Area residents are invited to join arts nonprofit Mid-Mountain and the Rockbridge Historical Society for the launch of an installation of local historical and artistic artifacts titled “Community-Building through Ritual and Pageantry,” as part of the MidMountain Masquerade on Oct. 25 at the Arnolds Valley nonprofit’s retreat.
The exhibit will use materials from RHS Collections – including rare documents and iconographic prints, ritual clothing and regalia donated by the recently disbanded Odd Fellows Lodge No. 58 (Loving Rebekah No. 74), other local Masonic lodges and leaders, and related military and artistic contexts - to explore how people use symbolic images and group rituals, pageantry, performance, and music in order to both forge and affirm stronger community bonds.
The exhibit will be on display in the gallery at MidMountain Retreat, 338 Arnolds Valley Road, by appointment and during public events through the end of January.
Most of the exhibit materials are from the Rockbridge Historical Society archives and connect to themes of the exhibit now on display at the RHS Museum: “Rockbridge at Play: Toys, Games, and Histories.”
“It’s always exciting when RHS has the fitting opportunity and inviting contexts to highlight recent donations to our collections,” said Rockbridge Historical Society Executive Director Eric Wilson, who is curating the exhibit along with MidMountain’s Andy “River” Peterson. “All the more so when we link several community organizations and artists: like our collaborators at MidMountain, as well as the Odd Fellows’ Rockbridge Lodge and Lexington’s Mountain City Masonic Lodge, who’ve both trusted us to preserve and steward their historic materials, through the years.”
“Working on this project with River has been particularly interesting,” Wilson added, “as we’ve combined our joint if varied expertise on local history, with the institutional records shared by these fraternal orders. Even more excitingly, we’ve been able to complement and kaleidoscope a range of artistic, theatrical, spiritual, and cultural perspectives that illuminate how social groups of different eras and aims seek to create distinctive forms of ‘communal meaning:’ Even as we now share those stories with a broader public, we’re continuing to learn more and more about how they strengthen social ties by adopting and adapting symbols and performative traditions that stretch across generations.”
The Masquerade will run from 2 through 10 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 25. In addition to the historical exhibit, the event will feature musical acts, art installations, craft stations for puppets and masks, a dance party lit by bonfire, costume contests, a community potluck, and more.
Tickets are available online now at midmountain.org/masquerade for a sliding scale donation of $15 to $50, with no one turned away due to lack of funds, to make the event as inclusive as possible. However, the event is limited to 150 attendees by permit, so area residents should reserve their spots soon. All proceeds will benefit presenting artists and MidMountain’s future community events.
This event is made possible with funding from Washington and Lee University’s Community Grants.
