MESDA Fact Sheet
Operations
Hours: Tuesday - Saturday, 9:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.
Sunday, 1:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Closed every Monday, Easter Sunday, Thanksgiving Day, December 24, and Christmas Day.
Location: MESDA is one of two museums located in the Frank L. Horton Museum Center at Old Salem Museums & Gardens, 924 S. Main Street, Winston-Salem NC 27101.
Admission: Admission to MESDA is included in the All-In-One ticket to Old Salem Museums & Gardens, $17 for adults and $10 for children. Another option is the Horton Center ticket, available for $10 for adults and $7 for children, which includes admission to MESDA and the Old Salem Toy Museum. A final option is a Two-Stop ticket, which allows entrance to any two sites at Old Salem, including MESDA. A Two-Stop tickets is $12 for adults, $7 for children.
Group Tours: Special group rates are available to groups of 14 or more with a confirmed reservation. For assistance, call (800) 441-5303.
Programs
Support: Old Salem Museums & Gardens receives financial support from four sources: its endowment, generous donations, admission revenue, and retail operations. Contributions to support MESDA can be made through the Friends of MESDA program. Friends of MESDA receive a variety of benefits, including free admission to the museum. Annual donations of $1000 or more qualify for membership in the Frank L. Horton Society. Frank L. Horton Society members receive several exclusive benefits in addition to free admission. For more information about donations or contributions, please call (336) 721-7327 or email Development@oldsalem.org.
Education: MESDA offers educational and scholarly events throughout the year. Educational programs include the graduate Summer Institute in southern decorative arts and material culture every June and July, A Furniture Seminar every February, a Needlework Seminar every March, and other programs and lectures on topics relating to material culture throughout the year.
Research: The MESDA Research Center houses the MESDA Craftsmen Database, a collection of information on nearly 80,000 southern craftsmen gleaned from more than thirty-years of reading primary source documents. It is also home to the MESDA Object Database, a collection of almost 20,000 objects recorded by MESDA researchers throughout the South. Through a partnership with the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's Carolina Digital Libraries and Archives MESDA's Research Center - including the Craftsmen Database, the Object Database, and four-decades of MESDA's Journal of Early Southern Decorative Arts - will soon be available free-of-charge anywhere in the world via the internet. The MESDA Research Center is open to the public and scholars during regular business hours. Appointments are strongly encouraged and can be scheduled by contacting the MESDA Research Center (Research@oldsalem.org or call 336-721-7379)
Library: The Library contains more than 18,000 books, rare books, periodicals, microfilm, microfiche, maps, videos, and CDs. The Library is open to the public and to scholars during regular business hours. Appointments are strongly encouraged and can be scheduled by contacting the MESDA Research Center (Library@oldsalem.org or call 336-721-7365)
Publications: MESDA's award-winning publications include the Frank L. Horton series of books on the decorative arts of the South, which includes titles on the furniture of Charleston, South Carolina, Tennessee silver, the pottery of the Shenandoah Valley (out of print), and the furniture of coastal North Carolina (out of print). Available titles can be purchased at the museum's bookstore during normal operating hours, or at anytime through MESDA.org.
