2nd Annual Museum Day

Jun 1, 2019 10:00 am - Jun 1, 2019 4:00 pm

Looking for a fun free event? Like trains, history or art? Join us Saturday, June 1st from 10-4 for a great day in Olde Towne! We have pulled out all the stops with FREE events and tours of interesting museums, galleries, and churches. With live music and more, there is something for everyone in the family!

Enjoy free entry to the following:

City Museums

Lightship Portsmouth Museum: Open 10 am – 5 pm; Free Admission

Visit Portsmouth’s 103-year-old lightship museum. From 10 am – 1 pm, meet volunteer Peter Brunk, who served as a lightship captain from 1970 – 1971 aboard the lightship Nantucket off the coast of Massachusetts. Follow the colorful labels around the ship’s interior to help you learn some nautical terms.

Portsmouth Art & Cultural Center – 420 High Street

This museum houses several changing art exhibits including Horizons:
As Above, So Below, We are the Music Makers: Preserving the Soul of America’s Music and the 2019 Outdoor Sculpture Exhibition.

Rhythm Project All-Stars will perform the Steel Drums at 11 am – 1 pm

Cameron Woods – Building a Cigar Box Guitar demonstration and Susan Heely performing traditional music on historic instruments from 1 – 4 pm.

Portsmouth Colored Community Library Museum: Extended hours! Open 10am – 5pm; Free Admission

See exhibits about the history of Portsmouth’s African American library, as well as the post-World War II social scene in town. From 10 am – 2 pm, meet members of the African American Historical Society of Portsmouth, learn more about their projects and membership in the society.

Portsmouth Naval Shipyard Museum (PNSM): Open 10 am – 5 pm; Free Admission “Wish You Were Here:” Vintage Postcards! See historical views of Portsmouth and the Norfolk Naval Shipyard as rendered on antique postcards from the museum collection and the private collection of Marcus W. Robbins, local collector and president of the Friends of the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard Museum. Meet Mr. Robbins and members of the Friends of the PNSM and learn more about Friends membership. Purchase exclusive Friends merchandise, including baseball caps and challenge coins commemorating 250 years of Norfolk Naval Shipyard.

Private Museums

Hill House Museum – 221 North Street

You will be amazed as you step back in time in this 4-story, 1825 English-basement home. The Hill sisters donated the house, including every piece of furniture, china, crystal, pottery, carpet, and all the window dressings, paintings, ceramics, and household goods that had been collected over a period of 190 years. Mr. Donnie Sadler, Vice President of the Nansemond Chapter of the Archaeological Society of Virginia, will speak in the gardens of the Museum. He will be speaking about artifacts found from the Hill House privy dig, along with showcasing artifacts from his own private collection.

Jewish Museum and Cultural Center – 607 Effingham Street

This museum is a rare surviving example of Eastern European Jewish Orthodoxy. It houses an eighteenth-century Torah Scroll rescued from a synagogue in Trebic, Czechoslovakia – a victim of the Holocaust. Travel back in time to understand the history of the largest wave of immigration to the United States. The Jewish Story of immigration and the contributions that this group of people has brought to the American melting pot explored through an interactive exhibit.

The Railroad Museum of Virginia – Court & Wythe Streets

Volunteer Appreciation Day

This museum-on-the-tracks features a five-car train with a 1910-era steam locomotive, two walk-through gallery mail cars, a dining car, antique Norfolk-Southern caboose, and a depot-style platform. The Railroad Museum of Virginia has exhibits and artifacts from the history of railroads as well as a great model train collection. It’s great fun for “Trainiacs” of all ages.

Galleries

Dave Chance Gallery – 610 High Street

Dave Chance Gallery is an exhibition space for art and photography from places near and far. Enjoy seeing New Works.

Olde Towne Art & Music 606 Court Street

Enjoy live music by the Children’s Chorus and other favorite local musicians all day.

Skipjack Nautical Wares and Marine Art Gallery – 620 High Street

Skipjack is one of the 10 Best Art Galleries in Virginia by “Best Things Virginia” and the “10 Best Virginia Art Galleries” by TripAdvisor! They specialize in original nautical and marine paintings, sculpture, folk/sailor art, whale & mermaid carvings, prints, tall ships, tugboats, Chesapeake Bay, models, work boats, classic yachts and more!

Churches

St. Paul’s Catholic Church – 522 High Street

St. Paul’s was built of shaved granite in 1905 and is an elaborate example of a compact Gothic Revival cruciform plan church featuring tracery windows of cathedral glass, pointed Gothic arches, flying buttresses and a steep roof with a 200 ft tall copper-clad steeple. As you enter the church you will view twenty-eight stained glass windows which were ordered from Mayer & Co., Munich, Germany from 1900 to 1914.

Trinity Episcopal Church – 500 Court Street

This church combines both art and history. You can see amazing stained-glass, including 6 beautiful windows added to the church in 1894 by Louis Comfort Tiffany. You can also experience local history. The crew of the C.S.S. Virginia (the ironclad Merrimac) was blessed at the church altar, and the historic churchyard is home to the earthly remains of a number of notable individuals. Enjoy their Revolutionary Block Party and tours of the church.

Also on June 1st

The Visual Arts Center will have an Art Sale by students and faculty on the Court Street side of the building.

The Middle Street pedestrian mall beside the Children’s Museum of Virginia will be the location of several events. The Olde Towne Arts & Music Children’s Chorus will sing from 11-11:30 am. Churchland High School Art Scholars will be face painting. The Middle Street Mall is also home to Scoops! which will offer specials to celebrate Museum Day.

Keep your eyes open to see Moose, Portsmouth’s favorite horse as the Portsmouth Mounted Patrol strolls the streets of Olde Towne from 10 am– 12 pm.

Children’s Story Time will be at the Main Library from 11 am – 12 pm

Friends of the Library Book Sale offers a huge selection of books, DVDs and more from 10 am-2 pm in the basement of the Main Library

Olde Towne Portsmouth Antiques to Flea Market has approximately 75 vendors selling antique and flea market items from 10 am-2 pm in the County Street Garage.

The Olde Towne Shuttle will be available to shuttle visitors for free from 10 am-4 pm.