares to welcome the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts (VMFA) specially curated Artmobile exhibition Virginia as America: Navigating ‘Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness’.
Dr. Evie Terrono, Professor of Art History, collaborated with the VMFA to bring the Artmobile to Randolph-Macon for the first time. “The idea was to congregate the community, not only our college community, but also the broader community,” shared Dr. Terrono. The exhibition will be free to the public, including both the RMC and Ashland communities, on March 18th-20th.
Honoring the 250th anniversary of the American Revolution, the exhibition will use 14 works from the VMFA’s collection to provide a new-age perspective of American history. Specifically, the exhibition aims to provide insight that “Virginia’s story is the American story,” says the VMFA.
Students and community members can expect to encounter a carefully curated historical narrative that challenges traditional views of the American Revolution. “This is particularly more effective in a relatively smaller space,” Dr. Terrono described, “Such as this.”
Since much of historical understanding comes from interpretation, Dr. Terrono hopes that viewers will walk away possibly questioning their previous knowledge of important historical events.
“Interpretations of historical facts shift according to new scholarship,” Dr. Terrono shared, “perhaps in response to cultural shifts and sociopolitical pressures.”
The Artmobile will travel around Virginia through December 2026, allowing the exhibition to reach a widespread range of communities. “The purpose is to provide access to the arts, to a diverse array of populations, so the idea is to make the content accessible,” says Dr. Terrono.
Many disciplines through RMC plan on attending the event, including computer science and communications. The event not only offers a historical perspective, but also to inspire “visitors to consider the hopes and challenges of those founding principles and their persistent relevance for realizing a “more perfect union”,” says the VMFA.
“You can discover a world of experience and ways that the past can help you think about the present,” described Dr. Terrono.
The Artmobile will be located between Estes Dining Hall and Crenshaw Gymnasium for the duration of its stay at Randolph-Macon.
