A blacksmith forms a hook at the American Frontier Culture Museum’s forge. — Photo by Bob Kirchman
The American Frontier Culture Museum
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Historian David McCullough once said that Virginia’s Frontier Culture Museum “is the only place of its kind in the world.” With its unique hands-on exploration of America’s beginnings, the living museum is a celebration of “E Pluribus Unum” — “Out of Many, One.” It traces the roots of the different peoples who traveled here. By reconstructing their former homes and way of life—from West African thatched huts to timber-framed European farmhouses—the museum showcases the unique contributions each culture made to America. (read more)
An Afternoon Spent in History
One of the last balmy afternoons of autumn blankets the Valley of Virginia. I decided that my student and I needed some plein air time and so we find ourselves by the lake between ‘England’ and ‘Ireland,’ drawing the reflection of a half-timbered house.
The lake itself, with its covering of newly fallen leaves, has the feel of Claude Monet’s pond at Giverny. It is a wonderful opportunity to draw real things — Howard Pyle and the Wyeths were able to experience the vanishing old ways around them in their little community of Chadd’s Ford, Pennsylvania. Here at the Frontier Culture Museum, we are able to do the same.
Here I must say something about how wonderful the staff are at this living museum. They are so welcoming and helpful to those of us who seek to experience it through art. I cannot say enough how welcome they make artists feel. If you live nearby, a season pass is one of the best investments you will ever make.
The waxing moon rises over the Irish and German farms to the East. A ‘short’ drawing session has become a long one. We stop in at the blacksmith’s forge and watch the making of hardware we now mass produce and consequently take for granted. As the shadows grow long, we make plans to return and paint in the coming spring.
At the Lake. — Drawing by Bob Kirchman
Hebron Lutheran Church. Photo by Bob Kirchman
The Early Germans Who Shaped Virginia
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When the first settlers of Virginia arrived in 1607, a bountiful land extending west through rolling hills, forested mountains, and fertile river valleys lay before them. It might have seemed like Eden until the colonists faced the droughts of summer and the long deprivation of winter. Though the first colonists barely survived, the land proved ideal for growing tobacco. Virginia established itself as a colony with borders drawn on paper all the way to the Mississippi River. Great plantations hugged the wide mouths of its bays and rivers, where its cash crops could be easily exported. Its piedmont, mountains, and great valley remained unsettled. (read more)