Virginia Museum of Fine Arts — Art Residency

In September 2014, the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts commissioned Dr Esther Mahlangu to create two large-scale murals to be permanently placed in the museum's Evans Court as a gateway to the African Art Gallery section.

During a month-long residency at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts in Richmond, USA, Dr Mahlangu painted two 9-by-15-foot murals at the entrance to the African art gallery. At the age of 78, she skillfully navigated ladders and scaffolding to produce two eye-catching murals which echo the patterns found on Ndebele beaded vestments, jewellery and the exteriors of their homes.

In a unique but extremely well-received exhibition format, the VMFA invited members of the public to visit the museum to watch Dr Mahlangu and her granddaughter Marriam as they painted the two murals. The vibrantly coloured paintings were expected to energise the court whilst complementing the other major murals at VMFA.

This project, which at the time was the only major museum commission by Dr Mahlangu in North America, was created to advance the VMFA's African department's objective to begin collecting contemporary art.

During this visit to Richmond, Dr Mahlangu also spent some of her time teaching children's art classes — a pastime that she often participates in, in her studio and at her home in South Africa.