Dominion Energy supports significant expansions at three historic Virginia museums

Dominion Energy has donated $1.7 million through its charitable foundation to support major renovations at three museums that focus on the early history of Virginia and the nation.

In Williamsburg, the company is helping to fund a major renovation and expansion of two art museums to give visitors a fuller understanding of the lives of American colonists. In Richmond, the company will help unveil a new American Civil War Museum this spring located adjacent to company headquarters at Historic Tredegar.

“These renovated museums will offer a fresh perspective and compelling look at the early history of our nation for visitors and residents alike,” said Hunter A. Applewhite, president of the Dominion Energy Charitable Foundation. “They also support regional tourism and encourage community vitality and diversity.”

In Williamsburg, Dominion Energy is the largest corporate donor for the expansion of the Art Museums of Colonial Williamsburg. Major renovations on a facility housing the DeWitt Wallace Decorative Arts Museum and the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Museum will continue this year, with a full public unveiling in 2020. The renovated museum space will feature eight new galleries, a dedicated street entrance, advanced climate-controls to protect collections, as well as a new café, auditorium and special events space. Collections will highlight the lives of colonists, African Americans and Native Americans.

Watch two videos showing construction and final design for the Art Museums of Colonial Williamsburg.

“The expansion of Colonial Williamsburg’s two world-renowned art museums is essential to our mission of connecting guests with our shared American story,” said Colonial Williamsburg President and CEO Mitchell B. Reiss. “The project is funded entirely with philanthropic support and would not be possible without the generosity of Dominion Energy. The museums remain open during construction and, once complete, will better showcase our outstanding collections as we aim to engage and inspire more guests than ever before.”

In Richmond, the new American Civil War Museum at Historic Tredegar will house extensive collections in a 29,000 square-foot modern facility built around the historic ruins of Tredegar Iron Works.

The new museum will house combined collections of two former Richmond museums in a climate-controlled building designed to protect artifacts such as photographs, garments, maps and letters for future generations. The museum will broaden the narrative of the Civil War by presenting its legacies from multiple viewpoints and perspectives: Union and Confederate, enslaved and free African-American, soldier and civilian. The grand opening is set for May 4, 2019.

“From its design to its furnishing, the new building will reflect our mission and vision to be both welcoming and accessible to all,” said Christy S. Coleman, CEO, American Civil War Museum. “Thanks to generous donors like Dominion Energy, we will use better design, technology and narrative to give visitors a fuller understanding of how the social, political and military impacts of this war were chaotic to millions.”

Watch a Breaking Ground video about the American Civil War Museum at Historic Tredegar.