The Branch Museum of Design

The Branch Museum of Design Virginia’s only design museum. Shifting perspectives since 1919. The Branch Museum elevates the awareness of the transformative power of architecture and design.

This one is for the BEST dads in our lives🎈Join us this Father’s Day for the final day of Imagining Best Products.From 1...
06/15/2026

This one is for the BEST dads in our lives🎈

Join us this Father’s Day for the final day of Imagining Best Products.

From 1–3 PM, our friends at B-Side Bakehouse will be popping up at The Branch with baked goods and treats available for purchase. Then at 3 PM, grab tickets for Collecting BEST: A Conversation with Jay Barrows, longtime curator of the Sydney and Frances Lewis Collection.

While you’re here, stop by the gift shop to grab the last of our BEST merch in collaboration with Odd Bird

Thanks for making this one special, RVA.

📸: Anna-Louise Cecil | Don O'Keefe | Ben Schonzeit

A century later and she’s still turning heads.Thank you for voting The Branch “Best Architectural Space” in ’s Best of R...
06/09/2026

A century later and she’s still turning heads.

Thank you for voting The Branch “Best Architectural Space” in ’s Best of Richmond 2026. And for loving our girl as much as we do.

We’ll try not to let it go to her head 😉

📸

The architecture outside the buildings was remarkable. So was the art inside them.Join us on Sunday, June 21 from 3–4 PM...
06/07/2026

The architecture outside the buildings was remarkable. So was the art inside them.

Join us on Sunday, June 21 from 3–4 PM for a conversation with Jay Barrows, longtime curator of the Sydney and Frances Lewis Collection.

For years, Jay worked closely with the Lewises, helping shape and care for a collection that included works by Andy Warhol, Chuck Close, Larry Rivers, and Claes Oldenburg. Drawing on those firsthand experiences, he’ll share stories about the artists they championed and the collection they built together.

The conversation will be led by exhibition curator Don O’Keefe and followed by an audience Q&A. A fitting way to close out Imagining Best Products and explore one final chapter of the Lewis family story.

🎟️ Get tickets at link in bio 🎟️

Images courtesy of Ben Schonzeit, Malcolm Holzman & Norman McGrath

At its best, good design begins with someone willing to see things differently.This Pride Month, we’re celebrating creat...
06/04/2026

At its best, good design begins with someone willing to see things differently.

This Pride Month, we’re celebrating creativity, self-expression, and the perspectives that challenge convention and expand what’s possible. Qualities that show up again and again in the work we’ve chosen to share on our walls.

Wear your Pride and receive half off regular admission (free for students) through June 21, the final day of Imagining Best Products. Whether it’s a Pride shirt, pin, flag, or something else entirely, we’d love to see you 🌈

📸

If you’ve visited Imagining Best Products, you’ve already met our next guest speaker, James Wines.From peeling brick cor...
06/02/2026

If you’ve visited Imagining Best Products, you’ve already met our next guest speaker, James Wines.

From peeling brick corners and collapsing facades to a storefront split by a giant notch, his designs helped make Best Products one of the most influential retail design experiments of the 20th century.

On Tuesday, June 9, join us at The Branch for a conversation with James and his daughter, architect Suzan Wines, principal of the New York-based practice and a longtime collaborator with , about the ideas behind their work and the question: What can design mean?

Suzan will join us in person, with James participating live via Zoom.

🎟️ Tickets at link in bio 🎟️

Images courtesy of SITE & Foscarini

A tote bag worthy of the sculpture garden.Inspired by our award-winning visual identity, our new totes look equally good...
05/29/2026

A tote bag worthy of the sculpture garden.

Inspired by our award-winning visual identity, our new totes look equally good slung over a shoulder as they do draped over a marble bust.

Low-key versatile.

And for those who missed them the first time around, a limited number of our BEST t-shirts by are back.

Both available in the Branch gift shop while they last 🛍️

📸:

In the 1970s and ’80s, Best Products turned suburban retail into something unexpectedly cinematic.On Thursday, June 4 fr...
05/21/2026

In the 1970s and ’80s, Best Products turned suburban retail into something unexpectedly cinematic.

On Thursday, June 4 from 7:30–9 PM, filmmaker joins us at The Branch for a rare screening of “Public Places” and “Grand Openings” - two films commissioned by Frances and Sydney Lewis documenting the iconic Best Products showrooms designed by

Complete with collapsing facades, giant peeling corners, and some of the boldest retail experiments of the late 20th century, the films capture the radical ambition that made Best Products an architectural phenomenon.

Admission is $20 (half-price for students) and includes popcorn, wine & beer, plus a conversation with Howard following the screening.

Tickets at link in bio 🎞️

In the 1970s and ’80s, Best Products turned suburban retail into something unexpectedly cinematic.On Thursday, June 4 fr...
05/21/2026

In the 1970s and ’80s, Best Products turned suburban retail into something unexpectedly cinematic.

On Thursday, June 4 from 7:30–9 PM, filmmaker Howard Silver joins us at The Branch for a rare screening of Public Places and Grand Openings – two films commissioned by Frances and Sydney Lewis documenting the iconic Best Products showrooms designed by SITE.

Complete with collapsing facades, giant peeling corners, and some of the boldest retail experiments of the late 20th century, the films capture the moment a Richmond company helped completely rethink what a store could look like.

Admission is $20 (half-price for students) and includes popcorn, wine/beer, and and a conversation with Howard following the screening.

🎞️ Tickets at link in bio 🎞️

This week’s concert may be sold out, but the next Live at The Branch is already calling…On Wednesday, June 17 from 6-8pm...
05/19/2026

This week’s concert may be sold out, but the next Live at The Branch is already calling…

On Wednesday, June 17 from 6-8pm, Richmond indie disco band takes over The Branch.

Big Fancy blends groove-driven rhythms with soulful melodies and subtle jazz influences, creating music that feels both nostalgic and fresh. Their songs feel just as right on a late-night drive as they do in a packed room.

Not a bad way to spend a Wednesday night.

Tickets include wine, beer and light bites. Branch members receive 10% off. Snag yours at the link in our bio.

Live at The Branch is sponsored by The E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter Foundation.

What a night.Walking through the galleries during the opening of Imagining Best Products, the thing we heard over and ov...
05/12/2026

What a night.

Walking through the galleries during the opening of Imagining Best Products, the thing we heard over and over again was: “I remember this.”

For so many of you, Best wasn’t just a store. It was part of your life. A childhood memory. A first job. The place you picked out a wedding ring. A Richmond story so many of us shared without fully realizing it.

Frances and Sydney Lewis didn’t just build a retail company. Together with a remarkable group of architects and designers, they completely rethought what a store could look like. Decades later, their radical retail experiments are studied in architecture schools around the world.

We were blown away by how many people came out to celebrate that legacy and the emotion that filled the museum all evening.

A huge thank you to everyone who helped bring this exhibition to life, especially our lead curator Don O’Keefe, our advisory committee, our sponsors, and the Lewis family for trusting us with such an important piece of Richmond history.

Thank you as well to for transporting everyone back in time one snapshot at a time, and to for the incredible Best Products merch that flew off the shelves almost as fast as the memories came pouring in.

This one is for you, Eddie & Frances 🎈

Imagining Best Products is on display through Sunday, June 21, 2026

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Address

2501 Monument Avenue
Richmond, VA
23220

Opening Hours

Tuesday 10am - 5pm
Wednesday 10am - 5pm
Thursday 10am - 5pm
Friday 10am - 5pm
Saturday 10am - 5pm
Sunday 1pm - 5pm

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+18046556055

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