Join artist Dr. Debra Jean Ambush for a discussion of her current exhibition, Letters from Farmville: Reflections on Ancestral Arrival into Descendant Memory. This program will be held on Wednesday, October 23, 2024 at the LCVA and is free and open to the public. Doors will open at 5:45 pm for refreshments, and the program will begin at 6:00 pm.

In 1989 Dr. Debra Jean Ambush came to Farmville to help settle an estate for a recently passed family member. In her family’s farm house was a trunk that contained receipts, papers, photographs, and personal correspondence dating back to 1872. For over 30 years these documents, which are an ancestral connection to the artist, have served as vital sources of artistic inspiration and interpretation as she seeks to understand her family’s histories, stories, and memories. Letters from Farmville: Reflections on Ancestral Arrival into Descendant Memory is a four-part exhibition that visualizes African American family history to illuminate the ways in which memory is constructed, lost, and cherished. Alex Grabiec, the LCVA’s Curator of Exhibitions stated “This will be a wonderful opportunity to meet Dr. Ambush, take a closer look at the works, and hear from her.” The exhibition will be on view from September 6, 2024—January 21, 2025. Letters from Farmville is made possible in part through the generous sponsorship of Ilsa Loeser and Letterpress Communications.

About LCVA:

The Longwood Center for the Visual Arts presents a rotating program of inspiring and conversation-starting exhibitions. Admission to LCVA and its programs is—and always has been—free for all. It is located at the intersection of Main and Third Streets (129 North Main Street) in Farmville, Virginia. For additional information on these exhibitions or other programs and events, contact LCVA at 434.395.2206 or visit LCVA’s website at https://lcva.longwood.edu/.

LCVA exhibitions and programs are made possible through the generous support of: the Wells Fargo Foundation, the Walter J. Payne Foundation, Anne Carter & Walter R. Robins, Jr. Foundation, Walmart, Navona & David Hart, Century 21 @ Home, Helton House, Haley Auto Mall, Candice Jamison Dowdy ’69 & Charles H. Dowdy III + Northwestern Mutual, Lisa & Tim Tharpe, Rock Foundation, Community Foundation for a Greater Richmond, Harriet Butterworth Miller ’51, Joni Beachly + Focused Financial, YakAttack, Cifers Enterprises, Peachtree House Foundation, Wilma Register Sharp ’66 & Marc B. Sharp, and Mindy & Nash Osborn + North Street Press Club.

Image credit:

Dr. Debra Jean Ambush
Reverberations Farmville to Washington
Acrylic on Canvas
48 x 36 in
Courtesy of the artist