Napa Valley Museum

Exterior of Museum Photo by-MJ Schaer

Yountville’s Hidden Cultural Oasis Re-Opens

Napa Valley Museum Yountville is a hidden cultural oasis located on the peaceful grounds of the California Veterans Home in Yountville. Nestled nearby to Yountville’s award-winning restaurants, hotels, and wineries, the small yet mighty world-class museum and formerly sleepy nonprofit, has in recent years, been attracting crowds and international acclaim for its inventive world-premiere exhibitions such as “France is a Feast: The Photographic Journey of Paul & Julia Child,” the “Sound Maze,” a family-friendly interactive experience where visitors create a cacophony of sound on giant-sized invented musical instruments, and the current exhibition: “Lucy Liu: One Of These Things Is Not Like The Others” – the first US Museum exhibition of deeply personal and intimate art and sculpture by the artist, actress and advocate Lucy Liu (through August 29, 2021).

Lucy Liu and her Totem Series of artworks // Photo by Lowell Downey

The Museum consists of a Main Gallery featuring its major exhibitions, the History Gallery with permanent display, plus an intimate downstairs Spotlight Gallery featuring exceptional works by local and regional artists, student shows, and special smaller exhibits like the current: “Masterworks from the Yates Collection” (through August 29, 2021), featuring exquisite works by Matisse, Pissarro, Picasso, Chagall, and others.

Hughes Claude Pissaro, Interior Bourgeois from the Yates Collection

The Museum temporarily closed in March of 2020 due to Covid, just as it was hitting its stride. In the prior two years alone, the museum had presented works by Picasso, Matisse, Miro, Chagall, Dali, Donati, Pollock, Onslow Ford, Carrington, Guccione, Kipness, Fini, Deligmann, Matta, Motherwell, Kamrowski, Ernst, Frida Kahlo, and Walt Disney, and photographs by Dorothea Lange, Paul Child, Diane Arbus, Margaret BourkeWhite, Imogen Cunningham, Berenice Abbott, among others.

The Museum also offers online content, including a virtual version of its “Lucy Liu” exhibition, two annual student shows: “Remotely Creative” and “Not from Around Here” displaying exceptional works by high school students across the region, plus “Real Time: Art of the Moment - Tested by Fire,” displaying thrilling video and photography of the recent wildfires by Napa photographer Tim Carl. All virtual exhibitions on the museum’s website are free except the Lucy Liu exhibit, which requires a donation of any amount ($5 suggested minimum) for access.

Lucy Liu, Family Portrait Photo courtesy of the artist, 2016

With popular events like its Top Drink cocktail festival, speaker series, lectures, and classes, musical evenings, and sold-out whisky and sake tastings - plus a sunny patio with picnic tables where visitors can bring their own lunch to enjoy before or after touring the galleries - the Napa Valley Museum Yountville has something for all ages and interests.

“When we closed in March of 2020 due to the pandemic, we saw strong interest in the newly-opened ‘Lucy Liu’ exhibition, and getting ready to open a powerful student-curated exhibition in March,” recalls Laura Rafaty, Napa Valley Museum’s Executive Director. “We never dreamed we would be closed this long and are lucky that we’ve been able to obtain government loans, grants, and donations enabling our small nonprofit to remain viable. We so look forward to welcoming the public back to the Museum at long last and to bringing our museum family – our artists, visitors, staff, trustees, and members – back to our galleries.”

Jeff Bridges, Pooch, and Lois Smith, A Dog Year

FOR MORE INFORMATION, HOURS OF OPERATION, AND UPCOMING EXHIBITS: napavalleymuseum.org