This Saturday, June 28th, the 4th Annual Arts & Culture Xpo presented by CultureWorks is coming to the Greater Richmond Convention Center.
This Saturday, June 28th, the 4th Annual Arts & Culture Xpo presented by CultureWorks is coming to the Greater Richmond Convention Center.
The all-day event will run from 10AM-4PM and is free to attend.
Hands-on activities such as art demos and cultural interactions, a variety of stage performances and opportunities for expo-only discounts will dominate the event. This year, over 70 organizations will be present so there’s sure to be something which appeals to all Richmonders and their families.
Jeanine Guidry, executive director of Arts in the Alley, describes the event as an opportunity to “see the immense creativity that is happening in Richmond in all different shapes and forms.”
Expect a number of changes over last year’s expo – one of the most exciting new features is the chance for every attendee to be part of a giant group art project. John Bryan, Culture Works president, explained “each attendee will be invited to have their photo taken and uploaded to one of those giant photographs that are made up of hundreds and hundreds of little ones so essentially the end result will be a giant artwork composed of all the attendees.”
This piece of artwork will give attendees a chance to actively participate in and be a part of the expo; it also will span and represent the impact of arts and culture throughout the Richmond Region.
Additionally, this year there will be a “People’s Choice Award” at the expo in which attendees of the event will be given the opportunity to select and vote for their favorite exhibit.
The exhibit with the most votes will receive $1,000.
One of the last major additional features to this year’s expo is the “ta-da!” feature. An element of suspense and surprise will be present at this year’s expo as exhibitors will be unveiling new products, programs and new exhibitions for the first time.
“Almost all of the organizations participating will use that day to announce or unveil something for the first time publicly,” said Bryan. “Making it the one day of the year that more arts and cultural organizations announce something than any other day of the year.”
In the past, personal engagement and activities have been the most popular part of the expo. Bryan explained they are trying to provide “activities for children, activities for adults, activities for everyone.”
Screen print tutorials, group mural projects and instrument petting zoos will all be making a return to the event. One of the participating organizations, Arts in the Alley, hosts a tile mural project at their booth. Participants take a piece of poster board, think of a design, print the design on the poster board, cut the poster board up and number each square.
At their booth, participants are given the opportunity to decorate one of the squares of poster board and mount it on the display according to what number it is. By the end of the day, once all of the pieces have been mounted on the display, an image is created from all the decorated squares and the design by number is completed.
Guidry describes the activity as demonstrating that “when a lot of people contribute a little bit, we can create something beautiful.”
The Annual Arts & Culture Xpo is a great way for attendees and organizations to interact with one another; the expo gives participants a chance to explore and pursue the opportunities of arts and culture right here in Richmond.
Phil Crosby, Richmond Triangle Players managing director, explained that his favorite part of the event is “being able to connect with people,” while Guidry said she’s excited to “see all the different people come and be able to connect with other people and to see how other organizations connect with people.”
Schedule:
STAGE 1
10:00 am James River Ringers
10:30 am Virginia Opera
11:00 am Virginia Organization of Composers & Lyricists
11:30 am Edgar Allan Poe Museum
12:00 pm SPARC
12:30 pm The Podium Foundation
1:00 pm HATTheatre
1:30 pm Central Virginia Masterworks Chorale
2:00 pm CharacterWorks Youth Theatre
2:30 pm Capitol Opera Richmond
3:00 pm James River Writers
3:30 pm Richmond Philharmonic Orchestra
STAGE 2
10:15 am Stavna Ballet
10:45 am artspace
11:15 am Chesterfield Library/Fischer Sundae Puppets
11:45 am Chesterfield Children’s Theatre
12:15 pm Latin Ballet of Virginia
12:45 pm Richmond Triangle Players
1:15 pm Monument City Music
1:45 pm The Virginians Barbershop Chorus
2:15 pm Culture4MyKids Inc.
2:45 pm Concert Ballet of Virginia
3:15 pm Greater Richmond Chorus of Sweet Adelines International
3:45 pm Arts in the Alley/Offering
This year’s 4th Annual Arts & Culture Xpo promises to be the best one yet so clear your calendars for June 28th and don’t miss it.
The event will feature numerous exhibiting organizations including: 1708 Gallery, American Youth Harp Ensemble, Art on Wheels, The Arts Council of Randolph-Macon College, Arts in the Alley, Artspace, Cadence Theatre Company, Capitol Opera Ricmond, CAT Theatre, CenterStage, Central Virginia Masterworks Chorale, CharacterWorks Theater, Chesterfield Childrens Theatre, Chesterfield County Public Library, City Singers Children’s Choirs, Community Idea Stations, Concert Ballet of Virginia, The Conciliation Project, Culture4MyKids, Da Capo Virginia, Dogtown Dance Theater, Edgar Allan Poe Museum, Ezibu Muntu African Dance and Cultural Foundation, The Fischer Sundae Puppets, Friends of Chesterfield County Library, Gallery5, Gallery at First UU, Greater Richmond Children’s Choir, Greater Richmond Chrosu-Sweet Adelines, HATTheatre, Henley Street Theatre & Richmond Shakespeare, Henricus Historical Park, Historic Pole Green Church, James River Ringers, James River Writers, K Dance, Latin Ballet of Virginia, Mid-lothian Moines and Rail Roads Foundation, Modlin Cnter for the Arts, Monument City Music- Richmond Men’s and Women’s Chorus, Pamplin Historical Park & The National Museum of the Civil War Soldier, the Podium Foundation, Preservation Virginia, Richmond ballet, Richmond Choral Society, Richmond Concert Band, Richmond Magazine, Richmond Philharmonic Orchestra, Richmond Symphony, Richmond Times-Dispatch, Richmond Triangle Players, RVA First Fridays, Sixth Mount Zion Baptist Curch, SPARC, St. John’s Church Foundation, Stavna Ballet, Studio Two Three, Swift Creek Mill Theatre, United Network for Organ Sharing, Valentine Richmond History Center, Virginia Center for Latin American Art, Virginia Holocaust Museum, Virginia Opera, Virginia Organization of Composers and Lyricists, Virginia Repertory Theatre, The Virginians Barbershop Chorus, Visual Arts Center of Richmond, weAcademies of Art, Weinstein JCC and Wilton House Museum. The event is sponsored by the E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter Foundation, The Community Foundation Serving Richmond and Central Virginia, Union First Market Bank, Wells Fargo and The Windsor Foundation.
