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NEW! Now Offering IV SedationYour deep relaxation option for an anxiety free visitPrompt Emergency Service • New Patients & Children Welcome18 NEXT DOOR NEIGHBORSAUGUST2013the public. It’s given us the opportunity to have five or six new exhibitionsin the museums every year. So we’re constantly bringing forthmaterial and telling new and different stories.”By telling new and different stories through exhibitions, Ron is helpingto display an impressive, almost unfathomable collection. “Our curatorsand conservators and registrars are responsible for nearly 70,000antiques and works of art, some 20,000,000 archaeological artifacts,15,000 architectural artifacts, and a large number of original and reconstructedbuildings,” he says.Having one of the most abundant and prominent collections of Colonialand Early National material has allowed Ron and his team to puton one-of-a-kind exhibits. “We see ourselves as both a history museumand an art museum,” he explains. “Both are valid stories, and we striveto tell both of them.”Ron points to an exhibit at the DeWitt Wallace Decorative Arts Museumthat opened in March titled Painters and Paintings in the EarlyAmerican South. “It’s 85 fabulous paintings, many from our own collectionbut many borrowed from institutions across the country,” he says.“It’s the biggest, most intensive exhibition of 18th-century Southern artthat’s ever been mounted.” Ron says the curators worked for seven yearsputting the show together, culling the country for deliberate and detailedportraits that display painting techniques from the period, and that alsogive an intimate glimpse into the lives of individuals from centuries ago.For Ron, the material collections are so delightful because they servenot only as works of art in their own right, but as tangible roadmapsthat tell stories from our past. “We firmly believe that three-dimensionalobjects are documents in the same way that pieces of paper are,” he says.“They carry a great deal of information. And one simply has to knowhow to ask the questions of those objects. They speak to the people whomade them, the people who used them, technologies of the time, traderoutes, ethnic diversity, all kinds of things.”In 2014, Ron looks forward to introducing neighbors and visitorsalike to A Rich and Varied Culture: The Material World of the Early South.It’s an exhibit he’s co-curating that will showcase materials made betweenabout 1680 and 1840. “The popular view of the early South isone of white columned plantation houses occupied by people of Englishdescent, but that was only one aspect of a very diverse population,” hesays. “Early southerners were of African, Scots, Scots-Irish, German,Swiss, Welsh, French and other descents. They were Anglicans, Moravians,Quakers, Lutherans, and on and on. The objects they made andused reflected the cultures from which they sprang.”Ron explains that the curatorial staff plays a game where they ask eachother what they would choose if they had superhuman strength to saveone object from a disaster. He says his answer changes all of the timebased on his research, but for this conversation, it’s a piece of furnituredating to 1775.“There’s this particular desk and bookcase in the collection that wasmade in Norfolk, Virginia about 1775,” he says. “It has remarkable geometry,and it illustrates so clearly how cabinetmaking was not this artisticexpression going on in the middle of nowhere. There are numericalproportions for the height of the individual elements, and their relationshipsto one another. There was almost a science behind it in the 18th
century. It’s not only a great culturalmarker in terms of the wayBritish technology is transplanted,but it’s just a very beautiful object.”For Ron, the Peyton RandolphHouse in Colonial Williamsburgis also a favorite because its contentsand history are so well documentedand meticulous. “WhenRandolph, president of the firstContinental Congress, died in1775, a listing of all his possessionswas made,” Ron says. “It survives,and we followed it minutelyto refurnish the house and supportbuildings several years ago.The particular grouping of goodsgives us a look into the lives ofPeyton and Betty Randolph andthe enslaved people who lived andworked on that complex.”Why does all of this old stuffmatter today? “Whether it’s anearly building or an object ora document, all of these thingsspeak to our national past,” Ronsays. “They help us to understandwhere we came from. I think thatit’s awfully important to knowwhere you came from because ifyou don’t, you don’t know howyou achieved the rights and thebenefits that you have today.”If Ron Hurst has one word ofadvice for the Williamsburg communitywhen it comes to art, it’snot to pass up the unmatchedcollections on display at ColonialWilliamsburg’s DeWitt WallaceMuseum and The Abby AldrichRockefeller Folk Art Museum.“Because of the way the buildingis designed, it looks like asmall Colonial building,” he says.“But that’s just the entrance to a100,000-square-foot complex.There’s a tremendous amount ofmaterial available for the publichere. It’s a really exciting place tobe.” NDNA Prescription to H.E.A.L.Mohammed Hatouane immigrated from Morocco in January of 2012 andimmediately sought the services of Literacy for Life so he could integrate intohis new community and prepare for further studies. Despite being well educatedin Morocco, he struggled with routine tasks in his new country, includingspeaking with doctors and interpreting healthrelatedinformation. He attended Literacy forLife’s Health Education and Literacy (HEAL)classes and now feels much more confidentabout working through the healthcare system.Do you know someone whosereading, writing or math skillsare holding them back?• English LiteracyAprender Ingles• Community and CitizenshipComunidad y Ciudadania• Math FundamentalsAprender Matematicas• Health LiteracyEducacion de SaludCall Today! (Llama hoy!)757-221-3325```- Judy Knudson, WilliamsburgCity Council, with MohammedHatouaneHEALTH EDUCATION & LITERACYMondays 10:30 a.m. to Noon•Aug. 5: Healthy Living - Discussprevention, risk factors, the importanceof health screenings, and reading foodlabels.•Aug. 12: Dealing With Stress - Recognizesymptoms of stress and practiceways of reducing it.•Aug. 19: Aches & Pains - Study parts ofthe body, symptoms, and how to describethe intensity of pain.•Aug. 26: Self-Medication & First Aid- Identify the difference between over-thecounterand prescription medicines.•Sept. 9: Finding a Medical Professional- Learn how to access medical services inthe community and call 9-1-1.•Sept. 16: Making Appointments &Filling Out Forms - Discover ways to beprepared for visits to a medical office orcenter.•Sept. 23: Be Your Own Advocate- Learn about patient rights and responsibilitiesand how to talk to medical professionals.•Sept. 30: Hospital Tour Field Trip -Explore a local hospital to reduce fears andanxieties about health care.301 Monticello AvenueSchool of EducationCollege of William and Maryhttp://literacyforlife.orgNEXT DOOR NEIGHBORSAUGUST2013 19
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