Colonial Williamsburg Public Hospital

Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Museum

DeWitt Wallace Decorative Arts Museum

Just across the James River from Surry County, one of the largely unrecognized gems in the region is Colonial Williamsburg’s pair of museums located in the reconstructed Public Hospital of 1773.  Located at the intersection of South Henry and Francis Streets near Merchants Square, it houses both the DeWitt Wallace Decorative Arts Museum and the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Museum.  Both are world-class facilities.  The DeWitt Wallace Museum features Colonial-period furniture, household items, and an extensive collection of silver service items.

According to the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Museum website, “Colonial and contemporary artists and craftspeople work outside the mainstream of academic art to record aspects of everyday life, making novel and effective use of the materials at hand. Bold colors, simplified shapes, and imaginative surface patterns can be seen in the variety of paintings, carvings, toys, needlework they create.  The Folk Art Museum offers changing exhibitions of American folk art from its permanent holdings and museum loan shows.”

Source

"The Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Museum."  Colonial Williamsburg.  The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, n.d.  Web. <http://www.history.org/history/museums/abby_art.cfm>.