VMFA launching art series exploring sound’s spatial history

RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) -- Beginning in May, the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts (VMFA) will launch a series of art installations related to the historical dimensions of sound, coinciding with its current expansion project.

The installations, "REWIND<"REWIND<“Since its inception, the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts has been a platform for exhibiting cutting-edge works of contemporary art,” said Director and CEO Alex Nyerges. “Our new series––'REWIND<“The series pushes the elasticity of genres and media to highlight artists working at intersecting disciplines,” said Valerie Cassel Oliver, VMFA’s Sydney and Frances Lewis Family Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art and "REWIND<"VOLUMES" by Ezra Masch | May 15–17, 2025

"VOLUMES," which is currently sold out, will run from May 15 to May 17, uses technology and live sound from percussion instruments to create a light sculpture.

"VOLUMES" by Ezra Masch at The Ringling Museum of Art, Sarasota, Florida, 2018. (Photo: VMFA)

Ellen Fullman and JACK Quartet in Concert

Ellen Fullman and JACK Quartet's concert will be making its way to the museum in 2026, and will include Fullman playing on her iconic Long String Instrument with JACK Quartet. Sponsored by a grant from the Robert Rauschenberg Foundation, the museum said this is the closing program for exhibition, "Robert Rauschenberg: Cardbirds," and aims to celebrate Rauschenberg, a painter and graphic artist.

"STAGED: Three Deuces" by Jason Moran

"STAGED: Three Deuces," acquired by Jason Moran, is a reimagining of the jazz venue in New York City. The museum emphasized the loss of popular jazz venues like Three Deuces, which were "systematically destroyed by development and urban renewal." The performance aims to reimagine the club's stage and architecture, and highlight Black life in America, prison work songs in the South and swinging jazz music in the North.

For more information about the VMFA’s upcoming "REWIND<its website.