Following is a press release concerning a new program at the Valentine
Museum, which we created as a method of maintaining an activist stance
toward history and our role in our local community.  We hope to provoke and
inform, and if anyone is in central Virginia (or knows someone who is), come
on down to the program.  A big old thanks to the NEH for funding this
series.  Please excuse any waste of bandwidth.

VALENTINE FORUM, FIRST IN SERIES,
EXAMINES HISTORY OF PUBLIC SCULPTURE

                RICHMOND, VA=96In a panel discussion entitled =93Public Sculptur
e, Public
Culture,=94 experts from the fields of art and history will consider the
public=92s role in choosing symbols such as the proposed Arthur Ashe=
 monument
on Tuesday, January 23, at 6 p.m. at the Valentine.
        The first in the Controversy/History series of forums examining how hist
ory
illuminates contemporary issues, this forum is free and open to the public.
On the fourth Thursday of each month, the museum=92s galleries will remain
open beyond the usual 5 p.m. closing time, so guests who attend these free
evening programs may also tour the museum before the forum begins.
        Speakers for =93Public Sculpture, Public Culture=94 include Dr. Robert=
 Hobbs,
the E. Rhoda Thalhimer Professor of Art History at Virginia Commonwealth
University; Valentine Historian Gregg Kimball; Museum of the Confederacy
Historian John Coski; John Kneebone, assistant director of publications,
Virginia State Library and Archives; and Joseph Seipel, chair of the
Sculpture Department at VCU.=20
        The Controversy/History series continues Thursday, Feb. 22, with =93Many
Shades of Being,=94 a program exploring the myth that all African Americans
share a common experience.  This forum will include a screening of Marlon
Riggs=92s final film, Black Is, Black Ain=92t. =20
        Other scheduled fora include =93From Subjugation to Incorporation,=94=
 regarding
the domestic service industry; =93The Selling of the South,=94 a look at
economic development in the region; =93The Landscape of Crime=94; and
=93Illegitimate Unions,=94 considering the legal status of gay=
 relationships.
The Controversy/History series is supported by a grant from the National
Endowment for the Humanities, in conjunction with the exhibition Creating
History:  The Valentie Family and Museum.
        The Valentine, the Museum of the Life and History of Richmond, operates
from 10 a.m. until 5 p.m. Monday-Saturday and Sunday from noon until 5 p.m.
at 1015 E. Clay St. in Richmond=92s historic Court End neighborhood. =
 Regular
admission is $5 for adults, $4 for students and seniors and $3 for children
ages 7-12; children 6 and under are admitted free.  For more information,
call (804) 649-0711.

Farar Elliott
Director of Public Programs
Valentine Museum
1015 East Clay Street
Richmond, Virginia  23219
804/649-0711, extension 317

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