Museum of the Shenandoah Valley

Mission

The mission of the Museum of the Shenandoah Valley is to preserve and enrich the cultural life and heritage of the Valley.

History

The Museum sits on land originally claimed by Winchester founder James Wood in 1735. The property was passed through generations of Wood and Glass families until being acquired by Wood descendant Julian Wood Glass Jr. between 1952 and 1955. Aided by a family fortune made in Oklahoma's oil industry, Glass and his partner at the time, R. Lee Taylor, worked together to transform the site and its Glen Burnie House—built in 1794 by James Wood's son Robert—into a country retreat. Taylor moved to the site in 1958 and while Glass visited his ancestral home, he was never a full-time resident at Glen Burnie. They furnished the home with objects Glass inherited along with eighteenth- and nineteenth-century furniture and fine art that Glass purchased for the home. Throughout the latter half of the twentieth century they surrounded the house with six acres of elaborate Glen Burnie Gardens. By 1960, Glen Burnie had become a showplace where the couple entertained in high style. Even after their romantic relationship ended in the 1970s, the two maintained a working relationship where Taylor continued to live and manage the estate while Glass divided his time between traveling, Glen Burnie, and his residences in Oklahoma, Texas, and New York City. The two men remained gracious hosts together until Glass's death in 1992. Taylor lived at Glen Burnie until his death in 2000.

After Julian Wood Glass's death and as a condition of his will, the house and gardens were opened to the public on a seasonal basis in 1997. In 2005, the Museum of the Shenandoah Valley was added as an anchor to the site to both fulfill Glass's vision of sharing his significant collection with the public, and to expand upon that vision to include a space where the art, history, and culture of the Valley could be interpreted. The 50,000-square-foot Museum of the Shenandoah Valley was designed by renowned architect Michael Graves. At 214 acres, the Museum's landscape is the largest green space in the city of Winchester and the Glen Burnie House and its surrounding seven-acre gardens remain an important part of this year-round regional history complex now known as the Museum of the Shenandoah Valley. In late fall of 2020, 90 acres of the MSV landscape opened to the public as The Trails at the MSV, a free-admission art park featuring 3 miles of trails for walking, running, and biking.

Values

The Museum of the Shenandoah Valley (MSV) believes in a society that is inclusive in practice and where equal opportunities and equitable outcomes are hallmarks. The MSV is committed to developing and supporting a diverse, equitable, accessible, and inclusive community, where the common goal is to create and foster a sense of belonging. This inclusive approach provides the MSV the foundation to enriching the cultural life and heritage of the Valley while preserving our robustly diverse history.

These are the values in which the MSV thrives:

Accessibility: We strive to provide a welcoming environment of engaging and meaningful experiences that can be accessed by all.

Collaboration/Engagement: We embrace the commitment to working together with our community and stakeholders as we endeavor to achieve excellence.

Community: We contribute to the regional community by employing material culture, past and present, to explore and celebrate the cultural diversity of our region.

Diversity: We strive to ensure multiple perspectives are invited and represented in all we do.

Education: We place learning and scholarship about the art, history, and the material culture of the Shenandoah Valley at the forefront of our activities, providing visitors with engaging and enriching experiences.

Equity: We strive to recognize differences and seek to provide resources to equalize opportunity.

Excellence: We strive to provide and deliver the best museum experience for all guests.

Fun: We are dedicated to providing an enjoyable experience for all.

Inclusivity: We are committed to cultivating and nurturing a sustainable environment of equitable participation that lends itself to feedback and continuous improvement.

Preservation: We are dedicated to caring for our collections, historic properties, and surrounding landscapes, while serving as a resource for our community as stewards of the material culture of the Valley.

Respect: We are committed to an environment that welcomes and values diversity that enriches the museum experience.