Galleries & exhibitions

To enter the MSV Galleries, visitors pass through a lobby with a barrel-vaulted ceiling decorated with gold stars. The stars allude to a Valley legend that the word "Shenandoah" is an Indian term meaning "daughter of the stars."
 

Note

The collections displayed in the Museum of the Shenandoah Valley can be seen year-round. The Glen Burnie House is currently closed for renovation and its surrounding gardens are open on a seasonal basis from April through October.

 

quickfact

The exhibitions in the MSV Shenandoah Valley Gallery, the Founders Gallery, and the R. Lee Taylor Miniatures Gallery were designed by The 1717 Design Group, Inc. of Richmond, Virginia.

The Museum of the Shenandoah Valley (MSV) complex contains four collections and four gallery spaces.

The museum's living collection is comprised of the six acres of spectacular gardens surrounding the Glen Burnie House. The Shenandoah Valley Collection, the Julian Wood Glass Jr. Collection, and the R. Lee Taylor Miniatures Collection are each on first-time permanent display in the gallery spaces at the MSV.

The second level of the MSV presents four main galleries.

In the Shenandoah Valley Gallery, three gallery rooms explore the sweep of Valley history, and three additional rooms display decorative arts made in the Valley from the mid-1700s to the present.

 

The Founders Gallery presents rotating exhibitions featuring objects from the impressive collection of European and American fine and decorative arts assembled by MSV benefactor Julian Wood Glass Jr.

 

The R. Lee Taylor Miniatures Gallery is home to a fascinating collection of furnished miniature houses and rooms, assembled in the Shenandoah Valley.

 

The Changing Exhibition Gallery displays continually changing exhibitions throughout the year.

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