From day one (April 2005) we set out to lend voice to a subdued creative class of Richmond. RVA has succeeded in creating a brand that searches out the best artists, ideas, events, bands, photographers and culture-jammers Richmond has to offer and gives them a platform for exhibition that "gets" them.

Access to talented and creative people is to modern business what access to coal and iron ore was to steelmaking. --Richard Florida, economist and author

In a city best known for it's role in the Civil War (insert eye-rolling here,) the battle to be bigger than our past has been formidable. For generations, city leaders have banked on the faded silver of dubious honors - Capital of the Confederacy etc, and ignored the 21st (and 20th) centuries.

With world-class schools such as VCU growing organically on their own record of excellence, media giants like the Martin Agency cementing their footprint in our cobblestones, and Fortune 100 companies relocating to attract the hordes of creatives emerging here, Richmond is exploding. New construction and development is rampant in heretofore decaying downtown retail and nightlife centers.

City government has aligned itself to a more liberal, open-minded culture of inclusion and exploration. Much like Brooklyn in the late nineties and Silverlake/Echo Park in the early aughties, entire neighborhoods are being overhauled to keep up with the influx of wealthy young professionals with entertainment and fashion needs. Lofts, marinas, from-scratch entertainment districts, clubs, music venues and galleries have been sprouting like weeds, offering the promise of a sustainable population more likely to relocate to New York or Los Angeles in years past. Cultural optimism is at a high and only growing more intense.

Contact John at john[at]rvamag.com | 276.732.3410 for more information.

Our quest to highlight the beauty of community interaction across class, race and economic boundaries is, we believe, our greatest contribution to Richmond's cultural landscape. We've created a brand for all progressive and independent thinkers to rally around. We're very proud to be a close friend and promoter of the arts, in all its forms. Many of our featured artists have gone on to win national design contracts, gallery tours and professional creative positions based on the exposure offered by RVA.

We've created a new marketplace for radical chic - an urban palette reminiscent, yet transcendent and independent of Lower East Side and DUMBO scenes of recent past. We've endeavored to be the glue that keeps this community together and conversing. We've become partners with our clients, facilitating the introductions - between bands and audiences, artists and buyers, retail boutiques and their corresponding style tribes - necessary to keep the engines of inspiration and commerce greased and revved.

Countercultures once relegated to "scene-and-notheard" status have emerged as once-hidden gems of local flavor, accepted across the board by hipster cynics and captains of industry alike. First Friday art celebrations have long been a hallmark of a thriving open community, and Richmonds' is no exception. This monthly citywide open house attracts thousands of art aficionados and hopeful wallflowers downtown and transformed "undesirable" neighborhoods into sought-after real estate for developers and opportunities for marketers.

The punk/metal scene, once vaunted and heralded as the next coming of Seattle and Chapel Hill under the banners of AVAIL, Sleepytime Trio, Inquisition and GWAR, has re-emerged with Lamb of God, Ultra Dolphins, Municipal Waste, Smoke or Fire and Strike Anywhere. Visual artists hailing from Richmond's cradle include Dalek, Timothy Johnston, Jim Callahan, Adam Juresko and many others. From film to irreverent video, Richmond is making itself heard, with miscreants DaybyDay, and our own RVAtv.