Culture

RVA Magazine closes out its 13th year curating culture across the Commonwealth.

This week, RVA Magazine #35 is fresh to the stands, closing out 2018 with a brand-new edition full of arts, culture, music, politics, news and more. From across the state to right here at home, RVA #35 tells the stories of Virginians and wraps up the year with the Commonwealth’s best.

Here in Richmond, hip hop is heating up, and this issue brings you the stories and photos that’ll give you an inside scoop on the scene’s growing momentum. However, it’s not all good news for the RVA music scene, as long-running, well-beloved venue Strange Matter closes its doors. We bring you a fond farewell from the musicians and music fans of this city.

Meanwhile, we’re delving into the always-fertile world of #rvadine with the latest updates from the world-dominating craft beer community of the river city, as well as an in-depth look at the women who are redefining what it means to be head chef at one of the city’s top restaurants.

The city’s visual artists also get some shine, from the digital neuromancy of artist and photographer Chris Smart to the powerful hip hop-focused work of muralist Nils Westergard.

Beyond the River City, we’ve traveled from the shipyards of Norfolk to the mountains of Appalachia to tell the stories of the Commonwealth. From the desk of our sister site, GayRVA, we get a report on Norfolk’s Knight Hawks, an old-school leather club finding their way into the 21st century. We also take a close look at Appalachia, where communities are attempting to move beyond their economic dependence on coal mining and create a sustainable future for rural western Virginia.

Don’t sleep — grab a copy around town. RVA #35 is on the streets now.

There is no question Richmond, Virginia is a dichotomous place with a story to tell. Yet picking the right story is always the challenge for any photojournalist or writer. Part of this challenge is balancing the obvious with the not so obvious, and exposing it in a way people can connect with as they go about their daily lives. In a perfect media climate, one not beholden to advertisers and sponsors, Stunt Sunday would have been covered by every press outlet in Richmond. Not only does it represent a critical subculture (among many) that is thriving just beneath the surface, it’s one of the main faces of the city that remains undervalued. The reasons for this are obvious to anyone who casually observes Richmond, and I wasn’t surprised when one of the participants, speaking about downtown Richmond, told me dryly, “We used to be very present, but they ran us out of there too.”

Nonetheless, on August 27 at Broad Rock Park – Stunt Sunday – organized by Michael Thompson, known as Black Mike, brought together car clubs from all over the mid-Atlantic, some as far away as Baltimore. Yet it would be a disservice to this community to assume that the cars and motorcycles were the focal point of this event. While they factor prominently into this photo essay because of their visual characteristics, the event itself was one to promote unity, civic responsibility, and to encourage kids to make positive decisions. The participants in the event were diverse, hospitable, and full of camaraderie, even toward us as outsiders. JP, one of the promoters of Stunt Sunday, told us, “We come out there and do community work. We do back to school drives… pass out bookbags, school supplies for the kids out here.”

Stunt Sunday is one of the many untold stories of Virginia, one that remains on the margins for all the reasons Richmond and the Commonwealth continue to struggle with. At a glance, one could be forgiven for being intimidated by the cars, bikes, music, and tattoos, but only for a minute. Connecting communities and coming together as a city can sometimes start with realizing that we all celebrate our own unique cultures in our own unique ways. That should be worth something to all of us.