Join us on Saturday, December 4th, at the Barry Museum, for a Meet & Greet at 12:30 pm, followed by a short tour of the museum's first floor led by Episcodad, and then a tour of the Karen Lamonte exhibition on the second floor at 1:00 pm led by one of the museum's docents. The Museum is located on the corner of Hampton Blvd. and 43rd street in Norfolk, Virginia (in the heart of the ODU campus). A multi-story parking lot adjoins the museum. There are 25 reserved parking spots (free) for the museum on the first level (Section 1E). Admission to the museum is free.
Karen LaMonte is an acclaimed American sculptor living in Prague. She has pioneered complex casting methods in cast glass, iron and bronze. Particpants in previous visits to the Chrysler Museum may have seen her stunning glass sculpture in the Greco-Roman gallery of a female torso in a flowing gown without head or arms. In the Barry exhibition there are numerous selections of her work in the context of the theater in times of war and upheaval.
About the Museum itself: In the summer of 2015, Carolyn and Richard Barry approached Old Dominion University President John Broderick proposing the gift to ODU of their art collection, which includes glass sculpture and American modernist paintings by important artists. The Suffolk couple had a longstanding relationship with the University. Carolyn Barry taught math there in the 1960s, and Richard Barry's involvements included serving on the Board of Visitors for eight years in the 1980s, two of those years as Rector. His father, Richard Barry Jr., had also been a math professor at Old Dominion for 25 years. President Broderick commissioned a feasibility study.
Once a site was selected, and the architect chosen, the Barrys agreed to fund the cost of construction and support museum operations with a gift of $35 million. The Barry Art Museum will have an integral role in ODU's educational, research, entrepreneurial and community outreach missions across disciplines. The glass sculpture collection, featuring internationally known makers, enables the University to contribute substantially to the region's growing reputation as a glass-art center. One of the 4 galleries contains Carolyn Barry's superb doll collection.