COMMUNITY




more in community

Baltik’s Bagel Earns People’s Choice in the Heart of NYC

Every so often Richmond grabs a win that feels almost improbable, and this weekend we got one: Baltik’s Bagel came back from New York BagelFest with the People’s Choice Award. Yes, a Forest Hill Avenue shop walked into a competition packed with 25 of the “best bagel...

GIANTS! Makes the Case for a New Era in Richmond Art

The GIANTS! Exhibition Preview Party was last night at VMFA, and for the first time in my 20+ years moving within Richmond’s arts scene, I saw a mix of people I honestly didn’t expect to ever share the same room. High-end collectors, street artists, curators, younger...

How a Charlottesville Surgeon Found Purpose in Ukraine

Every morning at 9 a.m. in Vinnytsia, Ukraine, the world stops. Cars freeze in the streets, trams halt mid-track, and pedestrians stand silent as the national anthem plays. It lasts a minute, a ritual pause to remember the dead and remind the living what they’re...

Writer’s Block | The Poetry of Mary Beth Cox

Writer’s Block is RVA Magazine’s Sunday series highlighting contemporary writers working in Richmond and across the Commonwealth. Each week, we feature original poems, short stories, or essays. Just real voices writing right now. This week we’re featuring two...

D(e)ad: A DIY Film That Laughed Its Way Past Hollywood Gatekeepers

Editor's Note: What makes D(e)ad a bit different isn’t just the story or performances, it’s the way it came together. 344% funded on Kickstarter with more than 5,000 backers, the film turned community support into momentum. After getting passed over by the big...

Rama Duwaji: From VCU Arts to New York’s First Lady

This week, Zohran Mamdani won the race to become the next mayor of New York City in one of the nation’s most closely watched elections. A Democratic socialist who campaigned alongside Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Mamdani defeated former Governor Andrew...

Richmond Joins Nationwide “No Kings II” Protest This Saturday

“On October 18, millions of us are rising again to show the world: America has no kings, and the power belongs to the people,” reads the main page on the No Kings website. This Saturday, October 18, Richmond will again find itself on the frontlines of a national movement. Thousands are expected to gather at the Virginia State Capitol at 1 p.m....

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Op-Ed | A Decade of artoberVA: Why the Arts Belong to Everyone

by Catie-Reagan King This October, artoberVA turns ten. That’s ten years of murals and music, plays and poetry, galleries and gatherings. Ten years of Richmond and the Tri-Cities showing off just how creative, bold, and welcoming this region really is. When the idea for artoberVA launched in 2016, it was a bit of a leap. Could one month-long...

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The Man Who Never Stopped Showing Up.

In a quiet office inside Health Brigade, Edward Peters talks about the city the way someone might describe a long, strange dream that’s familiar, unpredictable, and filled with people he still can’t stop caring about. “I’m an HIV test counselor,” he says, “and my title is IDU Outreach Specialist.” IDU stands for injection drug use, but Peters...

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Francine Came Home: Because Sometimes the Community Still Shows Up

For a few weeks this fall, Richmond was missing one of its own. Francine, the cat who’s lived at the Lowe’s on West Broad for eight years, had vanished. You probably saw the flyers, or the posts online. People worried. Customers stopped by the store just to ask. And somehow, in a city that can’t agree on parking or politics, everyone agreed that...

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Op-Ed | Why I Support Richmond Code Refresh and Upzoning

Editor’s note: This is an op-ed. The views belong to the author and not necessarily RVA Magazine. We publish opinion pieces to spark conversation, share perspectives, and give space to voices in our community. by Jacob Sherrod Richmond’s zoning code, the policies which govern what buildings can be built and where, is being rewritten as per a...

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Richmond Rallies to Find Francine, the Missing Lowe’s Cat

Francine, a well-known shop cat at Lowe’s in Richmond and a beloved fixture of the community, has gone missing, sparking a cross-state search effort. According to posts from staff and supporters, Francine disappeared on September 18 after walking onto a distribution truck bound for Garysburg, North Carolina. When the truck returned, warehouse...

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