From 1753 to 1929, Wilton sat on the bank of the James River in Henrico County, the centerpiece of a tobacco plantation and eyewitness to the birth of our nation. But this great house and its history was almost lost. In 1933, The National Society of the Colonial Dames of America in the Commonwealth of Virginia (NSCDA-VA) under the leadership of Mrs. Calvin Valentine, saved Wilton from the wrecking ball by purchasing and relocating the home 15 miles into the city of Richmond. 

Commemorating the Dames' 90th anniversary of saving Wilton, this new exhibition explores the long legacy of women leaders in the field of historic preservation of early American buildings. Hear directly from many of the women who fought to save Wilton during the financial constraint of the Great Depression, and discover how they funded and oversaw the restoration and construction of Wilton, featuring photographs, letters, and architectural elements from the home itself!

The Women Who Saved Wilton is made possible by generous support from Jane Armfield, Bayanne Herrick Hauhert, and Peter I.C. Knowles, II & Brantley Bolling Knowles.

In 1998, archaeologists at Wilton's original site in Henrico County, Virginia uncovered the material record of the lives of nearly a century of enslaved families. This excavation recovered not only the most important available tool for understanding daily life at Wilton, but the largest collection of objects associated with Wilton’s original location in existence.  “Wilton Uncovered: Archeology Illuminates an Enslaved Community,” displays this collection for the first time alongside Dennis Winston’s poignant artistic renderings of the community that used, loved, broke, resented, played with, and discarded these artifacts.

Originally exhibited March 1, 2020 - November 30, 2022, we are proud to remount this important exhibition for semi-permanent view!

Can't visit in person? Click the arrow to explore Wilton Uncovered online!

In collaboration with conservator Dr. Susan L. Buck, VIVID VIEW exhibited photographed paint samples from historic houses throughout Virginia. Intersecting historical style with modern science, these microscopic views into cross-sections of historical paint layers reveal macroscopic trends. Colorful, abstracted images showcased historical paint as a prominent element of interior design, dictating how historical actors lived in, re-adapted, and reflected fashionable period taste.

These colorful images of history convey practical, present-day implications for interpretation, dating, and insight into eighteenth-century buildings and interiors. Featuring paint samples from 13 historic sites both private and public, VIVID VIEW blurred the poles of art and science and highlighted the latest efforts in historical preservation by revealing paint as an influential element in how we decorate and who we are.

VIVID VIEW was made possible in part through the generous support of James D. and Pamela J. Penny and 2012-2013 Paint Detectives Campaign.

A look at the seldom seen portrait miniatures, hollow-cuts, and silhouettes in the Wilton House Museum Collection.

You & i are…Earth explored the ceramic medium as a record of human experience embodied in the objects of our lives, from those we discard to what we cherish, revere, and protect. Themes of race, culture, and social justice explored by internationally recognized contemporary artist Michelle Erickson’s 21^st-century narratives provided a provocative lens within the intimate context of an 18^th-century family and household to reflect on our present historical moment.

This exhibition explored furniture made in Virginia and Maryland from 1790-1820. Sharing the borders of the nation’s new capital, and home to the thriving cities of Richmond and Baltimore, the furniture produced in these two states expressed Neoclassical taste with a Southern accent. This exhibition comprised 12 objects generously on loan from the private collection of Michael Phillips.

Thank you to the collaborative support of The Decorative Arts Trust and to the exhibition’s lender Michael Phillips.

Anywhere But Now — an installation of contemporary art in the late 18th-century domestic structure of Wilton House Museum — unquestionably disrupted the illusion of stepping back in time. The artworks included in the exhibition variously drew attention to the mutability of remembrance. They show that recollections and representations of the past can be reverent, sentimental, critical, and humorous. They suggest that contemporary perceptions of the past also are inextricably associated with forgetting, sometimes willful and other times unintended. Such loss can be soothing, suspicious, or enraging. It can also be generative.

‍This exhibition was curated by graduate students in the Department of Art History at Virginia Commonwealth University.

This exhibition reunited three centuries of Randolphs through their stories, contributions, and personal affects. What their stories and actions provide are copious accounts of information on how the Randolphs and their heirs refused to be bystanders in a land that, from its infancy, grew to become a leading nation that regularly called upon its best and brightest for support and leadership.‍

John James Audubon arrived in early-19th century Philadelphia with a desire to travel the country and depict its birds accurately, in both size and likeness. In the early 1820’s, after marriage, the birth of his children, and a series of failed ventures, Audubon began to pursue his dream. With the help of his self-designed technique of creating models, he revolutionized the tradition of bird illustration and brought life and vitality to his drawings. Audubon’s Birds of America (1827-1838) consists of 435 life-sized engravings, and established his legacy as an ornithologist, scientist, artist, and environmentalist.