Limited-edition Ornament features Work of Winchester Artist
Winchester, VA 12/19/13…The Museum Store in the Museum of the Shenandoah Valley (MSV) has just unveiled a Patsy Cline ornament. Designed and distributed by the Museum with the permission of the Patsy Cline Estate, the ornament is the first, and only, authorized ornament made with Patsy Cline’s name and likeness. The ornament is available for purchase for $35.
Gold-plated and silkscreened, the ornament features a representation of Patsy Cline created by Winchester artist Radford Wine, as well as an etching of Patsy Cline’s signature. According to Museum Store Manager Bonnie Barr, the ornament celebrates the music legend’s heritage and complements the Becoming Patsy Cline exhibition now on view in the Museum.
Born Virginia Patterson Hensley on September 8, 1932, in Winchester, Virginia, Patsy Cline spent most of her life in the Shenandoah Valley. The ornament’s apple-shaped frame recognizes the apple industry and the Shenandoah Apple Blossom Festival for which Patsy Cline’s hometown is famous. Patsy Cline rode in Apple Blossom parades and performed at festival events in the 1950s. Archival photos of Patsy Cline in the festival parades are on view in the MSV exhibition.
On view in the MSV Changing Exhibitions Gallery through July 6, 2014, Becoming Patsy Cline was organized by the MSV in partnership with the Winchester-based organization Celebrating Patsy Cline, Inc. (CPC). The exhibition uses objects, rare photographs, video and audio recordings, and clothing—much of which is on first-time public display—to illustrate Patsy Cline’s Shenandoah Valley story. Becoming Patsy Cline received critical underwriting support from Grove’s Winchester Harley–Davidson, Shenandoah Country Q102, and Winchester Printers, Inc.
According to Barr, the store has already received orders for the Patsy Cline ornaments from her fans in California and Baltimore, Maryland. The new ornament, says Barr, is perfect for county- music fans and is a perfect last-minute gift or stocking-stuffer. For those who are looking for a gift to send to Patsy Cline fans outside of the Winchester area, Barr notes that the Museum Store is offering same-day priority shipping through Friday, December 20. The Museum Store is open to holiday shoppers from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. through Sunday, December 22. Museum admission is not required to visit the Museum Store.
The ornament will also be available for purchase at the Patsy Cline Historic House this weekend. Located minutes from the MSV, at 608 South Kent Street in historic Old Town Winchester, the Patsy Cline Historic House interprets the time 1948 to 1953 when Patsy and her family lived in the house. In December, the house is open on Friday and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and on Sunday from 1 to 4 p.m. Owned and operated by Celebrating Patsy Cline, Inc., the historic house will reopen for the 2014 season on April 1.
Located at 901 Amherst Street in Winchester, Virginia, the Museum of the Shenandoah Valley is open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday. The Museum will be closed on Monday, December 23, December 24 and 25, and January 1. Additional information about the MSV is available at www.theMSV.org. The Museum Store may be reached directly by calling 540-662-1473, ext. 244.