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2006 SESSION


HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 155
  Commending The Council of the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts on the occasion of its 50th anniversary.

 

Agreed to by the House of Delegates, January 13, 2006
Agreed to by the Senate, January 19, 2006

 

WHEREAS, fifty years ago, just nineteen years after the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts (VMFA) was founded, the Board of Trustees invited 49 women from Richmond to launch The Council, which has become VMFA’s oldest and largest volunteer support group; and

WHEREAS, The Council was formed with the goals of increasing Museum membership, educating its members about the collections, furthering community interest in the Museum, and contributing to Museum programs through participation, sponsorship, and fundraising; and

WHEREAS, The Council has over 650 dedicated members who volunteer approximately 25,000 hours in such areas as the VMFA Shop, the docent program, visitor services, membership travel, the library, and special fundraising events; and

WHEREAS, one of The Council's most successful endeavors has been the VMFA Shop, staffed and operated by The Council, which since its opening in 1962 has generated proceeds that are given to help fund exhibitions, educational programs, docent training, the library, conservation projects, and publications; and

WHEREAS, council members have given generously of their time and talents to create and organize numerous fundraising events, which have not only generated money for the Museum, but have also developed community interest and involvement; and

WHEREAS, The Council’s support reaches statewide, providing funding for traveling exhibitions to the Museum’s 300 partner locations throughout Virginia; and funding for VMFA’s Statewide Media Resources has enabled the Museum to build the largest lending audio-visual collection of any art museum in the country; and

WHEREAS, The Council established an Exhibition Endowment Fund in 1998 and an Endowment for Educational Programs in 2000; and

WHEREAS, The Council’s impact on VMFA is profound and over the past half-century it has contributed more than $6 million to VMFA in support of the Museum’s mission to enrich and inspire the lives of all of the residents and visitors to Virginia through art; and

WHEREAS, The Council has given many gifts of art to VMFA, some of which were on display in 2005 in a special exhibition The Council Celebrates 50 Years; and

WHEREAS, council members, past and present, have left an indelible mark on the Museum, and they will continue to provide superlative support and dedicated volunteer service; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED by the House of Delegates, the Senate concurring, That the General Assembly commend and congratulate The Council of the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts on the occasion of its 50th anniversary; and, be it

RESOLVED FURTHER, That the Clerk of the House of Delegates prepare a copy of this resolution for presentation to The Council of the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts in appreciation of its outstanding contributions to the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts and the citizens of the Commonwealth.