In the 1920s, during a time of growing tensions between the U.S. and Japan, an American educator and missionary was moved by an idea: to promote peace between the two countries by working through their children. The response to his idea was enormous, resulting in a campaign that sent a gift of 12,739 Friendship Dolls from American children in celebration of the Japanese Hina Matsuri (Doll Festival) in 1927. The Japanese children responded in kind by sending 58 ornate highly crafted dolls of their own to the U.S. Today, this exhibit seeks to reunite these "Friendship Dolls" from both countries, reminding us of the power of a single idea—and the spirit of children—to act as an instrument of peace and goodwill...
Upcoming Exhibitions
Dates subject to change
Friday, May 4, 2012 - Saturday, January 19, 2013
The Taubman is proud to present the first major exhibition of Fabergé objects to be shown in western Virginia. Featuring more than 100 objects made by the renowned House of Fabergé, led by Russian artist-jeweler Peter Carl Fabergé (1846–1920), all works are from the Hodges Family Collection, assembled by American collector Daniel L. Hodges. Objects range from photograph frames, tableware, desk accessories, boxes, clocks, and jewelry to cigarette cases and smoking accessories. All of the works illustrate the consummate skill of the House of Fabergé and its inimitable use of precious and semi-precious materials to create luxury objects of the highest order.
Friday, June 8, 2012 - Saturday, August 25, 2012
Wayne White is an artist who defies easy categorization. Spanning film, television, music, and fine art, his work is marked by wry (and often strange) humor and an irreverent whimsical sensibility. While his puppets and set design for Pee-wee’s Playhouse won him three Emmy’s in the 1980s, his fine art projects (including paintings he calls "word pictures") have lately brought him critical attention, including a 400+ page monograph by key collector Todd Oldham. In a project created just for the Taubman, White plans to combine his word works with puppetry in an exhibition that will channel Roanoke's history and engage visitors with with sights, sounds, smells, and interaction. He'll also be presenting his...
Friday, June 8, 2012 - Friday, August 10, 2012
With the collapse of the stock market in 1929 and the Great Depression that followed, America saw more than 45 million citizens cast into abject poverty. In the midst of staggering hardship, the Great Depression also generated a tremendous outburst of creative energy in America's photographic community. At the center of the photographers documenting rural conditions, migrant workers, suffering families, and ravaged landscapes was Dorothea Lange, whose photographs from this era have become icons in American cultural history. This remarkable exhibition examines Lange's strikingly empathetic photographs along with the work of other important socially conscious photographers of the period.
All...
