It’s 1983 at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, and I didn’t go to class much. I took Theater 101 as an elective because I thought it would be easy (it wasn’t). One Tuesday in October, the professor ditched the day’s syllabus and spent the next 75 minutes...
For the people outside of the 1,000 students that make up the VCU Honors College, the West Grace Street building may just get lost in the city skyline and sea of buildings downtown. But if you’ve noticed within the last week, a big splash of color has been painted across the east side of the tall building. That seven-story-high mural is courtesy...
Electric Nomad Dance Studio will perform its annual theatrical belly dance performance, “Eternal Forest,” at Dogtown Dance Theatre this weekend. Owned and directed by Twila Jane Sikorsky, Electric Nomad is a hive of dancers, artists, parents, and activists who support inclusive art based on empowering one another, building community, and creating...
Standing among nearly 30 brightly colored geometric paintings and other works, local artist Dakota Becker (who uses they, them pronouns) is preparing for their first solo art exhibition in time for RVA First Fridays at Shockoe Artspace. A senior painting and printmaking major at Virginia Commonwealth University's School of the Arts, Becker is the...
With fall quietly approaching and school back in session for many Richmond students, now is the perfect time to gather friends and family for a fun night out. First Fridays is Richmond’s monthly art walk event, which showcases artwork from local artists, food from local vendors, and the various talents from people throughout the community. This...
"Art shouldn't be hidden. Art should make you think. Art has a tangible value on a community and can bring people together." - R. Anthony Harris After five strong years and achieving its original mission of 100+ murals throughout the city, The Richmond Mural Project (RMP) is scaling back a bit this year and painting one large mural on the VCU...
If you know who Ryan Kent is, it's probably from his role as a vocalist in several bands around town, most notably southern-fried metallers Gritter and brutal thrashers Murdersome. As a rather talented lyricist, though, it wasn't much of a stretch to move into the poetry game, as he did with his first book, Poems For Dead People, back in 2014....
Upstairs at the VMFA, contemporary art is meeting traditional Native American crafts as the new exhibition “Hear My Voice: Native American Art of the Past and Present” opens a dialogue between Native American culture and the outside world. The project, which is two years in the making, was curated by Dr. Johanna Minich, the assistant curator for...
In 2012, the city officially designated the Broad Street corridor as the Arts and Cultural District of Richmond. However, there was one problem, it wasn't actually overflowing with either. The city had monthly First Fridays, Gallery5, and other small exhibit pop ups of course, but when it came to larger-than-life works of art Richmonders and...
This article was featured in RVAMag #29: Summer 2017. You can read all of issue #29 here or pick it up at local shops around RVA right now. Common House has been open for a few months at the time of this posting. In a building which was established as a social club within the boundaries of what was once Charlottesville’s vibrant and...
