The best arts & culture spots in Augusta County

“The Augusta County Railroad Museum has a permanent home in downtown Waynesboro, with operating layouts in G, O, HO, and N scales, rotating scenery, and real railroad artifacts. It’s free to pop in, check out the Blue Ridge Tunnel exhibit, and spark your inner railfan.”

“Whether you're in the mood for a concert, classic play, contemporary musical, or a film night, Wayne Theatre keeps the calendar packed and genuinely local. Bonus points for its Art Gallery and Studio Wayne education that gives students a stage to grow... and the rest of us a great seat.”

From the Augusta County newsletter, September 16, 2026

“P Buckley Moss Gallery Waynesboro is the hometown hub for new P. Buckley Moss releases, giclée prints, and giftable ornaments, with a booth at the Fall Foliage Festival. Locals keep an eye on the Shows and Events calendar, then grab their favorite before it disappears.”

“Part museum, part mind-expander, The Russell Museum packs over 20 tons of Walter Russell’s paintings, sketches, and sculptures into downtown Waynesboro, plus a Natural Science Gallery, FDR busts, and a Mark Twain Memorial with 28 characters. Rotating Shenandoah-area artist shows keep it feeling local and fresh.”

From the Waynesboro newsletter, September 20, 2026

“Summer’s not done... American Shakespeare Center's Blackfriars Playhouse is serving shared light theatre that puts you in the story. Grab a seat for As You Like It or Our Town, then chat your way through a playhouse tour or pre-show convo that makes the classics feel like hometown gossip.”

From the Augusta County newsletter, September 4, 2026

“Spend a little while wandering the Spotts-Coffman House as a costumed guide dishes up stories of real Staunton lives, with rooms full of Victorian and Edwardian artifacts, plus the occasional magic show, tea, or musical evening at the Society for Victorian Arts and Culture-Spotts-Coffman Victorian House Museum.”

From the Augusta County newsletter, September 9, 2026

“R. Smith Center for History & Art bundles rotating art shows, hands-on workshops, kids programs, preservation know-how, and rich local history archives under one very handsome 1894 roof... J.”

From the Augusta County newsletter, August 21, 2026

“Mischief Magic and Murder serves up an immersive, all-ages evening where magic and mayhem unfold while you enjoy a delicious meal. If your week needs a fun reset, grab seats with friends or family and let the show pull you in before the dessert does.”

From the Augusta County newsletter, August 22, 2026

“Frontier Culture Museum lets you stroll through working farmsteads from England, Ireland, Germany, West Africa, and early America, with costumed interpreters, heritage animals, and hands-on demos from the forge to the spinning wheel.”

From the Augusta County newsletter, August 23, 2026

“Augusta County Historical Society has a hands-on way to fall down the rabbit hole of our own backyard, from a gallery packed with valley stories to research help that can unearth your great-grandad’s mischief. Watch for their “Shadows, Secrets, and Sin” Thornrose tours if you like truth stranger than fiction.”

From the Augusta County newsletter, August 24, 2026

“If you haven’t popped into the Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library & Museum Visitor Center lately, it’s a local gem where you can tour Wilson’s birth home, eyeball his Pierce-Arrow, and duck into a World War I trench, then unwind in the gardens with some big-history perspective.”

From the Augusta County newsletter, August 18, 2026

“Grab a quick local reset this week at McCormick Farm/Shenandoah Valley Agriculture Research & Extension Center, where livestock, forage and small-scale forestry demonstration areas share space with history.”

From the Augusta County newsletter, August 27, 2026

“The Camera Heritage Museum is the largest camera museum open to the public in the USA, with over 7,000 cameras and a self-guided stereo audio tour that actually teaches you stuff. Bonus for locals, the archive of Staunton and Augusta County photos is a time machine you can browse.”

From the Augusta County newsletter, September 12, 2026