Old Church Gallery
Cultural Arts Museum for Floyd County, Virginia
Who we are
The Old Church Gallery’s programs spring from the hands and hearts of dedicated volunteers who care about Floyd County and its creative culture. Some of us have roots in the community going back seven generations, and some have recently discovered the area. Together, we preserve the stories and objects that speak to the heart. We maintain a small cultural arts museum and share these stories and our collections through exhibits, publications, and online archives.
Old Church Gallery, Ltd., Board of Trustees
- Alice Slusher, President
- Catherine Pauley, Executive Vice-President
- Clara Martin, Secretary
- Janice Shelor, Treasurer
- Ginny Gardner, Board Member
- William Gardner, Board Member
- Nancy Demory Harrison, Board Member
- Mark Hodges, Board Member
- Pauline Hodges, Trustee Emeritus
- Kathleen Ingoldsby, Board Member
- Janet Keith, Board Member
- Terri Philpot, Board Member
- Sunny Popp, Board Member
- Ann-Margaret Shortt, Board Member
What we do
Sparked by an appreciation of the creativity of past generations, the Old Church Gallery programs explore and document the creative ties that are woven throughout our community. Colorful threads link generations of families in Gallery interpretive exhibits, art displays, oral history programs, and local history presentations. Our permanent collections hold a wealth of handmade quilts, coverlets, baskets, and crafts, as well as the stories to go with them.
What we treasure
It’s worth seeking out the house with the blue roof on Wilson Street. The Old Church Gallery holds permanent collections — small treasures such as an early soapstone sundial, a spring bowl, woven coverlets, painted baskets, and prehistoric stone tools. For our special exhibits, we draw from the community and share broader views of local knowledge, skills, and history passed along to younger generations. All of the exhibits, cultural objects, and oral history collections reflect the lore and the folk art of the community. Our Floyd Story Center oral history program collects and archives stories, film, audio, transcripts, and topical photos.
See rotating collection items at right – click on the featured record to learn more about it.
Featured Record
Blacksmith’s Traveler
When blacksmith Shep Alderman needed a tool to measure a wagon wheel for spokes, he carved his own.
What we record
Our oral history programs are organized as the Floyd Story Center and include extensive archives of interviews, photos, music, and stories from people throughout Floyd County from the 1980s to the present. We record the voices, experiences, and local history of Floyd County and continue to add to our archive of thirty years of interviews. In 2018, the Floyd Story Center released a DVD set of films created from the interviews of World War II veterans and their families.
How we got our name
Old Church Gallery’s name comes from the 1851 brick building at 215 Main Street which served as the town’s first Presbyterian Church. The Old Church Gallery was housed there until 1991, when we purchased the property at 110 Wilson Street.
The Old Church Gallery, Ltd., is an all-volunteer 501c3 organization that actively promotes, protects, and shares the arts, crafts, and cultural memory of Floyd County, Virginia. Formed in 1978 by a group of artists who saw the need for a county cultural center, the Old Church Gallery continues to research and showcase the creativity of county residents, past and present. See the timeline of our history for more details.