RVA Street Art Festival returns in 2015, featuring work along 14th st. bridge/I-95 at Southern States silo complex

by | Nov 12, 2014 | ART

Just in via the RVA Street Art Festival Facebook page, the local mural project which took over the former GRTC Bus depot and the downtown canal walk is heading to Manchester in South Side.


Just in via the RVA Street Art Festival Facebook page, the local mural project which took over the former GRTC Bus depot and the downtown canal walk is heading to Manchester in South Side.

You should be able to see the murals from downtown to 95, to anywhere along the river – sounds pretty exciting! The project won’t kick off til next fall, but we’ll get you updates as they come in.

Here are the details:

— The organizers of the Third Edition of the RVA Street Art Festival announced today that the next edition of the festival will take place in Manchester throughout 2015 with a special focus from September 10-13, 2015 at the Southern States silo complex along the James River and floodwall.

Working with a canvass literally larger than life, the festival weekend will center around the iconic silos and will also include a large water tank, warehouse, and several out-buildings. Murals, lighting installations, sculpture, musical performances and numerous other forms of performance art will be featured at the festival. More details will be revealed in the Spring of 2015.

Beginning in the Spring of 2015, the RVA Street Art Festival is honored to partner with the Manchester Civic Association and other local artist groups to bring art, color, and creativity to the neighborhood to create a vibrant arts district that builds on recent similar successes throughout Richmond.

“This festival will be bigger than anything we’ve done in the past. It’s literally going to be huge. Our goal is to keep creating large community-driven experiences like last year’s event at the GRTC bus depot,” says artist Ed Trask.

“This is an incredible opportunity to showcase the creativity of RVA, not only to residents and thousands of people daily on I-95, but also to the world – just before the 2015 UCI World Championships kick off to hundreds of millions of viewers,” said Baliles. “They will all see the creative spirit of Richmond.”

Local creative firm Release the Hounds is leading the effort for the showpiece of the site, the 57 year-old Southern States silos. “We’re working on several ideas to transform the silos from an industrial relic into a modern beacon for RVA – all while preserving the character of structure. We are assembling an amazing creative team of graphic designers, artists, technologists and producers here in Richmond to bring the project to life,” said Release the Hounds’ Principal John Mills, who teamed-up with the Festival in 2013.

Created by Councilman Jon Baliles and artist Ed Trask, the RVA Street Art Festival first came to life in April 2012 at the old Power Plant along the Canal Walk. In 2013, the festival transformed the historic GRTC bus depot into a 5-acre outdoor art gallery.

The RVA Street Art Festival organization is dedicated to raising money and supporting arts education for children through local non-profits, revitalizing communities with art, and discovering and showcasing amazing local, national, and international artistic talent.

Brad Kutner

Brad Kutner

Brad Kutner is the former editor of GayRVA and RVAMag from 2013 - 2017. He’s now the Richmond Bureau Chief for Radio IQ, a state-wide NPR outlet based in Roanoke. You can reach him at BradKutnerNPR@gmail.com




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