Last updated: 5/24/2012
415 Academy Drive
Abingdon, VA 24212
P.O. Box 2256
Abingdon, VA 24212
Wednesday - Saturday
10 AM - 5 PM
$5 for Adults
$3 for Seniors and William King Museum members
Students free
*suggested donation
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Ms. Betsy White
phone: 276-628-5005 x11
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Suzanne Brewster
phone: 276-628-5005 x17
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Kathy Lowdermilk
phone:
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Katie Carrico
phone:
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William King Museum is the only facility of its kind serving Southwest Virginia, Northeast Tennessee, Western North Carolina and South Eastern Kentucky. Located in Abingdon, Virginia, this non-profit regional art museum and arts education center is Virginia’s only nationally accredited museum west of Roanoke. The Museum is a Partner of the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts and is a member of , the Virginia Association of Museums.
Housed in a historic 1913 former school, the aptly named William King shares its namesake with the early philanthropist who donated the land for the first school built on this site.
The Museum currently offers three galleries that each focus on a different aspect of the museums mission. The first is the Legard and United Company Gallery which focuses on rotating exhibitions of world art – past exhibitions have featured Matisse and Picasso, Egyptian antiquities, Goya and Dali, and pre-Columbian artifacts, to name only a few. The second gallery is the United Company Regional Art Gallery, which offers the best new contemporary regional artwork. The final gallery is the Price-Strongwell Gallery, which centers on decorative and folk arts based on the findings of the Cultural Heritage Project.
The Museum also features resident artist studios, enabling visitors to both meet working artists and see art in process, as well as the Looking Glass Museum Store and outdoor sculpture garden. The Museum’s permanent collection of regional decorative and folk arts is housed at the Fields-Penn 1860 House Museum, an historic house museum owned by the Town of Abingdon.
The organization traces its origins to a group of civic-minded individuals who, in 1979, sought to both create a community Museum and save an abandoned building. More than a decade later, the Museum redefined its service area as regional and successfully completed three renovations that resulted in the region’s first art museum. An excellent example of both community involvement and adaptive reuse, this once vacant and deteriorating facility now features museum-standard galleries.
Programming includes artist talks, lectures, workshops, and other special events. Two additional galleries include the Student Gallery, which displays works from area schools and colleges, and the Panoramic Gallery that features self-curated shows by local artists. These two galleries offer up to 24 additional exhibits a year. An extensive arts education program serves school and public audiences both within and outside of the facility. The Museum also features artist studios, the Looking Glass Museum Store, reference library, research archives, and an outdoor sculpture garden.
An extensive arts education program serves both school and public audiences. Tour Plus, the core in-house program, provides a first museum visit for many of the region’s children, and VanGogh Outreach places arts educators directly in classrooms of 12 Southwest Virginia school districts serving approximately 3,200 children three times a year. Both programs were developed in response to the lack of arts education at the elementary level and are providing SOL-based curriculum enrichment in service to the region’s schools.
For adults, core instruction is available in a variety of media, which is augmented by special offerings, which range from oil painting to life drawing to banjo – and much in between! Educational facilities on-site include a fully equipped clay studio, black & white darkroom equipment, printmaking press and numerous multi-purpose classrooms. These facilities are also used in the Museum’s in-house school programs throughout the academic year, and in after-school or weekend offerings for youngster’s ages pre-K through 12.
Looking for that out of the ordinary location for your special event? Enjoy a quiet setting with spectacular views of Mt. Rogers and White Top Mountain at the William King Museum.
William King has a variety of versatile spaces available. The Museum can accommodate groups from 15 to 300. Whether you are looking for an intimate classroom workshop, a business meeting in a sophisticated conference room or a three floor party with access to all 5 of the galleries, William King can accommodate your needs.
Take a self-guided tour and enjoy locally roasted coffee with pastries or an afternoon tea in the stunning Museum set in a 1913 former school renovated to exacting museum standards.
The Looking Glass is open during regular Museum hours, offering a variety of art and exhibition-related merchandise. Inventory generally includes cards, books, jewelry, art posters, gallery guides, pottery and a wide selection of children’s gift items. The Museum’s Heritage Products are also available in the museum store. All proceeds benefit Museum programs and exhibition. Members qualify for store discounts.
Gift Shop
Special Event Rental
Group Tours
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