TATTOO CULTURE




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Cosmic Jazz Legend Lonnie Liston Smith is Returning to Richmond

Just announced: Cosmic Echo Live, taking place at the historic Hippodrome Theatre on September 13, will celebrate the life, music, and legacy of Richmond-born cosmic jazz icon Lonnie Liston Smith. The event will feature live performances, stories from across his...

Skip the Chains! A VCU Student Guide to Cheap-ish Local Eats

It’s that time of year when the U-Hauls come rolling in, parents are circling the block looking for parking, and thousands of new VCU students are about to move in and get their first real taste of Richmond. There are about 4,500 new students and 1,500 transfer...

Seeing Richmond Through Their Eyes

Editor's Note: Writers Block is an occasional series featuring personal essays, reflections, and creative nonfiction from Richmond-area writers. In Seeing Richmond Through Their Eyes, Gabriella Ryan shares how a month spent showing her Italian cousins around Richmond...

Can Firehouse Put Richmond on the National Theatre Map?

In the electric and perpetually sincere terrain of Richmond’s theatre culture, there are institutions that do more than merely reside, they lead. They serve as a measure of our city's potential beyond its natural aspirations. I've witnessed Firehouse Theatre inhabit...

Photos | Warriors in Bloom at Agecroft Hall

For one weekend, Agecroft Hall stopped being a museum and became a kingdom.  What began as a fundraiser to help launch Richmond's first Renaissance Faire has grown into a destination of its own. Warriors in Bloom, created by the folks at Virago Alley, returned with...

In Plan 9 We Trust

This weekend, Plan 9 Music marks 45 years in Richmond with a party at Hardywood Park Craft Brewery. Over the past four and a half decades, the Richmond institution weathered some of the most turbulent periods in music history. It closed stores, sold its warehouse and...

RVA Pro Wrestling is on a Tear Right Now

Last year, Dogwood Dell was packed out for RVA Pro Wrestling. They threw down in front of more than 3,000 people. Since then, they've just been on a heater with sold out shows at Hardywood, pop ups that bring in bigger and bigger crowds, and quietly a small wrestling...

Review | SAFETY! Swings Big But Falls Just Short

WARNING: This review contains baseball metaphors.  Cadence Theatre’s Pipeline New Works Program is at the plate again, with its last batter, Witchduck, staring at home from third base. It is literally the first swing ever for the new musical, SAFETY!, at Firehouse...

Three Days of Tattoos, Art, and Fun at the Richmond Festival 2018

SEPTEMBER 28-30, 2018 Show Times: Friday: 3 PM – 2 AM Saturday: Noon – 2 AM Sunday: Noon – 7 PM Ticket Prices: Friday & Sunday: $20 Saturday: $30 Weekend (3-day): $35 – BEST VALUE! Tickets available at the door all weekend. Evening Entertainment Tickets (Sold after 8 PM): Join us from 8 PM - 2 AM for a variety of performances and acts! Friday...

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Sci-Fi Ink: Richmond’s Tattoo Artists on Their Best Work

In 2015, Richmond was the third most tattooed city in the country. Over the past few years, over a dozen shops have cropped up along Broad Street and judging from looking around VCU's campus and basically any bar in Richmond, body art is something that will always be a part of the city's culture. With so many well done, beautiful tattoos around...

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Lucky 13 Draws Crowds with Affordable Ink Deals

It's a long-standing tradition at Richmond's tattoo shops, but what makes someone wait in line for a $13 tattoo? Customers lined up by All-For-One, one of many shops along with Lucky 13 offering specials on Friday the 13th "It's really about the community," one heavily-tattooed visitor tells me. She skipped work to be here, and asks that I not...

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The Ultimate Ink Event: Richmond Tattoo Festival’s Milestone Year

Tattoos and street art are undeniably Richmond to the point that we should erect a monument of a giant paintbrush on Monument Avenue. As of 2015, the city was the third most tattooed place in the country and has become apart of our culture just as street art is starting to. With the fascination and popularity of body ink, it only makes sense...

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Ink Masters Converge: Richmond Tattoo & Arts Festival 2017

Jesse Smith and Kenny Brown proudly carry on the tradition of one of the world's oldest tattoo conventions! Join us from September 29 to October 1, 2017! This year's festival features an impressive lineup of tattoo artists, including both local talents and internationally renowned figures. Many Ink Master contestants will be in attendance!...

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Richmond’s Ink Explosion: Festival Showcases the Best of the Best

Tattoos are no longer a piece of art that are occasionally seen on someone’s body around Richmond. Everyone from VCU students to musicians, teachers to soccer moms, seem to have collected at least one tattoo on their body. It’s become integrated into our culture and also landed us as the third most tattooed city in the country. With our community...

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Top Tattoo Artists Compete in Richmond for Ultimate Bragging Rights

Tattoos are more than just designs on someone's body here in Richmond. They're something our city is now known for and have become just as much a part of our rich culture as murals or music venues are. Richmond has become so obsessed that now we're even holding a competition for them. Jesse Smith, tattoo artist and shop owner of Carytown tattoo...

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