Aug 10 Monday
Mallory Zondag, award-winning artist and educator living in New York, uses fiber arts and sculpture to explore the natural world and how it relates to the physical body and the human experience.
She explores deeply personal and connective universal stories through the meditative and hands-on practices of wet felting, weaving, sculpting, and stitching, seeking to bring the ephemeral into physical being.
This exhibition of work includes a site-specific installation at the Eleanor D. Wilson Museum, which was created using hand felted wool, wax, fibers, fabrics and objects both found and recycled.
Mallory Zondag: Transmissions from the Anthropocene, on view at the museum from July 30 - December 5, will be accompanied by an artist lecture and a series of community workshops in the Roanoke Valley.
Image Credits: Mallory Zondag, the VOID, 2026. Wood, Blackest Black in the Known Universe paint, tufted wool yarn, felted wool, wire, plastic waste, paper mache, sound. In collaboration with Peter Ossi, woodworker, and Lin Furio, sound designer.
Persian/Iranian-American artist Maryam Safajoo works in oil on linen, creating intimate and vulnerable narrative paintings. Safajoo documents the stories of the Iranian Bahá’í community’s systematic persecution after the 1979 revolution—stories that are often erased, silenced, or preserved only in the memories of those who endured them.
Many of the incidents she depicts only exist in the memory of those who experienced them and have no pictorial evidence. Through conversations, interviews, and archival research, she reconstructs these histories with meticulous detail, incorporating the clothing, artifacts, and environments that were present at these events.
Through her work, Safajoo reflects on a world free from prejudice—one where people are not judged by their beliefs, gender, identity, race, or social status.
Maryam Safajoo: The Dream of Freedom will be on view at the Eleanor D. Wilson Museum from August 6 - December 12, 2026.
Please be sure to join the Eleanor D. Wilson Museum for Safajoo’s artist talk on Friday, September 18th at 6 PM in the Richard Wetherill Visual Arts Center, Room 119.
Image Credits: Maryam Safajoo, As Leaven to the World, 2024. Oil on linen, 24 x 20 inches. Courtesy of the Artist.
Aug 11 Tuesday
Join VMHC Educators on Tuesdays this summer to play a variety of games from history and around the world! As a special nod to the exhibition, We The People: The World in Our Commonwealth, this summer will feature games like yut nori, al rein, stick horse races, kanche, and more! This event is fun for all ages, but recommended for elementary – middle school. FAQs: Do I need to come right at 10:00? - No! This is a walk up, drop in program from 10:00-12:00. Do I need to buy a ticket? - No! This is a free event outside the museum. What about weather cancellations? - We will make the call whether to cancel for weather each morning. Follow our social channels @virginiahistory and @vmhceducation for updates.
Step into Sacred Queerness: Nature, Spirituality, and the Queer Experience in the main gallery — a powerful exhibition benefiting Virginia Pride through sales from this show. Also on view: solo exhibitions by T. Parker, Justin White, Heather McCoy, and Mandy Powell, the Community Bridge Project featuring Zahra Chowdhury, and a brand-new All Media Show highlighting local talent. Also see 80+ working artist studios.
Visit us Tuesdays through Sundays 11am- 5pm. Admission is free and open to the public. Convenient and free parking is available. Exhibits will remain on view through August 22nd, 2026 (unless otherwise noted). The Bridge Project Exhibit will continue through August 31st. Sacred Queerness: Nature, Spirituality, and the Queer Experience continues through September 19th, 2026.
Come learn the sport of rugby while getting fit and making great friends. All are welcome. No experience necessary.
Aug 12 Wednesday