TATTOO CULTURE




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Meet The Richmond Filmmakers Behind Cosmic Echo

Get tickets to Cosmic Echo Live on September 13 here. Richmond has always been an incubator for greatness. In the past, it’s been primarily a springboard for our best and brightest to thrive elsewhere. In recent years, that tide has shiftted. Our reputation as a...

A Quick Guide For This Labor Day Weekend in Richmond

Labor Day weekend is here, and if your plan was to sit around doing absolutely nothing for four days, Richmond has other ideas. Here are ten things worth getting out of the house for this Labor Day weekend. Commonwealth Sound ExchangeThursday, Sept. 3 through...

For These Artists, PrideFest Is More Than Performance 🏳️‍🌈

Editor’s Note: RVA Magazine is proud to partner with Virginia PrideFest, happening Saturday, September 12, and to produce the annual Pride Guide celebrating Richmond and Virginia’s LGBTQ+ community.  We’d also like to thank the following sponsors who made the 2026...

Photo | Ringside at RVA Wrestling’s Return to CarMax Park

This past Saturday RVA Wrestling returned to CarMax Park to bring a little something extra to a night out with the Richmond Flying Squirrels. Bodies flew, rivalries played out and the smack talk was flying as the crowd joined in on the chaos that makes Richmond’s...

Infinite Expansions: A Conversation with Lonnie Liston Smith

Exclusive Q&A with Lonnie Liston Smith below. Today was a good day. This very magazine’s Landon Shroder invited me to interview one of Richmond’s real living legends, jazz impresario Lonnie Liston Smith. On September 13, they will be screening selections from the...

What the Hell is VITCO? We Went to Find Out.

Editor’s Note: This story was produced in partnership with Virginia Transit Company (VITCO). There are few large-ish pieces of real estate in the city proper that have been more screaming for development than the fallow field bordered by Clay Street and Hermitage...

Review | Little Bear Ridge Road is an Artistic Gut Punch

Little Bear Ridge Road, does something you rarely see in popular media these days. It reminisces on the period during and just after Covid. Somehow, collectively, we’ve silently agreed to just not talk about it anymore. We don’t want to relive it on TV, in books, or...

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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Customer Service and Quality Ink: Lucky 13’s Winning Combination

Over the past few years, over a dozen tattoo shops have cropped up throughout the growing Broad Street pocket and its surrounding areas -- from high-end boutique shops to budget tattoo joints, members of the Richmond tattoo scene are increasingly rubbing elbows. You might expect that all this competition would be bad for business, but Lucky 13...

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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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