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Our new series, Reasons to Travel Now, highlights the news, events, and openings that have us scoping out plane tickets each day. Today: why Virginia is for art lovers.

Why Richmond Could Be the Country's Next Must-visit Art Destination

The lobby of the Quirk Hotel, in Richmond.

With its striking design courtesy of Steven Holl Architects, Virginia Commonwealth University’s Institute for Contemporary Art is not your average collegiate gallery. Its debut this spring has given art and architecture buffs new cause to visit the institute’s hometown.

Image zoom Iwan Baan/Courtesy of Institute for Contemporary Art

“Richmond has an incredibly vibrant cultural scene,” says ICA chief curator Stephanie Smith. “We hope to connect that community with the international art world.”

The ICA’s inaugural exhibition, “Declaration” (through Sept. 9), explores art’s power to spark change: one piece lets visitors record their own “declarations,” while another invites guests to bring in clothing in need of repair, which a volunteer will fix on the spot.

Book a room at the Quirk Hotel (doubles from $169), a cheerful, cheeky hideaway built in a 1916 department store, and snag a souvenir at menswear destination Jackson & James or clothing and housewares shop Need Supply Co.

The latter is just a short drive from Maymont, a 100-acre Victorian estate that’s home to Japanese gardens and a 33-room mansion.