Editor’s Note: The following essay is by Mary Graham, CEO of READ RVA, a Richmond-based nonprofit focused on adult literacy. I learned early not to assume anything about who can read. A man once stopped me on Broad Street. He held out a scrap of paper with an address...
"Broad Street Bullies, it's like an anomaly. It's like a, it's interesting. It's like a self-supporting entity. There's either a lot of love for the situation, or there's like a lot of just sort of misguided, like non-understanding about it. And I've always thought it was such a cool thing. I remember the first time encountering them, I was on...
On Wednesday afternoon, Virginia Delegates Mike Jones and Holly Seibold addressed a crowd in freezing weather at a rally about the abuse at Red Onion Prison. This is an issue that The Virginia Defenders have been leading on, reporting about prisoners who are holding hunger strikes and intentionally burning themselves because of the abuse in the...
Richmond is no stranger to infrastructure challenges, but the recent water crisis has brought the city’s water treatment plant under intense scrutiny. A winter storm that caused a power outage at the plant quickly escalated into a disaster, leaving thousands of residents without water. The incident revealed systemic vulnerabilities in the city’s...
Mayor Danny Avula is at a defining moment. The same for the 2004 Elected Mayor law. Here’s why. Then a win-win-win. The 16-year era of the race-baiting politics of former Mayors Dwight Jones and Levar Stoney needs to come to an end. They and their cronies have used race to enrich too many, for far too long, with contracts they don’t deserve, jobs...
As we look back on 20 years of publishing RVA Magazine, we’re diving into our origins, beginning with our official launch in 2005. That year marked the debut of RVA Magazine, Issue 1, Volume 1, and our April 15th kickoff event at Gallery5. In the process of archiving, we realized that many articles from our early print issues—specifically from...
Ian C. Hess is one of those rare souls who’s carved out a place in Richmond’s unpredictable art landscape. As the owner of Supply, a local art store, and a painter whose work is steeped in mythology and meticulous craft, Ian has spent over a decade wrestling with the highs and lows of the creative life while giving back to the city that shaped...
There’s a certain kind of magic that comes alive in Richmond when the locals decide to let their weird flag fly. And the Richmond Cone Parade? That’s as Richmond as it gets—a little absurd, a lot creative, and deeply communal. So, what exactly is this Cone Parade business? It’s a celebration of, well, cones. Participants are asked to craft their...
A couple days ago, Instagram publisher @therichmondexperience posted an iconic image from the 2008 Carytown New Years’ Eve event you may or may not have been at, or even heard of. Judging from the 4000 plus “hearts” and over 140 comments ranging from “please don’t ever do this again” to “why can’t we have nice things?”, I’d say there’s at least...
So, it’s New Year’s Eve. The drinks are poured, the fireworks are loaded, and before the clock strikes midnight, let’s take a moment to sift through the rubble of the year that was. Richmond in 2024—messy, beautiful, endlessly fascinating. Thanks for sticking with us through it all and pushing our readership to all time highs. Be safe out there...
