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RVA Street Art Festival Brings Life to The Diamond this Weekend

Caitlin Barbieri | September 21, 2017

Topics: Andre Shank, Art on wheels, Bomb Proof, Chance Fischer, Connors Heroes, ed trask, Feral Conservatives, Kenneka Cook, Manatree, McKinley Dixon, Mekong Express & The Get Fresh Horns, Michael Millions, Mickael Broth, murals, Richmond Flying Squirrels, RVA ARt, RVA muralists, RVA street art festival, Saw Black, South Hill Banks, street art, The Diamond, Zéh Palito

Street artists and muralists from all over the United States will flock to The Diamond this weekend, to turn the dull concrete baseball stadium into a vibrant piece of Richmond culture for the fourth RVA Street Art Festival.

More than 250 buckets of latex paint, cans of spray paint, sculpture supplies and more will be taken to the home of the Richmond Flying Squirrels to create a mixed-media canvas. 

Since the first RVA Street Art Festival in 2012, at the Canal Walk, the event has drawn people from all over the city and given artists an outlet to create freely.

“You’re not dealing with a client so within reason you’re able to do exactly what you want, completely your idea and your execution, that’s something that’s is always a draw for me,” said local muralist and board member Mickael Broth.  

It transformed the old GRTC bus depot in 2013, and last year, the street art fest went to Manchester to give life to the drab Southern States silos.

“In my mind, that’s the next arts district,” local artist and RVA Street Art Fest co-founder Ed Trask told RVA Mag in 2016 of Manchester. “It’s great when you can reinvent an industrial area like Manchester and instead of completely scrapping the history of what was here, you can start reinventing the buildings without losing the character so that’s why I love this area.”

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Photo by Arshan Yazdan

But for this year, the board is excited to partner with the Richmond Flying Squirrels to bring art and sports together. 

“It’s that interesting intersection of sports and art,” board member Katie Benson said. “The squirrels are in the business of having fun, they are a great family organization and the quintessential Americana and I think it will be really fun to see all that collide.”

Flying Squirrels Chief Executive Chuck Domino broke the news about the festival with Street Art board members in June and was equally excited to have the festival come to the stadium.

“This will be an incredible opportunity for the Squirrels. It’s going to help bring new people to our ballpark and help grow our charities supporting renovating inner city baseball diamonds in underserved communities,” he said in a spring news release.

One of the festivals missions is to showcase local and national artists. Richmond artists, Andre Shank, known as “Bomb Proof” has partnered with visiting Brazilian artist, Zéh Palito, to paint the crown of the stadium. The two started the project earlier in the week and plan to have every panel of the crown painted by Sunday.

“It’s really cool, think about people driving through Richmond on I-64 or I-95 and seeing that art on the crown,” Benson said.     

Along with the crown, the stairs, columns, walls and the interior of the VIP areas will become a canvas for the over 35 artists attending the event.

“The more I do this for a living (paint) the more I realize those opportunities are not that common and you have to use them as best you can,” Broth said.

One artist, Rachel Owens, earned her spot on the walls of The Diamond through a pop-up art event she won at Triple Crossing Brewing. This will be Owens’s first time painting on a wall and will be a great opportunity for her to showcase her talents.  

While the large murals will be the main attraction, the creativity of the event expands beyond the concrete canvas.

“While we are known as the Richmond Street Art Festival, we want to branch that out to not just street art but we have sculptures, we have music, and we have some interactive art with kids,” Benson said.

The festival will include an artist village where visitors can buy and see art from other local artists. Scott’s Addition print shop Studio Two Three will be there making screen prints and t-shirts. Art On Wheels will also be there doing a pendulum art piece and making a sculpture out of painted wood.

Live music, a variety of food vendors, and beer trucks will be at the event as well. And the festival has a solid musical lineup for the day with soul/funk powerhouse Kenneka Cook, jazz.hip hop artist Mckinley Dixon and Crystal Pistol Records founder/folk artist Saw Black. Feral Conservatives, Chance Fischer, Michael Millions, Dead Letter Officers, Manatree, DJ Mike, and Mekong Xpress & The Get Fresh Horns are also scheduled to perform. 

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Over 11,000 people are anticipated to come out this weekend and to enjoy all the festival has to offer which is aiming to bring people from all over Richmond together and beautify a part of the city “in need of creativity and love.”

“When you put street art up you don’t know how long they are going to be up for, but during that place in time when we are all together in the community it’s beautiful,” Benson said.

Another goal of the festival is to raise money for arts education for children. This year’s beneficiary is Connor’s Heroes, an organization dedicated to supporting children undergoing cancer treatment and utilizes art as a medium of healing.  

The 2017 RVA Street Art Festival kicks off Fri. Sep. 22nd from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. and will continue Saturday from  11 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.

 

Art Sponsored by Virginia Museum of Contemporary Art 

 

Richmond jazz songstress Kenneka Cook on looping, her creative process & debut album

Christopher McDaniel | September 14, 2017

Topics: American Paradox Records, Cary St. Cafe, funk, jazz, Kenneka Cook, rva music, RVA Track, Scott Lane

For the seventh installment of RVA Track’s monthly live music video series, the local film collective chose to spotlight Kenneka Cook, an up and coming, talented jazz singer who calls Richmond home. Cook has been looping her funky jazz vocals in Richmond venues and that combined with her pipes have earned her a solid place in the local funk and jazz club scene. She has performed with local band Mikrowaves, and now the powerhouse blues singer is stepping out on her own with a debut album due to drop this winter.

“I’ve been looping for about four years,” Cook said of her recent public performances. “Looping requires a machine, an effect pedal, and you say whatever you want into it, record it, and it will repeat on a loop. After I’ve added all my vocals, I beatbox to put it to a beat. I actually got the idea from Reggie Watts, and when I tried, it was so cool!”


The whimsical sounds that arise from Cook and the jazz ensemble make the listener yearn for more. Cook has a couple songs out on YouTube, plus a TEDx Talk, but that isn’t satiating enough for those of us who want to hear more. If the music emanating from the seventh RVA Track video is any indication of how Kenneka Cook’s debut album will play, then Richmond is in for treat.

“I’ve been singing all my life,” Cook said about the origins of her music. She takes inspiration from the greats like Billie Holiday, Betty Carter and Sarah Vaughan.

“I like to sing about love, how the world needs more love, heartbreak, and my intimate surroundings. I’ll read something, or someone will say something, and I’m like, ‘Huh…’ I’ll run with it.”

Her live music video by RVA Track, “Brings Me Back”, premiered Aug. 14 and as soon as Cook opens her mouth to belt out the tune you can feel the passion and the soul behind it. It’s captivating. The video was filmed by Craig Zirpolo, Daniel Bagbey, Gabrielle Silvers and Joey Wharton at American Paradox Records, with audio by Scott Lane (The Congress), edited by Daniel Bagbey, and features a cool short animation by Leslie Herman.


Cook just finished recording her 10-track album with Lane and it’s currently out being mastered. Fans can expect a mix of covers as well as several of the singer’s original tracks.

“About half of them are mine, with one song I wrote with Scott Lane, and the rest are covers,” she said. “There’s a Vampire Weekend cover, a Nancy Sinatra cover, a little bit of everything.”

Be on the lookout on RVA Mag for when Cook’s album drops and in the meantime, you can catch the jazz singer next at Cary St. Café on Mon., Oct. 2,  alongside Big Lean and Pheen.

Top photo credit: Melissa Brugh Photography

 

RVA Shows You Must See This Week: 8/9-8/15

Marilyn Drew Necci | August 9, 2017

Topics: 3:33, Awake At Last, Big Baby, Big Bliss, Big Quiet, Billy Neptune, Bjork Risque, Black Naked Wings, Bonus Roll, Cream Dream, Cruelsifix, DJ Gringo, DJ Harrison, Dr. Millionaire, Drew is a nerd, DRI, Enforced, Flora, Graveside Breakfast, Growl, Kenneka Cook, Mangoux, Marina City, Nic & Wes, ROC KANDI, Serqet, shows you must see, Silver Twin, Sonny Falls, Sorority Boy, Sound Of Music, Stake, strange matter, Sunlord, Suzy, Sweet Knives, The Blue Sky Disaster, The Camel, The Canal Club, The Funeral Portrait, The Smirks

FEATURED SHOW
Sunday, August 13, 8 PM
DRI, Sunlord, Cruelsifix, Enforced, 3:33 @ Strange Matter – $15 (order tickets HERE)
Trends in the world of metal come and go (and that’s true no matter what some “anti-trendy” metalhead might tell you). However, if the last 35 years are any indication, it appears that thrash is evergreen. Speedy drumming, chunky riffs, harsh vocals, and wailing solos never go out of style. Therefore it can be little surprise that OG thrash speed demons DRI are still going full speed ahead after 35 years. But what’s really great is how good they still are! [Read more…] about RVA Shows You Must See This Week: 8/9-8/15

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