The Fralin Museum of Art at The University of Virginia celebrates two remarkable gifts that will strengthen the museum’s community impact, teaching, and curatorial practice for years to come. Arriving at a pivotal moment as UVA plans for its new Center for the Arts, these contributions underscore the museum’s vital role at the university and its vision of bringing art to all.
Connection often comes from unexpected places. At the University of Virginia, one of those places is The Fralin Museum of Art. The Fralin is known for its exhibitions, but once a week during the spring semester, its galleries become a space for both UVA students and elementary school students to experience, learn and engage with various works of art.
The Fralin Museum of Art at The University of Virginia announces Legacies of Independence, a slate of four exhibitions exploring varied themes and perspectives around the legacies of Thomas Jefferson and the signing of the Declaration of Independence in 1776. On view from August 29, 2026, through January 3, 2027, the exhibitions take both historic and contemporary approaches to consider the ways Jefferson helped shape the United States in its infancy and promoted ideals we continue to deliberate to this day.
The subject is art, the theme is “truth” and the medium is data. The University of Virginia’s School of Data Science is hosting its annual Data Is ART Competition, inviting artists and data scientists to transform data into compelling visual narratives. In its third year, the competition is open for submissions until Sunday from artists across disciplines related to this year’s theme: what truth looks like in data. Awards include a grand prize of $2,500. Finalists’ work will be announced at a fall ceremony and publicly exhibited. In its inaugural year in 2024, the competition drew more than 130 submissions from seven countries and four continents.
The Puzzle Hunt has nothing to do with puzzles like jigsaw puzzles. Instead, it’s like brain teaser puzzles. So we describe it as part escape room, part scavenger hunt, and it starts at IX Art Park. And basically you go around downtown Charlottesville finding and solving puzzles. Basically, there’s four initial puzzles. So at the beginning of the puzzle hunt will give you the coordinates and the map that you need to find the puzzles. The puzzles are around downtown, and you find them, you solve them
When she’s not creating new pathways for University of Virginia students to train abroad, Awar Biong is writing poetry and creating embroidery at the New City Arts Initiative in downtown Charlottesville, where she is the fall artist-in-residence. Alongside her full-time role as a coordinator for global health training at UVA’s Center for Global Health Equity, her research residency includes organizing a series of events that examine past and present conflicts in the Sudans and hosting a mending circle for refugee women in Charlottesville.
The idea for the art exhibition first occurred to professor Lise Dobrin in December 2024, after she received an email message from a French anthropologist in Papua New Guinea. Dobrin met Nicolas Garnier, who has lived and worked in the Pacific island nation for over 30 years, during her research trips there. Now Garnier was emailing Dobrin to let her know about a collection of drawings that his villager friends were making. Something special was going on, Dobrin recalled Garnier writing, and he wanted her help sharing these vividly drawn scrolls of artwork with the world.
The bardo, a newly opened gallery-café nestled Downtown, took its first step into Charlottesville’s arts scene and welcomed visitors seeking an afternoon of calm reflection Jan. 31 during its grand opening. The space bridges the line between art and community as its patrons can enjoy coffee, baked goods and carefully curated artwork all at once as they peruse the brightly lit two-story establishment.
On Saturday, February 21, join Second Street Gallery for their annual Gallery Rally fundraiser event with a roaring 20s twist. For Arts This Week, we spoke with CM Turner from the gallery. My name is CM Turner. I work with Second Street Gallery downtown, right off the downtown mall on Water Street at the corner of second and water, and we are gearing up for one of our largest fundraising events and one of the most exciting events on our programming calendar throughout the year, which is our annual Gallery Rally.
In winter, the University of Virginia’s Grounds take on a quieter beauty. With the lush foliage of warmer months now dormant, the season invites a closer look at the small details that often fade into the background of daily life. University Communications photographers Matt Riley and Lathan Goumas used this time to turn their lenses toward those overlooked textures, patterns and moments. Take a closer look with them as they share what inspired and captivated them about the subtle details that help define UVA.
The recent passing of historic UVA Arts benefactor Tessa Ader marked the final chapter of a life filled with love, art, a sense of adventure, and a legacy that will enrich the UVA and Charlottesville communities for generations to come. Ader’s historic lead $50 million gift to fund the building of a performing arts center is the largest gift to the arts in the University’s history and will transform the arts landscape by providing a state-of-the-art home for concerts, dance, theater and interdisciplinary art forms.
The idea was simple but ambitious: stage an “ABCs” exhibition spotlighting UVA Library collections, entirely curated by Library staff. The exhibition would showcase the breadth of the Library’s holdings, and also serve as a welcome for new University Librarian and Dean of Libraries Leo Lo, who was set to begin at UVA just days before the opening.
