The Southwest Virginia Museum Historical State Park occupies a unique place in the state park system with a beautiful Victorian house and accompanying “carriage house” that hold the history of the region within their walls. This treasure trove was the brainchild of Janie Slemp Newman, collector, and her brother C. Bascom Slemp, congressman and private secretary to President Calvin Coolidge. They had a dream to preserve the rich history of the region by collecting items that reflected that history and culture, from farm tools to folk carvings to clothing and quilts. The museum began in Slemp’s garage in Big Stone Gap, but when the nearby Rufus Ayers mansion became available in 1929, Slemp bought it and began to house some of the collection here.

Janie Slemp Newman died in 1935, but her brother continued to collect items for the Janie Slemp Newman Memorial Museum (also known as the Slemp Historical Collection). After his death in 1943, Slemp’s will provided an opportunity to transfer the buildings and grounds--as well as the collection--to the Commonwealth of Virginia in 1946 for use as a museum. Two years later, it opened as the Southwest Virginia Museum Historical State Park.

First Museum curator James True and C. Bascom Slemp
with a group of students at an exhibit of their artwork

A curator was needed to care for and tell the stories behind these artifacts, and James True was the right person at the right time. Employed by Slemp in the 1930s to build dioramas and paint portraits of prominent Virginians, True was a skilled artist in his own right, having worked with the state’s Works Progress Administration Art Project and taught art in schools for years. As the museum’s first curator, True cataloged and displayed thousands of artifacts in a traditional historic house format, which many visitors still remember. His 25+ year legacy looms large over the museum even today.

Students show their artwork during a previous True Art Showcase and Children's Contest

A landscape painting from an earlier True Art Show

To honor True’s dedication to the museum, the True Art Showcase and Children’s Contest was established and, after a hiatus, returns this fall. The park is encouraging local artists of all ages and specialties to submit paintings and drawings, in any medium and of any subject, to the museum as soon as possible. The theme for the Children’s Contest is “Scenery of Southwest Virginia,” and entries will be judged by a panel; winners will join all the adult entries on exhibit at the museum from Tuesday, September 25 through Sunday, October 21.  There will also be a reception for all participants on Sunday, September 30, at 2 p.m. in the museum’s Victorian Parlor.

For more information, contact the park at (276) 523-1322.