Scraposaurs Stomps into the MSV
Prehistoric Giants Forged from Scrap Metal on View in the Gardens April 1–October 19, 2025
News & Blogs
MSV Opens Jacob Lawrence Exhibition to Kick Off Black History Month
A traveling exhibition featuring prints created by Jacob Lawrence—one of the first nationally recognized Black artists in U.S. history—opens at the Museum of the Shenandoah Valley (MSV) on February 1 and will be on view through August 3, 2025.
MSV Names Scott Stroh as New CEO
The Board of Directors of the Museum of the Shenandoah Valley (MSV) has named Scott Stroh as the Museum’s next executive director and chief executive officer. Currently the executive director of George Mason’s Gunston Hall in Mason Neck, Virginia, Stroh was selected after a national search that began in June 2024.
MSV to Host Virginia Gourd Show & Sale November 9 & 10
The Museum of the Shenandoah Valley (MSV) will host the Virginia Gourd Show & Sale from 10 a.m. until 5 p.m. this Saturday and Sunday, November 9 and 10. Admission to the show and sale is free.
MSV Celebrates LGBTQ+ History Month with Pride at the MSV Event on October 5
The Museum of the Shenandoah Valley will celebrate LGBTQ+ History Month with free admission for all visitors from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. this Saturday, October 5, during Pride at the MSV.
MSV to Host Free-Admission Car Show This Saturday
Car enthusiasts and gearheads will want to stop by the Museum of the Shenandoah Valley (MSV) this Saturday, July 20, for a free-admission antique and modified car show from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Queer Life & Landscape at Glen Burnie: A Garden Walk
In the 1950s, Julian Wood Glass Jr. (1910–1992), descendent of Winchester founder James Wood, and his partner, R. Lee Taylor (1924–2000), began a massive project to renovate the Glen Burnie House and beautify its surrounding grounds.
One Valley, Many Voices: A Timeline of Shenandoah Valley LGBTQ+ History
Compiled by Sally Meyer, Nick Powers, and Sam Scalph
“The worthy traditions of her sons and daughters”: A Reflection on Storer College
Curator of Collections Nick Powers discusses Storer College in Harpers Ferry, WV and the ways in which its community reflected on its history decades after emancipation.
Autumn at the MSV
“When is the best time to visit the garden?” This is a question Director of Gardens Perry Mathewes gets frequently. The short answer is “Any time we are open.” Of course, a longer more complex answer requires you to pull up a chair for this read.
Believe It or Not: Bill Cook’s “Big Basket”
Curator of Collections Nick Powers discusses the history and unique contributions of artists in the Shenandoah Valley throughout its 250 year history.
Growth, Understanding, and Civil Rights: A Ball of Confusion!
Guest blogger James R. Coates Jr., PhD, shares personal reflections inspired by photographs in the exhibition Danny Lyon: Memories of the Southern Civil Rights Movement, on view at the MSV from April 2–July 31, 2022, and organized by art2art Circulating Exhibitions.
Finding Fleming Jordan: A Free Black Barber in the Shenandoah Valley
One of the many stories told in the new exhibition, Contributions: African Americans in the Shenandoah Valley, is that of free Blacks living in the region. Including those who were either born free or achieved their freedom through manumission (release from enslavement), free blacks in Virginia numbered approximately 58,000 people just before the Civil War … Continued
The Moon and the MSV
This past Full Moon on November 19, we took a group out on the Trails to experience the nighttime environment for the second time since opening the Trails to the public. The moon was stunning, if tough to capture on a cell phone camera. When you think about a Full Moon, what comes to mind? … Continued
National Geographic at the MSV
Was there ever a time in your life when you saw the yellow spine of a National Geographic magazine and didn’t feel even the slightest curiosity about what was inside its pages? I still remember the anticipation I would feel as a small child waiting for my dad to unwrap a new issue so I … Continued
Animals at the MSV
By Perry Mathewes, Deputy Director, Museum Operations and Director of Gardens One of the great things about working in the MSV Gardens is that you get to spend lots of time around beautiful plants and nature. Yes, there is the drudgery of weeding, mulching and other mundane tasks, but there are also sublime moments as … Continued
Climbing Jacob’s Ladder: An Artist’s Reflection on 9/11
Many of us likely recall exactly where we were the day the attacks took place on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on September 11, 2001.
And the Award Goes To…Education and Rewards of Merit in the Shenandoah Valley
As Covid-19 vaccines became more readily available this spring and summer, Virginia school officials began developing strategies to restore full-time, in-person learning. Local and regional schoolteachers now face the important but unenviable task of reintroducing students to classroom settings after those students spent over a year in front of computer and tablet screens. To make … Continued