The Branch is reopening!!

As you can imagine, this comes with great planning and preparation, but we are excited to be opening to members on July 16 ^th and to the public on July 17 ^th . Next week we will be sending out links and instructions for our new timed ticket system, but I think you will be excited about our array of exhibitions. 

First, though, I am really excited about our partnership with RVA Baroque and the chance to bring live music back into our lives. Next Saturday they will produce a wonderful array of Baroque music, partially inside and partially in the garden. I hope that as a loyal Branch fan you will attend (see link for tickets below), as we want your feedback on how to do more music events while making them safe for musicians and music fans. Come join us and let me know what you think!

And you will notice the donate button below. These are challenging times for all of us as we pilot our way through unknown waters. I hope you will consider a donation to The Branch today. Four months of being closed is a daunting challenge for us, but one we know we can overcome with the help of our friends.

Come see us at The Branch – we have missed you!

Penelope C. Fletcher

Executive Director

RVA Baroque

The Branch Museum of Architecture and Design is excited to announce an evening of performance by RVA Baroque. The concert features innovative use of simultaneous repeated indoor and outdoor sets. The audience will experience two different sound worlds: winds and voices in the garden, and strings and harpsichord in the building. The outdoor sets feature medieval and renaissance music, including a mystical hymn by Hildegard of Bingen (1098-1179), while the indoor sets feature 17 ^th  and 18 ^th  century music, including one of the earliest string quartets.

The July concert represents the ensembles first major public events for The Branch and RVA Baroque since the start of the coronavirus pandemic. The ensemble has modified the traditional concert format in novel ways to accommodate government-recommended best practices, such as all performers will wear masks with the exception of vocalists. Check out more information and get your ticket HERE!

Architecture Camp - There's still room to register!

Camp Session 1, July 6-10 has one remaining space left, and Session 2, July 13-17 has two spaces left! Both are for rising 6th-8th Graders. Our other sessions still have some spaces too, click HERE to register, before camp fills up!

Looking for something enriching and fun for your children to do this summer? Let them embark on an adventure into the world of architecture! In our five-day Architecture Camp, campers interested in building and designing will test basic engineering principles through interactive activities, engage in 2-D and 3-D design challenges, and meet local architects and designers.

Using the Branch House as a workshop, campers will be challenged to think critically about how architecture and design can improve quality of life and positively impact their community. This is the perfect opportunity for the designers and engineers in your family!

Camp sessions run weekly from July 6 ^th through August 7 ^th (no camp during the week of July 20 ^th ) and are open to rising 3 ^rd through 5 ^th graders and rising 6 ^th through 8 ^th graders. Per CDC recommendations, we are limiting our sessions to no more than eight children each – register now before space runs out! Learn more about our awesome program, and about the precautions we’re taking to keep families and staff safe, on our website .



A limited number of scholarships are available to students who are part of the free or reduced lunch program in the public school system, or to children of those working on the frontlines during the COVID-19 pandemic. Contact Stephanie Burr, Education Manager, at education@branchmuseum.org for more information on how to apply.

Upcoming Exhibitions

Listening Theaters: The Sounds of Iconic Landscapes and Architectural Spaces

July 17 - September 13



Many architects consider the aural qualities of their created spaces in terms of acoustics. This exhibition explores how listening to these created spaces can inspire creativity, imagination and discovery of the surrounding world. Karen Van Lengen and Jim Welty have created a series of animated soundscapes that portray visual representations of iconic architectural spaces, including The Academical Village at the University of Virginia, and New York City spaces of Grand Central Terminal, The New York Public Library, The Seagram Building, Rockefeller Center and the Guggenheim Museum.

The Branch Museumis sponsoring an on-line interview with the artists moderated by Joel Sanders, FAIA, on July 21, from 6-7PM. The talk will be held via Zoom and a link will be sent out to all registrants closer to the date of the event. Click HERE to register today.

VA Made: Meditation Across Media

July 17 - September 13



VA Made is organized around various and diverse things; it features art forms in media that are generally not exhibited together, including pictures, sculptures, jewelry, furniture, and other “functional” objects. 

In doing so VA Made seeks to call attention to seemingly disparate works of various sizes and made of differing materials--wood, glass, fiber, ceramic, metal, paint--and constructed using a variety of techniques. And while such a presentation of subject matter/material does have the effect of undermining the idea that fine art is somehow superior to craft, the main reason for such a presentation is to encourage broader thinking, especially across media. In this sense, VA Made is an explicit attempt to explore the relationship between media, to wonder about the effect of media on subject matter and subject matter on media, how one informs the other.

Cub Creek: Twenty Years Together

 July 17 - September 13

Cub Creek: Twenty Years Together highlights the diverse work of residents and founding members and heighten awareness of the only residency program exclusively for the ceramic arts in the Mid-Atlantic region. The exhibition will be a critical reflection of the abiding respect, affection and enthusiasm for the ceramic arts that is embodied and promoted by the Cub Creek Foundation for the Ceramic Arts. Located in Appomattox, Virginia, Cub Creek hosts workshops and educational events and offers a year-long supportive residency in a rural environment.

Artwork by Zoe Powell

Cub Creek’s facilities have attracted young ceramic artists from around the world. Several foreign residents have stayed in the Atlantic region and contribute significantly to the vitality of ceramic arts here as teachers and professionals. Workshop presenters at Cub Creek, including Resident Director John Jessiman, represent a virtual who's who of important figures in the field.

Ody the Outsider is still standing tall out front in the courtyard - come by to see him!