The exhibits focus on folk art from the cultural region of the Shenandoah Valley including the counties of Rockbridge, Augusta, Rockingham, Page, Shenandoah, Warren, Frederick and Clark. Most of the artifacts on exhibit at the Shenandoah Valley Folk Art and Heritage Center were made in these counties; however, a few were constructed in neighboring counties or states and brought to the Valley.

On permanent exhibit in the Center are the traditional arts of the Shenandoah Valley: textiles, ceramics, painted surfaces, wood and metals. These folk art pieces reflect the ethnic and religious backgrounds of the original Valley settlers, people of German and Scots-Irish descent.

At least twice a year, the Shenandoah Valley Folk Art and Heritage Center offers its visitors a special temporary exhibition of a specific facet of folk art in the Valley. The past temporary exhibitions have included "The Art of Tradition: Folk Art of the Shenandoah Valley", "Tradition and Fashion: Cabinetmaking in the Upper Shenandoah Valley", "Fine-Tuned Folks: The Culture of String Music in the Shenandoah Valley", "An Unbelievable 100 Years! Harrisonburg and Rockingham County in the 1890s" and "Belsnickels & Sugarplums: Christmas Past in the Shenandoah Valley".

The 1999 spring temporary exhibit will open on January 28 and is entitled "Presents from the Past: Recent Acquisitions of the Heritage Center." This exhibit offers visitors an opportunity to view some of the rich holdings of the Folk Art & Heritage Center. Featuring objects that have been acquired by the museum since 1995, the exhibition highlights the variety of important artifacts that the Historical Society preserves in its collection. Visit the Heritage Center and gaze on an oil painting by Harrisonburg artist Harriet Taylor Hering (1880-1947). Or imagine the action that once surrounded the Colt revolver carried by James Morgan Chapman as he served the Confederacy in the Civil War. Compare the household textiles in use today with the quilts and other linens that were used even fifty years ago. In our age of cellular phones ponder the need for the dinner bell once heard on a Goods Mill farm. The objects on display may raise questions, will probably bring smiles, but will surely trigger reminiscences.

The web presentation of "Presents from the Past: Recent Acquisitions of the Heritage Center" will be on line approximately one week before the opening of the exhibit.