Greetings from the Ava Gardner Museum staff and board of directors! We hope you’re having a wonderful summer filled with family, friends, and travel. The AGM makes the perfect summer road trip destination where you can stay cool and enjoy our extensive collection from Ava Gardner’s life and career!
A Year Anew
Like many New Year's resolutions, the beginning of 2024 lended itself to transition. The Ava Gardner Museum welcomed a brand-new face to the team! Angelica Henry, our new Museum Manager, brings a fresh set of eyes to our collection along with experience in the Museum realm – both past and present. Angelica’s biggest hopes for the AGM are to achieve accreditation from the American Alliance of Museums (AAM) and to aid the Museum through efforts of accessibility with expanded programming and resources. We are excited to see what Angelica will bring to the Museum in the months to come!
At the beginning of 2024, we welcomed Angelica Henry to the AGM team! To learn more about Angelica and her role as Museum Manager, check out this profile interview below.
Gene London Collection
A small secret for our close followers…we made a HUGE purchase! The Ava Gardner Museum now owns another piece of Hollywood history – a stunning gown designed by Irene Lentz for The Great Sinner (1949). Most recently, the gown has been on display at the AGM as part of our exhibit “Ava in Costumes: Dressing the Part” during our “Ava 100” celebrations. We made this acquisition through the Gene London Collection on behalf of his partner, John Thomas. We are thrilled to have this priceless artifact, and something about the swap from “on loan” to “permanent collection” just feels right!
We are proud to add Ava’s complete, original costume from the 1949 period The Great Sinner to our permanent collection. Read more about this classic film and Ava’s experience making it on our blog.
Local Artist Collaboration
As part of the AGM’s new “Local Artist Initiative,” we’ve collaborated with our first local creator to design some exclusive AGM merch! The artist at hand, Sara Marshall, creates full time and supports herself entirely through her artistic endeavors. Marshall designed our newest mug and t-shirt which we’ve nicknamed the “Ava Heart.” Can you recognize what classic TV show she’s paid homage to?
To learn more about these new items or to purchase your own set, visit us in downtown Smithfield or check out our online gift shop.
New Board Member
In June, the AGM board of directors welcomed Bill Turnage to the team. Bill spent his earlier youth working in Human Resources – and now spends his later youth as a classic film fan extraordinaire! Bill shared with us his earliest memory of Ava – when his grandmother turned on the movie Earthquake (1974). For the folks that have seen Earthquake, it’s easy to infer that this flick left a lasting effect on a seven-year-old Bill. Talk about an introduction to Ava! Bill brings a wonderful energy and enthusiasm to the board. Welcome aboard, Bill!
Our newest Board member, Bill Turnage, a long time supporter of the Ava Gardner Museum.
Building Maintenance
The AGM team is working hard to get the Museum up to “museum standards.” What does that mean anyway? In order to obtain accreditation through the American Alliance of Museums, we must have an up-to-date sprinkler system that will properly protect our collection and staff in the event of fire. This project is going to be very time consuming and will lead to Museum closure for an entire week. We are more than eager to protect the collection in the manner it has always deserved, and we can’t wait for the completion of this project.
The Ava Gardner Museum is situated in a building over 100 years old! Like humans, when buildings get older, they require a little more maintenance (and compliments and a few extra treats). Our “mature” cast iron pipes have posed a consistent issue. In February, we had to make a pretty swift decision to snake the drains. In 2023, even our famed “Ava” neon sign that sits above our front doors required some upkeep, too.
Technicians painstakingly replaced the neon in our iconic “Ava” sign by hand, one tube at a time. While they were restoring the sign, they also thoroughly cleaned and repainted it.
Looking Ahead…
We are thrilled to announce the 2024 Ava Gardner Festival, held Friday, October 4th-Sunday, October 6th! This year’s Ava Gardner Festival will be one of film screenings, food trucks, Heritage Tours, and so much more! Did we mention Clark Gable? We are eager to open our newest exhibition, ‘Archiving Ava’, where we take a close-look at Ava’s personal archiving habits, and simultaneously, how the Museum archives the life of a legend. Please check our website and follow social media for continued updated and schedule announcements!
It takes a village to coordinate these annual celebrations, and we could really use your help. Please consider sponsoring our Festival through this link. Each sponsorship includes varying benefits fit for any Ava fan!
The 2024 Ava Gardner Festival will take place from October 4-6 in Downtown Smithfield, NC.
Call to Action
This has already been, and will continue to be, a very expensive year for the AGM as we undertake building maintenance and upgrades. As always, we appreciate all donations made to the Museum to help us offset these costs. We stretch every penny so we may offer the best possible experience to our visitors. Click here if you’d like to donate to the Ava Gardner Museum.
We are so excited to see what the rest of 2024 brings. Ultimately, we hope it brings you through our doors!
