MAGAZINE
RVA MAGAZINE HISTORY
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.
RVA #2
Summer
We are enjoying the last days of summer here at the office and sniffing the pages of the newest episode of RVA. Ahhhh, smells sweet as this is our best issue yet, hands down. No joke. Completely blows all others away. It is packed to the rim with relevant information on our city and we are pretty stoked to see it in your hands and preying in your minds.
In this issue of RVA, we have an exclusive interview with none other than the iconic Pharrell Williams of N*E*R*D and the Neptunes. He talks about the upcoming album and the love he has for the ol' Cap City. We follow that up with words with metal/punk illustrator Will Towles, former Commonwealth and current Dominion designer Bryan Woodland, pinup artist Eric Jones, a conversation with PUNCHLINE creator Pete Humes, a story on the East End Fellowship in Church Hill, a profile on the enigmatic Diamond Black Hearted Boy, the weirdness of Kemper, and the origins of The Gods Of The Bobbleheads. After that run on sentence, you have the latest and greatest incarnation of RVA to reach the masses ever!
So take a minute, flip through our pages, sip on your moonshine and find out what Richmond, VA is really about.
RVA #1
Spring
Any worthy cause has to have a reason for being and the dedication to make it happen. 5 years ago we decided to make a magazine that showed the world that Richmond, VA is more than crime ridden news clippings and conservative history. The city was becoming a place teeming with ideas, greatness and a unique identity that defied the size. RVA magazine was born to showcase and push the conversation.
Now 5 years later it is time to reintroduce ourselves, a bigger and badder version for the new decade. The new format for the quarterly RVA is 9.75 x 13" and will feature all of our award winning design and photos in FULL COLOR at poster size. Its freaking huge and still absolutely FREE.
For this first issue, Randy Blythe of Lamb of God and Tony Foresta of Municipal Waste rep the city, talk local house shows, and paying their dues. Internationally respected illustrator STUNTKID and his lovely wife lizzellizzel share a little about their upcoming joint show at J. Fergeson Gallery. We get a slice of humble pie from prisoner artist, Kevin Greene. Talk past and future with Wil Loyal of Homemade Knives. Learn tolerance and understanding from the people at The Gentle Shepard, an openly gay Catholic church in the Fan. Sit down with one of the best tattoo artists in the country in Jesse Smith of Ghostprint Gallery and have the hard job of taste testing over 10 premium beers with Richmond's Master Of Brew, An of Mekong.
All this plus, hip hop legend Fat Joe, Godfrey's Drag Brunch, PLF's Reef "The Chief" Clem, ISUPK, fashion, Slaugtherama and more.
Volume 5 Issue 2
Dream In RGB
Ahhh, spring in Richmond. That brief time when you can go outside without a pea-coat or melting into a heap of sweat and sagging skin. To commemorate the experience, we’re once again bringing you the adventures of them crazy Books On Wheels kids, investigating the suspicious do-goodery of Tricycle Gardens, and telling you where to get your picnic vittles in this month’s Cheap Eats. Then we explore the strange parallels between Illustration and veterinary assistants, This Is How We Do It teaches you how not to get a blowjob, and we raise some hell with Josh Small and Tim Barry. Strangeness with Enon and the unassailable awesomeness of The Silent Music Revival join And Now Beating The Eardrums album reviews to rep good music hard.
Volume 5 Issue 1
F O U R
WooHoo! 4 More Years! 4 More Years! And….when do we sleep? On this, our fourth anniversary, we bring you more of that beer soaked creative genius that has given us shit to write about since 2005. Crack open a celebratory cold one as Liza Kate talks about what doesn’t need to be said, a couple of Richmonders get sick as hell and search for PBR and good shows at SXSW, and May Day brings in a parade and paintings of dead white men to Repressed IV. Also: Art by Matt Lively, and Mike Moses, and the Squirrely Girls, Cheap Eats: Pizza, and Gonzo photography of what you might not remember happening at Slaughterama 6. Cheers!
Volume 4 Issue 12
With Bloodshot Eyes
Unadulterated radness, man. *rubs eyes* Richmond’s identity spreads it’s legs across our pages, not unlike the burlesque models of Dr. Sketchy’s Anti-Art School. Young Widows make records with skulls, we hang around Chimbo with Foundation, and someone actually finds Jonathan Vassar. Pulp Tones makes sounds for our new depression, and we throw in a few album reviews of no one’s humble opinion. Then we get you some of that gooood shit by Klutch and Genevieve Castree, and of course lots of sexy people modeling clothes in trashcan alleys.
