Virginia Tech faculty, staff, and students now receive complimentary membership at the Taubman Museum of Art

18 Nov 2019

A group of visitors tour the POP Power exhibition at the Taubman Museum of Art. — Taubman Museum of Art members receive free access to ticketed exhibitions including the current "POP Power from Warhol to Koons: Masterworks from the Collections of Jordan D. Schnitzer and His Family Foundation." Photo courtesy of the Taubman Museum of Art.

The Arts@VirginiaTech is strengthening its presence in Roanoke with a new pilot program with the Taubman Museum of Art. Full-time undergraduate and graduate students, faculty, and staff of Virginia Tech’s Blacksburg campus, Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine, and the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC are now individual members of the museum.

Museum members enjoy free unlimited admission to ticketed exhibitions, the distinguished speaker series, the Interactive Participatory Gallery, and First Friday activities, as well as free tours, invitations to member preview days, and discounts of 20 percent on classes and 10 percent at the museum café and gift shop.

For faculty, staff, and students, their Hokie Passports serve as their museum membership card. This new benefit for the campus community is available now through Oct. 31, 2020.

“As we look for new ways to connect our campus communities through the arts, this partnership provides a terrific opportunity,” said Ruth Waalkes, associate provost for the arts at Virginia Tech and executive director of the Moss Arts Center. “Virginia Tech’s continued and ever-expanding commitment to the arts offers exciting and meaningful opportunities for learning, engagement, and creative experiences to flourish at all of our locations across the commonwealth.”

In addition to demonstrating the university’s commitment to the arts, this initiative is another way to link Blacksburg and Roanoke in educational opportunities and experiences.

“This shows a strong commitment to sharing the arts,” said Ryan King, graduate representative to the Virginia Tech Board of Visitors and Ph.D. student in translational biology, medicine, and health at the Fralin Biomedical Institute at VTC. “I think it will serve a great purpose in helping create opportunities for students who live and work in Roanoke to engage with the arts. Students at VTC are primarily focused on health sciences research; because of this, we do not always have the opportunities to engage in the humanities in the way many of our peers in Blacksburg have at their disposal. For a student in Blacksburg, going to the Moss Arts Center is very easy — that's not so for students in Roanoke. Now, having the Taubman accessible to this student population creates an opportunity for us, too, to take in the arts."

The membership is a new one-year benefit made possible by the Taubman Museum of Art’s Institutional Membership program and support from the Provost’s Office as an Arts@VirginiaTech initiative. For now, the program is a one-year pilot to gauge interest and participation levels.

This initiative provides individual membership for Virginia Tech faculty, staff, and students. More information about membership levels and benefits is available on the museum’s website. Individual members can upgrade to a Family/Dual Membership or a 110 Young Professionals Society Individual or Dual/Family membership at a discounted rate.

The Taubman Museum of Art is located at 110 Salem Avenue SE in Roanoke, Virginia.