Presented by SunTrust and The Virginian-Pilot
> March 30-June 18, 2007
Extended Hours : Tuesday-Sunday 9am-5pm; Monday 9am-9pm
Admission: $8 adults/$6 students/seniors/military
CAC members and children under 4 admitted free.
In celebration of First Landing in April 1607, CAC will exhibit the Lincoln Cathedral Magna Carta, the founding document of free democracy and the American legal and governmental system that it underpins.
Magna Carta & Four Foundations of Freedom is an exhibition exploring the relevance of five key historical documents to contemporary civil liberties. They represent touchstones of freedom, each building upon the next protect the rights of the people. CAC presents them as a whole so that visitors can trace these freedoms to contemporary society.
Magna Carta ignited the first embers of democracy in the 13th century. Fast-forward to the 17th Century when the first settlers landed at Cape Henry, bringing with them the ideals represented in Magna Carta. A Dunlap broadside of the Declaration of Independence and the James Wilson First Draft of the U.S. Constitution were both 18th century documents that carried forth those same ideas of individual freedom. George Mason's Virginia Declaration of Rights, penned in 1776, was a precursor to the Bill of Rights. In the 19th century, the Emancipation Proclamation planted the seeds of civil liberty, which grew through the 20th century into women’s suffrage and the civil rights movement.
The Lincoln Cathedral Magna Carta is one of only four existing original copies, or “exemplars” of Magna Carta or “The Great Charter of Liberty.” Originally composed in Latin, the document dates back to 1215, during the English reign of King John. Drafted by British nobles, Magna Carta established a separation of church and state, and set forth restrictions on the power of the monarchy. Magna Carta is universally accepted as a foundation of modern constitutional law; the United States’ Bill of Rights contains clauses traceable directly to Magna Carta. Virginia Beach is only venue selected in the United States to display the document.
Magna Carta is brought into the 21st century at CAC with the presentation of an art exhibition titled By Our Heirs Forever, a key phrase borrowed from Magna Carta's English translation. By Our Heirs Forever: New Waves 2007 is curated by CAC and was drawn from a statewide “Call to Artists” asking contemporary Virginia artists to respond to the sixty-three tenets of Magna Carta.
photo courtesy Riggs Ward
Exhibition partners:
Magna Carta’s much-anticipated arrival to Virginia is the product of a multi-year effort including the City of Virginia Beach, VB2007, Contemporary Art Center of Virginia and Lincoln Cathedral. CAC is proud to incorporate these fine partners in the Magna Carta project.
This exhibition is supported by an indemnity from the Federal Council on the Arts and the Humanities.
Virginia Beach is a Jamestown 2007 Pilot Community
CAC sponsors :
Lincoln Sponsors:
Lincoln Cathedral
Lincolnshire County Council
Historic Lincoln Partnership
Margaret Thatcher Foundation
McDermott Will & Emery
Investors in Lincoln
Valis Enterprises
National Education Association
Lending Institutions:
Corporate Body of Lincoln Cathedral
Historical Society of Pennsylvania
Library of Virginia
University of Virginia Library
Valentine Richmond History Center
Virginia Department of Historic Resources
The Virginian-Pilot
