New Gallery to open in O. Winston Link Museum Heritage Gallery recreates one of Link's photos

In June 2005 a gallery that recreates a photograph in the O. Winston Link Museum's collection will open.  The Heritage Gallery is a vignette of Link's 1957 photograph, titled "Egg Stove and Bananas," taken of the general store in Vesuvius, Va.

In the 1950s Link traveled up and down the N&W Railway in Virginia and surrounding states to capture on film the last days of steam locomotion in the U.S.  Locations such as the general store in Vesuvius provided authentic glimpses into the lives of people who lived in the areas served by the railroad.

"Country stores like this one often served as the rail station and post office and were the primary connection small communities had with the outside world," said John Crank.  Crank's firm, The 1717 Design Group, Inc. is the designer of the Heritage Gallery.

Many of the original fixtures from the store were saved when the store closed in the late 1960s and have been donated to the O. Winston Link Museum. The store's wood stove, called "The Egg" because of its shape, is included in the exhibit.

 "This exhibit will not only preserve and illustrate a part of our region's heritage," said exhibit curator Kimberly Parker, "it will also provide exciting program opportunities for students."  The Heritage Gallery is located in the lower level of the Museum and is adjacent to the Roanoke, Radford, Shenandoah, Pocahontas and Scioto Galleries.

The O. Winston Link Museum, which houses the largest collection of the acclaimed 20th century photographer's work, opened last year in downtown Roanoke's restored Norfolk and Western Railway passenger station built in 1905.

The O. Winston Link Museum also houses, in addition to Link's collection, his photographic equipment, prints not on formal display and N&W Railway artifacts. Link's dramatically-lit black and white photographs of the final chapter of steam locomotion attracted critical and popular acclaim in the 1980s.  Link shot many of those photographs in and around the passenger station which now houses the Museum. Link died in 2001 in New York at the age of 86.

The O. Winston Link Museum, at 101 Shenandoah Ave., is open Monday through Saturday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday noon to 5 p.m.  Admission: Adults $5, seniors $4, children $3.  Group discounts and packages are available.

For more information, visit the museum website at www.linkmuseum.org or call (540) 982-5465.

(Link Museum press release)