SOME OF THE FINEST CULTURAL OPPORTUNITIES available anywhere are offered within short driving time to everyone living within Augusta County, Staunton and Waynesboro. Options include community and professional theater, musical performing arts groups, historic sites, museums, libraries, art galleries and artisans centers.

A relatively new player on the scene is the Blackfriars Playhouse, located in Staunton. The theater is a replica of one of William Shakespeare’s theaters, built in 1620, and contains backless oak benches, balconies, and Tudor-style woodwork. The Playhouse is home to Shenandoah Shakespeare Express, a highly respected touring troupe that has now established permanent residence in Staunton.

Shenandoah Shakespeare specializes in performing Shakespeare and Renaissance drama in original staging conditions. Its fast-paced performances use natural light, double-casting, and simple staging, reflecting their commitment to authenticity while keeping the plays fresh, accessible, and fun for modern audiences.

Queen City Acoustic regularly brings the best in contemporary folk music to the stage at the Blackfriars Playhouse. Local favorites John McCutcheon, Jimmy Fortune and Robin and Linda Williams appear at least once annually, as do artists from around the nation.

The Waynesboro Players perform three times yearly. Schola Cantorum (school for singers) of Waynesboro is a local ensemble of musicians from the area. They perform twice a year, spring and fall, usually in the High School auditorium. The Waynesboro Community Orchestra provides professional, student and community players with an opportunity to practice and perform in a professional orchestra environment. The orchestra performs several free concerts each year. The Stonewall Brigade Band performs in Gypsy Hill Park on Monday nights during the summer.

ShenanArts, based at Pennyroyal Farm north of Staunton, is a not-for-profit professionally- directed community service organization. Under the banner of Growing Stages, ShenanArts offers a wide variety of character-building activities in theatre by and for youth. ShenanArts entertainment offerings include Cabaret Nights, Adult Faire, and Family Theatre events. Plays selected often address contemporary issues. At Shenandoah Playwrights International, playwrights from different regions of the world come to live and work with a multicultural company of theatre artists.

The Staunton Community Concert Association sponsors a series of music, dance and theater artists. The Shenandoah Civic Dance Company teaches ballet to students from throughout the region, and presents the Nutcracker during the holiday season. Valley Symphonic Concerts brings three concerts to the valley each year. The Staunton Choral Society presents two concerts per year; participation is open to anyone with a fine voice and a desire to sing with a group of talented musicians. The Ovation Singers are also an openentry singing group. They were organized to meet the multi-purpose performance needs of the community. The second and fourth Saturday night of each month is Apollo Night at Booker T. Washington Resource Center.

The Museum of American Frontier Culture in Staunton is another destination attraction. The Museum offers a unique collection of furnishings, crops, animals, and foods from 17th, 18th and 19th century Europe and America. Costumed interpreters help create a living illustration of life in Europe before immigration to America, and the culture they built on one of Americas first frontiers. Also on the premises are a reconstructed German farm, Ulster (Scotch Irish) farm, and an English yeomans farm. An American Frontier farm from the Shenandoah Valley provides examples of the daily life of the families that settled in the valley in the middle of the nineteenth century.

The Woodrow Wilson Birthplace and Museum is located in a historic residential neighborhood in Staunton. This presidential home/library explores the life and legacy of Woodrow Wilson, 28th president of the United States who was born and raised in Staunton. The house includes period furnishings and many Wilson family heirlooms. The Museum depicts Wilsons life through eight galleries and a research library. Guided tours are available.

The Augusta Military Academy Museum is located in the AMA Alumni House in Fort Defiance, Virginia, on the grounds of the now closed military academy eight miles north of Staunton on U.S. Route 11. It is set in an area of old trees and expansive lawns with the Blue Ridge Mountains in the distance. The Alumni House is a completely renovated, 1870s home originally built by the founder of the academy for his family.

The P. Buckley Moss Museum (a private, for-profit museum) in Waynesboro is a tribute to the life, art and philosophy of one of our nations most popular contemporary artists. In addition to retail displays of prints and paintings, the museum follows Ms. Moss life and the factors that influenced it.

The Artisans Center of Virginia was established to create and maintain a statewide center dedicated to the work of Virginia artisans; to raise awareness of craft and its contribution to the culture of Virginia. It is the official Virginia center for the works of over 100 artisans juried in a wide range of mediums including clay, wood, metal, glass, fiber, textiles and others. ACV is housed in a 3,500 square foot retail and exhibition gallery at the Waynesboro Village. Art lovers can also visit the Shenandoah Valley Art Center in Waynesboro. SVAC is a nonprofit community arts organization established for the support, education, enjoyment, and participation in the arts. SVAC is home to several studio artists whose studios are open to the public.

Virginia Metalcrafters is located near downtown Waynesboro. This more than a century old company manufactures a broad line of gift and decorative accessories. All of the products are hand cast in brass, iron, aluminum, bronze, white bronze and pewter using the same methods that have been employed since the company was founded over 100 years ago. Tours are available.

The Historic Staunton Foundation has created two exceptional brochures (walking tours) promoting Stauntons rich architectural heritage. The brochures feature detailed maps, photos and descriptions of dozens of historic homes and structures in all five of Stauntons historic districts. Scheduled to open in 2003 in downtown Staunton to its restored 19th-century glory, The R.R. Smith Center for History & Art was once a luxury railroad hotel. Now, the renovated Smith Center will house the Historic Staunton Foundation, Augusta County Historical Society and Staunton Augusta Art Center with state-of-the art galleries, a library, classrooms and a conservation lab.