March 15-28, 2019
The Anderson
One of The Anderson’s signature events in the student exhibition calendar, the annual Undergraduate Juried Exhibition showcases the best in VCUarts Undergraduate studio research. This year’s theme “Home Sweet Home,” provided by Juror Rebecca Matalon, Curator at Contemporary Arts Museum Houston, promises a timely and provocative exhibition.
TICKETS: https://arts.vcu.edu/calendar/event/undergraduate-juried-exhibition/
During his first year as a professor at Virginia Commonwealth University, Rudy Lopez helped orchestrate the largest end-of-year showcase the fashion department has ever seen, held at the Main Street Train Shed. This is a dramatic achievement for Lopez, who, even a year ago, thought working as a professor at VCU was far from likely. After years of failed starts and stints in retail to pay the bills, he’s at the forefront of campus fashion, and branching out city-wide.
This article originally appeared in RVA #33 Summer 2018, you can check out the issue here, or pick it up around Richmond now.
Lopez, originally from the Philippines, grew up in a family of achievers. His father was a doctor, his sister a financial executive; another sister went into the arts and became a sculptor. He came of age during the 1990s East Coast skateboarding scene. Although he loved to draw from his earliest years, he really explored his creative side while playing in bands and traveling to hardcore punk shows in DC. When it came to a career, he wasn’t sure where his many interests and energy would lead.
Lopez took his first shot at college at George Mason University, where he quickly partied his way to academic probation. The summer after his first year, while talking about his future, a friend asked if he could see himself drawing more. Lopez immediately thought, “Yes, of course.” He researched art schools and sent in five drawings to VCU; his journey through art school started that fall, in 1998.
The words of Dean Richard Toscan during orientation shaped him in ways that probably weren’t expected — he still remembers them today: “If you think you are the hot-shot artist in [your] high school, look around; you’re one of 500.”
“I felt way over my head,” Lopez said. “I wasn’t that artist.” Self-fulfilling or not, his prophecy turned out to be right — but something good still came of his struggles through the school’s foundation classes, which he called “art bootcamp.” The summer after that first year, Lopez received an invitation to help out with a fashion show in New York, hosted by Organization for Returning Fashion Interest (ORFI).
“They needed help putting on the fashion show, filling out model sheets, organizing garments, sending invitations; the grunt work,” Lopez said. He hopped a train to New York, where he went 48 hours without any sleep.
“I was surrounded by creatives,” he said. “I felt this overwhelming wave of passion.”
When he returned to VCU, he turned to the fashion department to merge his newfound interest with his desire to be creative. He pursued the Fashion Merchandising track, thinking he could study design later if he wanted. Future internships led him to new contacts in New York and revelations about his career path. After graduation, Lopez attended Parsons School of Design, where he studied fashion graphic design.
From Parsons, he worked his way back to Richmond’s Need Supply Co., where he worked as a store manager before opening Henry, a streetwear shop on Broad Street, in 2006. Although the store earned acclaim, and is seen as the foundation for the current streetwear scene in the Broad Street Arts District, it didn’t survive the economic downturn, closing in 2008.
Lopez was discouraged. “It got to a point where I hated the Richmond fashion scene,” he said. He and his wife decided it was time for a break from the city, returning to Lopez’s native Philippines for about five months. However, he came back for a position at VCU, as a manager at the campus technology store.
While there, an assistant professorship opened up at the Fashion Department in VCU. “They asked me to interview,” Lopez said, and he went for it, despite thinking it was a long shot. Fortunately, he got the job, and said he couldn’t be happier with the work, especially mentoring students like himself who struggle to find their passion.
“I love it — teaching, guiding, and mentoring,” Lopez said. “Looking back at my own path, I always liked giving younger, up-and-coming people advice. I loved helping them and giving them whatever I could.”
He described the team as “a great blend of analytical and creative backgrounds,” looking to “create well-rounded people who can think in a variety of ways.”
Enter Lopez. He hopes to encourage an increasing level of collaboration among departments in the school and with businesses in the community. He says the community is ready for it. “Everyone says, ‘I don’t follow fashion,’ but every single person is dressed,” he said. “You’re part of the cycle.”
During the end-of-year fashion showcase, Lopez invited friends to create music, bringing the community to the campus. Joe Davenport, who performs as DJ Bobby La Beat, laid out live beats.
It’s just a first, small step toward his goal of uniting different communities. “Collaboration this year is not as extensive as I would like,” he said. “When you look at the production of a fashion show, there are so many elements: we have music we need to curate, the Department of Theater could create backdrops for the fashion show, there’s opportunity to work more closely with the designers as they create their collections.”
The physical impact of his presence could be seen in the innovative runway design for the 2018 showcase. The venue selection gave students space to create a runway that welcomed three times as many guests compared to previous years. Compared to a typical 70-foot runway, Lopez said, this year’s runway snaked through the train shed for nearly 500 feet.
“People were caught off guard when I said the fashion show could be bigger,” Lopez said, about an event that was already dramatically larger than prior ones. “It could be bigger not even in terms of people, but to be inclusive of people outside of VCUArts and fashion.”
Ultimately, he does this work because he wants the next generation of fashion students to be as proud of Richmond as he is. He said his work is “a reflection of how proud I feel graduating from the school, and the students coming after me.”
Have you ever wondered about the sounds around you? Take a moment and listen to your environment. Perhaps you can hear the chatter of your co-workers, maybe your phone just went off, or maybe all you can hear is the hum of the air conditioning circulating in the room. Have you ever stopped to think about what is causing the sounds you hear, or maybe wondered why the sounds you hear are making you feel the way they do?
Well, this summer, those with a curiosity for sound and making art with it will have a chance to do some serious experimenting with VCUarts’ Department of Kinetic Imaging new summer workshop series.
In partnership with Sound Arts Richmond, the department kicked off the program, “Experiments In Sound,” to highlight a broad range of Kinetic imaging practices. The first of its kind for Richmond, the workshops are open to everyone, but primarily geared toward those looking to continue their education in the realm of fine art and sound. Participants can immerse themselves deeper into animation, film, video, sound production, and other emerging media.
The workshops offer everything from going on nature walks and learning how to create soundscapes, to learning how to build your own microphone, to learning how to use advanced software such as Ableton Live, podcasting, and making your own invisible speakers.
“A benefit from taking these workshops is that we have a lot of equipment, and a lot of software, so if you do have an interest in things, there’s only so much kind of playing you can do in your own studio at home,” said Stephanie Thulin, Assistant Director of the Kinetic Imaging Department.” [Experiments In Sound] gives you not only the space and the equipment to kind of play around with, but also gives you a community that you may not have known about.”
Community sits at the heart of what Experiments In Sound is all about. The plan for the workshops became solidified when Vaughn Garland, adjunct professor in the Department of Kinetic Imaging and creator of Sound Arts Richmond, approached Thulin about getting involved in the Sound Arts Richmond Festival that comes around every year from March to October.
“Sound Arts Richmond gave us that push to jump into something we were already interested in doing, but when [Garland] came to us with this idea, it was kind of like, well if we’re going to be involved, we should be involved in some kind of educational component because that’s who we are; and it should also highlight a range of sound art which is also who we are,” Thulin said.
Each workshop not only covers a wide range of sound art elements, but also gets you face-to-face with VCU Kinetic Imaging Faculty, practicing artists, and alumni who are helping to guide the workshops, answer any questions, and help attendees cultivate their knowledge and expertise in sound art.
“I hope the program encourages people to be more aware of their auditory surroundings, and the unique ways we experience life,” said Sara Bouchard, a Kinetic Imaging graduate student and co-creator of Experiments in Sound, of the program.
The workshops, which will run until June 30, have an average of seven to 10 people for paid programs, and 15 to 20 for the free program.
At the end of the workshops, participants have an opportunity to showcase their work at VCU’s Anderson Gallery on West Franklin Street.
“I saw this as not just a Kinetic Imaging thing and wanted to have the school of the arts be involved, showcasing how we, as a department, are advocates for the whole school. So, it’s Kinetic Imaging in partnership with The Anderson and Innovative Media,” said Thulin.
Experiments In Sound will run until June 30, you can check out the workshop series’ full schedule here.
For the past 10 weeks, a group of Richmond high schoolers spent their Saturdays in VCU’s Sculpture Department doing everything from woodworking to welding. They are the first generation of Future Studio, a free semester-long program aimed at giving Richmond teens hands-on experience creating art with the department.
Future Studio is a partnership between VCU’s Department of Sculpture + Extended Media, VCU’s Institute for Contemporary Art (ICA) and Art 180, a Richmond based non-profit that provides art-related programs to young people living in challenging circumstances. The semester culminated in an art exhibition at Art 180’s gallery, a showcase made exclusively of student work.
Matt King, Chair of the VCU Sculpture Department, has been dreaming of this project for years. After receiving a grant from the VCU Division of Community Engagement, along with additional funding from the VCUart’s Dean’s Office, the project became a reality.
“This was conceived of as a way to reach out into the community and give back, to open our doors up to young artists who otherwise might not have a chance to work with the types of tools and materials we have here in the sculpture department,” King said.
Some art programs in area high schools do not have many opportunities to experiment with sculpture, let alone resources as high-grade as the VCU facilities.
“Most high schools don’t offer any kind of strong program in three-dimensional art making, and this is true across the country,” King said. “Shop classes don’t exist so much in schools anymore, art classes rarely offer anything other than a perfunctory lesson on making something three-dimensional.”
Meanwhile, VCU has the number one ranked sculpture program in the country, and facilities that include a highly functioning woodshop, metal fabrication shop and a host of digital equipment.
The program is not limited exclusively to Richmond Public School students, instead, the applications are open to high school students from anywhere in the Richmond community. Ultimately, Future Studio accepted 15 students from 13 different high schools for this semester.
“It becomes this kind of melting pot for the city, for teens,” King said. “You have a student from St. Catherine’s working with a student from Meadowbrook and TJ. Having those students working together encourages a kind of dialogue that otherwise we wouldn’t be able to have.”
The Future Studio students do not require any prior experience, just a willingness to learn.
“We weren’t looking for students who had already studied sculpture or who had building skills or experience, we were really looking to hear their story, to find out who they were, with the idea that once they got here we would be starting from the ground up and they would learn together,” King said.
The students were given instruction on workshop safety and the intricacies of using hulking, intimidating equipment from the moving blades of a band saw to a plasma cutting torch. They watched demos in the wood shop with Leigh Cole, VCU instructor and shop technician, and were shown bending steel and welding by Abigail Lucien, adjunct VCU faculty, and metal tech.
Ian Gerson, a second-year MFA student in the VCU Sculpture Department, was the graduate TA for the program and spent his Saturdays these last few weeks with the students in the workshop.
“The kids got really excited about welding,” Gerson said. “Pretty much everybody’s project included some of the steel rod. They were just like lined up to weld, they were so hyped on that.”
Without access to these resources and equipment at their high schools, its an exciting first-time opportunity for a lot of the students.
“There’s something exciting about the first time you build something that is stronger than you are,” King said.
But the program eclipses simply learning about tools and materials and physically making objects. The students participated in activities that helped to develop their sense of creative self.
“It goes much beyond building things. It really is a program that’s designed to inspire them to try to understand themselves and what’s important to them as young artists,” King said.
The head classroom instructor of the program and assistant professor in the VCU Sculpture + Extended Media department, Guadalupe Maravilla, brought in a variety of performance artists and undergraduate VCUarts students to teach activities to the high schoolers.
Gerson said these creative interludes were some of the most fun aspects of the program. One undergrad mentor entered the room on a skateboard. He left that way too, but not before leading the students in a raucous performance of a vocal symphony, where he played the conductor.
Mike Zetlan is the program manager for Atlas teen programs at Art 180, as well as the gallery manager. He calls the program a rousing success. “Trying to get that many kids to consistently show up on a Saturday is pretty hard,” he said.
Zetlan helped with the recruitment process, as well as eventually housing the exhibit in the Art 180 gallery space, and said he was shocked at the turnout: 56 applicants for the 15 spot program.
He said that one of the most important aspects of the aptly named Future Studio is the way it looks to the future for its high school participants. It gave them a taste of the college experience, a chance to experience a renowned arts program and campus life. After the program, several of the eligible high schoolers applied to the VCU Arts program for the next year.
The Future Studio art exhibition opened at RVA’s First Fridays last week, where the students showed up with family and friends despite the weekend’s ice and snow.
“Even the staff has been really overwhelmed by how good this show is,” Zetlan said. “I’ve gotten more feedback on the show than I have in a while…it feels a little bit more like a traditional gallery.”
King said that the program’s biggest criticism is that the students wished it would last longer. In fact, next semester the Saturday sessions have been increased from four hours to five. Applications for the spring semester of Future Studio are open now and will be closing on Jan. 18. The program is open to current sophomore, junior, and senior high school students.
A closing reception for the exhibit is set for Jan. 26 from 6-8 p.m. at the Art 180 gallery.
Top Photo Credit: VCU Sculpture & Extended Media
From the Terracotta Army: Legacy of the First Emperor of China making its way to the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts this fall, to Pueblo artist Virgil Ortiz‘ figurative ceramic works retelling the story of his ancestors’ rebellion against Spanish colonizers in 1680 in the “Hear my Voice” exhibit, to VCU’s announcement of their forthcoming Insititute of Contemporary Art, and our ever-growing number of murals, Richmond’s arts scene was booming in 2017. To kick 2018 off to a great start, RVA First Fridays returns this month with a slew of emerging talented artists, new exhibits, fashion showcases, artisan markets, and more.
RVA Mag has rounded up a handful of our top picks for this month’s First Fridays Artwalk and there should be a little something in there for everyone this go around.
Made by RVA’s RVA Creative Market
Opens Sat. Jan. 6
In an effort to support Richmond entrepreneurs and local artisans, the Manchester dance theatre has partnered with events website Unlockingrva and Made by RVA to host a market for Richmonders to shop local products and support local shop makers, creators, artists, crafters, and bakers. 109 W. 15th St.
Candela Books & Gallery
Exhibit runs Jan. 5 – Feb. 17
For their first show of 2018, Candela Books & Gallery will feature eight artists in the photography exhibit, Science As Muse. The artists, which include, Walter Chappell, Caleb Charland, Rose-Lynn Fisher, Pam Fox, Daniel Kariko, Michael Rauner, Robert Shults, and Susan Worsham, all use science as their inspiration to base their photographic works around. Some of the artists use equipment made possible by modern science while others have create work by applying the scientific method, and some have simply documented the worlds within scientists practice their craft, each telling a story with their photos. 214 W. Broad St.
Art 180
Future Studio Opening
Opening reception Jan. 5
In partnership with the Institute for Contemporary Art at VCU and the VCuarts Department of Sculpture & Extended Media, Art180 will feature its first “Future Studio”, showcasing artwork by high-schoolers in the Future Studio program. The 10-week free program provides Richmond teens with hands-on experience creating art and other media in VCU’s Sculpture department. The Future Studio program also gives teens the opportunity to visit the ICA building, access to portfolio workshops, lectures, free materials, and a chance to have their work showcased in Art 180’s Atlas gallery.
Gallery5
Gold for A Silver Situation
Fri. Jan. 5-Jan. 25
This Friday, Gallery5’s “Gold For A Silver Situation” opens, featuring the work of 12 Richmond female artists. Curated by fellow local artist Katie McBride, the exhibit aims to break gender barriers, and highlight the many talented female illustrators and artists making significant contributions to their field, yet still, are too often seen or viewed as an afterthought to male artists in their field.
The show includes the art of Cathryn Virginia, Holly Camp, Melissa Duffy, Ally Hodges, Brooke Inman, Meena Khalili, and, Mary Chiaramonte, Victoria Borges, Clara Cline, Kamille Jackson, Amelia Blair Langford, along with McBride, whose known for her design of the 2016 Richmond Folk Fest poster.
“Female illustrators are not an afterthought. Walk in and see 50 pieces of amazing art and understand that these people should be first in your mind for a big, crazy, stunning, dramatic oil painting, or super smart conceptual think-piece, or a portrait, or whatever it is,” said McBride, told RVA Mag in a recent interview about the new exhibit.
You can view a catalog of each of the artists’ work here. Gold For A Silver Situation opens tonight at 7 pm. Music kicks off at 8 pm with Elizabeth Owens, Slurry, Georgie Isaacs, and Deau Eyes. Other vendors will also be at Gallery5 so make sure you stop by Gallery’5 membership table, Belle Isle Moonshine, “Interconnection”, a series of Multimedia Collages, and Portraits of Richmond Icons by Courtney Lebow, and Becky Whitson, who will be selling floral headpieces and fine art.
Page Bond Gallery
Glow Glimmer Sparkle Shine
Exhibit runs until Jan. 13
You still have a few weeks left to check out Page Bond Gallery’s Glow Glimmer Sparkle Shine exhibit featuring 26 artists which range from paintings to ceramics to abstract work.
Sculptural ceramics artist Piero Fenci is among those showcasing his work, which resembles ancient architecture, armor, and industrial machinery. Fenci describes it as “loosely rendered reinventions of the past” that reveal “a heritage of [his] own passions.” The artist has been a professor at Stephen F. Austin State University in Texas since 1975 and he founded the first university program in contemporary ceramic art in northern Mexico at la Universidad Autonoma de Chihuahua in 2004.
Ross Browne, a Richmond native and figurative painter, is displaying his dream-like portraits, which fuse together fact and “imagined mythology” to challenge “preconceived notions of the shared human experience”. The artist also incorporates nature such as birds, land, and cityscapes into his artwork to convey “the struggles of identity, power, and self-actualization.”
You can see their work and the work of the following artists at Page Bond Gallery in this exhibit: Participating artists include: Isabelle Abbot, Will Berry, Karen Blair, Sanford Bond, Robin Braun, Amy Chan, Charlotte Culot, Clark Derbes, Sean Donlon, Isa Newby Gagarin, Sarah Irvin, Harris Johnson, Becky Joye, B. Millner, Sarah Mizer, Jaydan Moore, Matthew Langley, Tim O’Kane, Corey Pemberton, Curtis Ripley, Fiona Ross, Nancy Murphy Spicer, Leigh Suggs, and Julie Wolfe. 1625 W. Main St.
ADA Gallery
Bruce Wilhelm: Next
Exhibit runs Fri. Jan. 5-Jan. 28
ADA Gallery presents Richmond-based artist Bruce Wilhelm’s solo exhibit, Next, featuring his abstract works. A VCU graduate, Wilhelm has received two Virginia Museum Fellowship Grants and has showcased his work at ADA Gallery since 2005. The artist is also the co-founder of Philly’s Grizzly Grizzly gallery. 228 W. Broad St. 7-9 PM.
Sediment Arts
GenderFail
Exhibit runs Fri. Jan 5-Jan. 21
Opening tonight is Sediment Arts storefront exhibit, GenderFail, a publishing and program initiative founded by Brett Suemnicht. The exhibit will feature a multimedia installation of publications, prints, and select programming focused on perspectives of queer and transgender people as well as people of color. The aim is to “build up, reinforce and open opportunities for creative projects focusing on printed matter.”
The featured works are from the GenderFail Archive Project in the form of a reading room with select titles from the GenderFail library. The selections will be archived on the site and presented at the gallery as installations on sculptures commissioned from Richmond-based artists. The collaborative sculptural displays were created by artists Hallie McNeill, Evan Galbicka and Colin Klockner. GenderFail will be open Saturdays and Sundays from 1-6 pm and tonight’s opening will run from 6-9 pm. 208 E. Grace St.
68 Home
The Zodiac Collections
Exhibit opens Fri. Jan. 5
68 Home, a used and locally made furniture and home decor store and art gallery, will open First Fridays this month with “The Zodiac Collections”, a complete astrology-inspired exhibit.
There will be $5 card readings by @snakeoil, online jewelry boutique Sun and Selene will be there selling their products, along with Maven Made, a local company selling all natural, ethically-sourced beauty, home, and wellness products, and local custom-flag shop Guards and Flags. 5 W. Broad St.
Threat Count Shirts
Cotton to Canvas: Champ Era Street Calculus
This Friday, Thread Count Shirts, a local custom brand t-shirt and apparel business, will have a pop-up shop showcasing local designer Champ Era’s latest collection, Street Calculus. 6-10 PM. 209 E. Broad St.
Fresh Richmond
Pop Up Shop
Fresh Richmond is hosting a Pop-Up Shop for their First Fridays of the New Year. The shop will feature clothing from Sky Mission Clothing Co., artwork made using water, fire, and air by SABartStudio, jewelry and gemstones by The RAW Aura, homade lotions by Nature’s Booty, and a DJ set by DJ Lady Syren and Neili Neil. 5-8:30 PM. 213 E. Broad St.
Vagabond
Smoochie Jankins 1st Fridays Party!
Vagabond will throw an artist pop-up in The Rabbit Hole tonight at 9 PM featuring art and design from Jessica Camilli, Kamala Bhagat, Liberatus Jewelry, with music by Smoochie Jankins. Led by Mark Ingraham on the trumpet, the band is rounded out with Garen Dorsey (Sax/ Keys), Macon Mann (Keys), Kelli Strawbridge (Drums), Nekoro Thabiti Williams (PBR, Drums) and Derek Goodall, (drums) which is bound to get you out of your house braving the cold weather to hear these awesome musicians play. 700 E. Broad St.
Check out all the RVA First Fridays happenings here.
In today’s ever-evolving, fast-paced digital media world, those interested in getting into the field, or even keeping up with it, are expected to know nearly every aspect of the production process. From set design, lighting, photography, to storytelling, and more, producers have to hone, sharpen, and constantly work on their skills to adapt with the rapidly-changing technology.
Luckily, VCU and a local longtime production studio have teamed up to help students, and those interested in seeking out a career in those fields.
VCUarts and Richmond-based production studio In Your Ear have designed a new post-baccalaureate certificate, AMPT (Advanced Media Production Technology), a program to connect graduate students with opportunities in the vast digital media production world. Based in the heart of Shockoe Bottom, aspiring producers are becoming new-age digital media masters at the studio, which was founded by Carlos Chafin and Robbin Thompson in 1990.
The 24-credit hour program is designed by VCU faculty, industry professionals, and In Your Ear staff, drawing on years of professional studio and production experience to create an immersive hands-on experience, blending creativity and technical skills needed for jobs in the industry.
AMPT is intended to benefit a variety of students of different backgrounds, interests, goals and skill levels, open to anyone with a Bachelor’s degree in any field, but the program only accepts up to 20 students per semester. For Fall, the 12-credit curriculum goes over audio production, editorial storytelling (video post-production), emerging digital cinema (video production), and light/image. For the upcoming spring semester, AMPT students can take a variety of electives including motion graphics, audio for gaming, and mobile application development. In addition to learning or advancing their own skill-sets, students enrolled in the classes also learn from each other during the process, through collaboration on projects.
“Our AMPT students are exposed to so much, so quickly, it’s a wild ride, but a great one,” said Chafin, President, and Owner of In Your Ear and co-director and founder of AMPT. “Some students want to break into the business, while others want to pivot or supplement their careers with a new skill set.”
VCU Music Alumnus Alberto Yapur is a current AMPT student looking to advance his creative skills. “I wanted to learn the other side of music, especially how to produce my own songs, videos,” he said. “There is so much to learn aside from just one skill. I think every artist should know how to turn their art into a marketable product.”
For others, the program has instilled a desire to grow Richmond’s influence in the digital media market. “My dream is to put Richmond on the map for film,” said fellow student Kevin Sweeney. “I am staggered to understand how there isn’t already a major company here producing content for Netflix, Amazon, or other big medians. I am hoping to tell big, beautiful, engaging stories, and execute them so that everyone who works on them receives due recognition. Between the evolution of technology, and dropping costs of production, we have studied in the AMPT program how smaller more agile companies are taking on big projects.”
The East Broad Street studio reach has gone beyond working with students in its long history here, it has worked with some of the biggest names in the world. R&B singer Chris Brown recorded his 2012 Grammy-awarding winning album F.A.M.E. there, and TVand film producers for “The Help”, “Family Guy”, and “Gladiator” have utilized the studio for dialogue production. In Your Ear has also recorded and scored TV and radio spots for companies like McDonald’s and Coke.
The program will evolve as Chafin and his team see fit, with plans to include more virtual reality-based courses in the future. And VCUarts Executive Director of Entrepreneurship Matt Woolman is hoping to keep growing the program as well.
“In Your Ear’s real-world industry experience makes for a perfect partnership,” he said. “The talent and results that have already come out of AMPT are impressive. We’re thrilled to be working with Carlos and his team again this year to continue offering such an innovative program through VCUarts.”
Tuition for the full-time program costs $14,500 and $605 per credit for part-time. Students looking to enroll in the program can apply here.
Photo Credits: In Your Ear
