Richmond magazine - January 2022 by Richmond magazine

BUSINESS

CLEANING UP

“Our customers know us, and we know them by name. We’re there all the time,” Janet Hogg says. “A lot of customers have my personal phone number.” The commercial car washing industry takes off She is also passionate about involvement in the community. “Our major goal, besides making money, is to give back,” mericans are driving less. offer a quick, relatively inexpensive psyshe says. “What’s close to my heart is the New car sales have fallen chological boost for many consumers, and dramatically amid supply more and more people are opting not to SPCA, so we’ll do a fundraiser in the spring chain disruptions and wash their vehicles at home, according to with them. Last spring we helped them lagging consumer conraise $750.” the International Car Wash Association. In one consumer survey, the association fidence. Meanwhile, car wash businesses The second Hogwash location, situated found that the percentage of drivers are popping up everywhere. a block away from Thomas Jefferson High It’s one of the anomalies of the COVIDopting for a professional cleaning instead School, held “TJ Day” on the first Friday of 19 pandemic. Both Henrico and Chesterof the driveway increased from 48% in 1994 operation, donating a percentage of sales field counties have each seen a dozen new to more than 77% in 2019. to the school. Commercial washes are also more car wash and auto detailing ventures open For the Hoggs, their employees are also in the past two years, and the industry eco-friendly. They use less water, and envilike family. “One of my favorite employees was a woman who passed away this is booming across the U.S. According to a ronmental regulations require retail car summer,” Janet says. “And at the washes to capture and treat the recent report by Grand View Research, a Janet and Tom Hogg, wastewater runoff, which is full market research and consulting company funeral, the Hogwash team were owners of Hogwash Express Car Wash, at of soap, chemicals and dirt. based in San Francisco, the U.S. car wash the pallbearers. I think that goes their newest location service market was valued at more than There’s a bonus: Many car wash to show that we’ve got something on West Broad Street in Richmond. $14 billion in 2020. Over the next seven businesses are locally owned. special.” —D. Hunter Reardon years, the industry is expected to grow at an annual clip of 4.8%. The popularity of express car washing wasn’t lost on Tom Hogg, who opened Hogwash Express Car Wash with his wife, Janet, in Henrico three years ago. It took off, and in October, they opened their second location on West Broad Street in Richmond. “I was used to getting my car washed regularly at Flagstop and RIO — two good chains, great competitors — but I noticed that eastern Henrico was underserved,” says Hogg, who also works near the airport as a business development manager for Siemens. He bought a struggling full-service car wash on Nine Mile Road, overhauled it, and opened for business in 2018. He isn’t alone. Flagstop and RIO also opened new locations in Henrico in the past two years. And Green Clean Auto Wash, based in Hampton Roads, is in the process of opening seven car washes in the metro Richmond area. The reasons are manifold — car washes

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ASH DANIEL

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LOCAL

Q&A

A VOICE FOR TEACHERS For school employees, unionizing is about more than pay

Richmond magazine: How do you overcome

the notion that the exclusive aim of collective bargaining is to raise teacher pay? Christine Melendez: A lot of our school boards are being told that because they don’t have taxing authority, they shouldn’t be given the right to collectively bargain, because technically they have no say in the [amount] of money they get from the county or city. But Chesterfield County Public School teachers, in the spring of 2019, before we went out for COVID, we were able to convince the Board of Supervisors to not only do a compensation analysis and comparison of our teacher [pay] versus teachers in counties of similar size, but to see that we were unfairly paid compared to

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Christine Melendez, president of the Chesterfield Education Association, says allowing teachers to unionize will improve classroom instruction.

counties around us. And they implemented the first step of the pay study and have publicly stated they will implement the second step next budget season. And we did all of that without collective bargaining. All we want is specific job duties, titles, roles and responsibilities delineated in contracts, so each party is clear as to who is responsible for performing the duties that are listed on the contract.

RM: Should teachers unions also have a say on

what duties are included in teacher contracts? Melendez: Absolutely. So, if we were able to secure the resolution to collectively bargain, we would already have a contract action team in place. Dues-paying members would be the ones to write up the contract. Before it gets presented to the School Board, all members have the opportunity vote on [contract wording].

RM: You’ve argued that giving teachers unions the right to bargain on behalf of educators will ultimately improve classroom instruction. How? Melendez: When you can refer to written statements or a contract to say, “Yes, I am supposed to be doing this, and I’m going to be held responsible and liable for doing this,” then it’s easier for an employee to effectively perform those duties.

RM: So far, Richmond Public Schools is the

only local school district to win approval to collectively bargain. Where is Chesterfield in the process? Melendez: The Chesterfield Education Association is currently at the very beginning stages of ensuring that we have the structure and the support of not just members, but employees, to even pursue a collective bargaining resolution.

RM: How has the reception of collective bargaining been by the Chesterfield County School Board? Melendez: We don’t have very strong support, or at least openly vocal support from most of our school board members. RM: Critical race theory, transgender student rights and parental involvement in education have recently dominated the political discussion. How do you shift the focus to teachers? Melendez: I would really love for those of us who [have] a better understanding of what critical race theory really is, or what the needs of the transgender community really are, to focus on reeducating the public, especially focusing on those who still support public schools, [and] spread real information and not misinformation. —Leah Small This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

MONICA ESCAMILLA

or the first time in more than 40 years, public-sector employees in Virginia, including teachers, gained the right to collectively bargain, thanks to new legislation passed by the General Assembly in 2020. Since the law went into effect in May of last year, several counties and cities across the state have begun the process of empowering school employees to bargain on their behalf. And in early December, the Richmond School Board became the first in Virginia to approve a resolution allowing teachers to unionize. But in many places, especially suburban counties such as Chesterfield, unionization is an uphill battle. A majority of school employees must first agree to union representation, which must then be approved by the local school board. And labor unions come with political baggage — Republicans and more moderate Democrats often view collective bargaining as a hindrance to the free market. It’s really about bringing school employees to the table and giving teachers a voice, says Christine Melendez, a Chesterfield County Spanish teacher who currently serves as president of the Chesterfield Education Association. We spoke with Melendez about the obstacles ahead.

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LOCAL

nomad, a representative in search of a constituency. “There really aren’t a lot of good options for her,” says Stephen Farnsworth, a political science professor at the University of Mary Washington. Spanberger could run Democrat Abigail Spanberger has a message, but after in a district that leans Republican, take redistricting, will anyone hear it? her chances in the new 7th or hold off and By Scott Bass run for governor or lieutenant governor in 2025, he says. She could also take a job in the Biden administration. s the traffic whirs and rummade up of eight rural counties and large “People with talent and ability tend to bles above her, U.S. Rep. Abiportions of Chesterfield and Henrico in find new opportunities, and it seems pretty Central Virginia. There’s only one probgail Spanberger is strainclear that Rep. Spanberger is going to need lem — her district is about to disappear. ing to be heard. to look for new opportunities,” Farnsworth As part of the statewide redistrictAt a press conference says. “Spanberger has won where other ing process following the release of the Democrats didn’t and couldn’t. My guess two days before Thanksgiving, the Demois the Democratic Party is going to try crat from Henrico County is standing at 2020 census, the Virginia Supreme Court and find a way to keep her involved as a a podium beneath the spaghetti works unveiled newly drawn congressional at Dock and 18th streets in Richmond, maps on Dec. 8 that move Spanberger’s candidate in some election, in some way.” touting Congress’ recently passed infra7th to the Northern Virginia exurbs. The Spanberger’s political stock has risen structure bill. Her voice, however, strugproposed maps, which hadn’t been finalconsiderably since winning her first election in 2018, turning back a popular gles to rise above the din of midafternoon ized by Richmond magazine’s press time, traffic descending from the bridgework would essentially split the western subRepublican incumbent, Dave Brat, in a disthat crisscrosses overhead. urbs of Chesterfield and Henrico, which trict controlled by the GOP for nearly four “We saw a direct need in our comwere key to Spanberger’s victories in decades. A moderate Democrat known 2018 and 2020, between the 1st and 5th for her constituent work — she’s hosted munities. We gathered with lawmakers districts. from all corners of the country, engaged dozens of town halls and forums — SpanConsidered a rising star in negotiations and delivered results for berger has built a reputation U.S. Rep. Abigail as an effective grassroots camthe people,” says Spanberger, flanked by within the Virginia Democratic Spanberger discusses infrastructure funding paigner, managing to distance roughly a dozen union workers, who Party, redistricting has turned at a press conference herself from the liberal wing Spanberger, 42, into a political murmur and clap on cue. “We are finally in November. addressing the needs of our roads, our bridges across the commonwealth … the expansion of broadband connectivity. We’re building our electric vehicle network and boosting our resiliency against climate change.” With the 2022 midterms fast approaching, the $1 trillion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act signed into law by President Joe Biden in mid-November will funnel more than $8 billion in federal funds to Virginia. The infusion will create jobs, reduce commute times and help mend supply chain disruptions, says Spanberger, who refers to the bill’s passage as a “transformational investment in our economy.” She plans to spend the next several months delivering that message to her constituents in the 7th District, currently NEWS

OUTSIDE THE LINES

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JAY PAUL

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THE VALENTINE

The south side of West Franklin Street, circa 1962. Second Baptist Church (third building on the right) is one of the only remaining structures.

son, is 103 W. Franklin, designed by Robert Mills (Monumental Church, the U.S. Treasury Building) for Carter B. Page and acquired in 1880 by Archer Anderson, who succeeded his father, Joseph Reid Anderson, as head of Tredegar Iron Works. Anderson sought for his house a contemporary upfit and hired his longtime friend Marion J. Dimmock, a prolific architect whose work included the mansions of physicians and 16 churches, among them the 1887 Confederate Memorial Chapel on the campus of the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. The house’s impressive river-facing elliptical rear verandas overlooked a walled garden. But neither 103’s pedigree nor its aesthetic qualities staved off its obliteration, which came on Oct. 20, 1972. During its 150th year, the building was converted into timber and rubble for, of course, parking. Which returns us to the now-fencedoff monumental steps of Second Baptist. Noland went all in for a direct address of the Virginia Capitol of Thomas Jefferson, whose inspiration came from his complete infatuation with the Maison Carrée in Nimes, France, a surviving Roman temple. But Jefferson’s vision, a revolutionary departure from Colonial

and Georgian architecture, exceeded the abilities of the artisans in Virginia. His concept underwent real-time adjustments, nonetheless creating a “Temple of Democracy” repurposed for the new United States. For his version, Noland packed religion back into the pagan box and used all the available flourishes available to him. “The eight slender and beautifully detailed Corinthian columns give the Second Baptist Church one of the most archaeologically correct porticoes in the city,” marvels architect Robert P. Winthrop in his book “Architecture of Downtown Richmond.” “Unlike the Capitol, the columns here are classically proportioned with entasis and elaborately carved capitals,” Winthrop wrote. “The high podium and imposing flight of steps rise to the simple auditorium.” Following a half-century of marriages, memorials, sermons and ceremonies, Second Baptist’s congregation left for River Road in 1967. The University of Richmond’s University College utilized the church for a time, and after that, J. Sargeant Reynolds Community College used the buildings for its downtown campus. The church received recognition in 1977 as a contributing structure to the Franklin Street City Old & Historic District that expanded in 1987. Yet its two buildings

stood dormant. The appropriately named Historic Hotels acquired The Jefferson, the former church and the annex in 1991. The late Beverley W. “Booty” Armstrong, the company’s president, told the Richmond Times-Dispatch in November 1992 that parking a block away “for a first-class hotel, guests find that unacceptable.” Armstrong darkly warned that lack of additional parking jeopardized The Jefferson’s five-star rating, and without that, the “hotel might fail, costing the city 350 jobs.” A coalition of preservationists led by the Historic Richmond Foundation protested and offered alternatives, even requesting purchase of Second Baptist. Armstrong refused all entreaties. The city’s advisory Commission of Architectural Review decided against demolition of both buildings, but City Council acceded to the annex’s 1993 removal. This left the sanctuary stranded in a sea of parking and given over to dry storage. Historic Hotels, affiliated with billionaire Bill Goodwin’s CCA Industries, applied in September 2021 for demolition permits that seemed to indicate backfilling the basement and landscaping the site. The requests must go before the CAR, which doesn’t possess regulatory power. As before, the question will land in the collective lap of Richmond City Council. R

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“Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.” —13th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, ratified Dec. 6, 1865

Drinking cost him that job and, he estimates, 10 or 15 more sales positions. “I made a sale. The minute I got paid for it, I drank it up,” Arey says. “Every evening I’d be in a blackout.” While unemployed, Arey met a woman named Rose who also liked to drink, so instead of finding another job, he committed two armed robberies. With police closing in, they rented a car and headed to Norfolk, a familiar city from his encyclopedia sales work. In Norfolk, he held up two gas stations and a grocery store with an unloaded gun before ending up in the crosshairs of Norfolk police officers. “It was Ocean View Avenue,” he recalls. “They were chasing me and firing. They wound up putting several bullets in that The Virginia State rented car.” Penitentiary in Richmond While in lockup on the night operated from 1800 until 1991, when it was demolished. of March 25, 1965, Arey and two

State Penitentiary at Belvidere and Spring streets in Richmond to serve a 30-year sentence for armed robbery, the first thing Calvin Arey cared to accomplish was to stop chewing his fingernails. He had no idea, however, that he and four other inmates would later be key players in a pioneering, yet now forgotten 1971 lawsuit that forced sweeping changes to a racist and barbaric Virginia penal system. The suit, which reverberated nationwide, established a prisoner Bill of Rights, eliminated indiscriminate physical abuse by corrections officials, helped desegregate the Virginia prison system and terminated the courts’ “hands-off” doctrine toward prison administration. And for the past 25 years, Arey, who is now 80 and the last surviving plaintiff from that 1971 lawsuit, has quietly worked as a real estate agent in Boston. He is surrounded in his home by 2,500 books, many of them signed by the authors, and he goes for a walk every day before breakfast, with no one aware of his pivotal role in transforming American prison conditions. Until now.

FROM CONNEC T ICU T T O NORFOLK Alcohol made Arey’s life a mess as a teenager in Connecticut. “I left high school in 1959 in the middle of my senior year, drinking,” he admits candidly. “I was in the Marine Corps for a little over two years. I wound up getting a bad discharge for drinking and fighting my sergeant.” His father then convinced an encyclopedia sales manager to hire him as a door-to-door salesman. “I sold [encyclopedias], and I drank,” Arey recalls. “I was always broke. The manager drove us around from state to state. I had the clothes on my back and a briefcase.”

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BILL LANE, RICHMOND TIMES-DISPATCH COLLECTION, THE VALENTINE

WHEN HE WAS ADMITTED IN 1965 to the former Virginia

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other inmates, Clanton Bennett and Walter Smith, overwhelmed two guards, locked them in a room and broke out from the seventh floor, climbing down a firehose onto the courthouse roof. Bennett went first and made it, but Smith fell to his death on the sidewalk. Then Arey made it down. The two men broke out a courthouse skylight and ran through a door straight into a detective named Harris, who drew his gun and shot Bennett, who later died. “I dropped to the ground,” Arey says. “That was it.” He pleaded guilty to three armed robberies and was sentenced to 30 years in the Virginia State Penitentiary in Richmond.

PADL OCK ED IN RICHMOND By 1965, the 165-year-old Virginia State Penitentiary was a crumbling, medieval fortress, but the maximum-security

C Building — a prison within a prison — was the ultimate hellhole. The building was outdated and decaying, with overflowing toilets and little to no heat in winter. “There were no mattresses in the section I saw, and it was stark,” recalls now-retired civil rights attorney Phil Hirschkop. “It was what you see in the movies … a really old-fashioned, horrible penitentiary.” In addition, poorly trained guards working with no oversight meted out indiscriminate punishments such as tear-gassing inmates inside unventilated cells, stripping them naked for days for slight infractions, removing bedding, duct-taping their wrists and ankles to the bars for days, or padlocking them inside their cells for months or even years for such bogus infractions as insubordination, sarcasm or the ever-popular “agitation.” Inmates in C were served two small meals a day, received almost no medical care (doctors never visited, only nurses) and had no access to work or religious programs. They were permitted 10 minutes a week for one shower, except for those who had broken a rule and had a padlock placed on their electronic cell door. “The ones ‘on padlock’ were only released once a week for five minutes for a shower,” Arey recalls. Inmates were also routinely subjected to stints in 6-by-10-foot basement solitary confinement cells, called “punitive segregation,” or “meditation” cells, for practicing basic First Amendment rights such as writing letters to attorneys and legislators or even talking to fellow inmates. Maryland attorney and law professor Michael Millemann also saw the conditions at the penitentiary and C Building firsthand. “When you tell the story [of the penitentiary], if you didn’t tell people what you were describing, they would say, ‘That’s North Korea or a Russian gulag,’ ” he says. “The rules were whatever a guard thought was appropriate. So whenever a guard got pissed at the prisoner, [he] was the sole judge and sentencer.” When Arey arrived at the penitentiary in early December 1965, he was placed in the general population and assigned a job making socks. But when a pair of scissors was found in his cell during a shakedown, he was transferred to C and placed in solitary for 30 days. “I was considered an escape risk because of what happened in Norfolk,” he explains. “As for the scissors, Richmond was a tough place. I needed a little protection.”

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CRIME OF PUNISHMEN T Unlike most maximum-security inmates, Arey was nonviolent and never attempted an escape, yet he was inexplicably kept in maximum security for more than five years and endured three stints in solitary — two periods of 30 days each and one 43-day stretch. A solitary cell contained only a toilet, a sink and a Bible. A mattress was brought in at night but was frequently taken away for random disciplinary reasons. “One of those times, I wasn’t given a mattress the entire 30 days,” Arey says. “I was only given two blankets. And I used my roll of toilet paper for a pillow.” His diet consisted of four slices of white bread twice a day, then two very small meals every third day, which according to court documents amounted to about 700 calories daily. “You’re constantly hungry because you’re being slowly, deliberately and methodically starved,” he recalls. Since there was no work in C Building, there were no opportunities for inmates to earn money for basic necessities, Arey explains. However, by the end of his confinement, he worked as a librarian delivering paperbacks and as a cell cleanup guy. He remembers cleaning a cell where an inmate had slashed his wrists. “This guy was lying in bed, and he’d cut his wrists. And … he was actually floating in blood before [it] overflowed onto the floor … A guard saw the blood seeping out from under the cell door.” —CALV IN One time everyone in solitary was tear-gassed, seemingly for the hell of it. “They came around and closed the windows. I heard four or five shells go off. My [cell door] was solid, and they opened up the peephole, put the gun in there and popped the shell. I was trapped in there with tear gas until it dissipated, which took hours. It was awful. It was awful.” But while in solitary, in addition to kicking his nail-chewing habit, Arey also vowed that he would read every book he could find. Because of these modest affirmations, he says, “I was able to walk out after 30 days with my head up.” Unbroken. And ready to fight.

trary power held over from the Jim Crow era. “Their belief [was] that if you change the relationship between the guards and the inmates, you undermine the correction system,” Millemann says. “All the worst instincts of the guards and the prison administrators were unchecked. The sadism, the arbitrariness, the racism. And courts followed with what was called the hands-off doctrine.” The hands-off doctrine held that the internal affairs of prisons were outside the courts’ jurisdiction, and this unwillingness by the courts to defend the basic human rights of abused inmates protected Virginia’s prison system from public scrutiny. This made it almost impossible for mistreated inmates to get a fair hearing. “The courts … gave great deference to the superintendent,” Hirschkop explains. “The superintendent was one of the most powerful figures in prison society because literally no one looked over his shoulder. “The superintendent could with a stroke of the pen take away someone’s good time, or screw up their parole,” the retired attorney continues. “He would add many years to a person’s sentence without any jury, prosecution or conviction.” After serving his first 30 days on bread and water in solitary, Arey was moved upstairs, where he met a legally savvy fellow inmate named Bob Landman. Since Virginia did not provide court-appointed lawyers for ARE Y post-conviction habeas petitions to challenge inmates’ convictions or sentences, Landman did it for them. Incarcerated since 1963 for robbery, Landman possessed a self-made legal mind and had been eligible for parole several times, but he was never considered, as Peyton wanted him to languish in maximum security because of his “writ writing.” Landman was prolific — he assisted in filing more than 2,000 appeals and habeas petitions for fellow inmates, as well as 20 lawsuits on his own behalf. Millemann has positive memories of Landman, who also endured 266 days in solitary confinement and 743 days on padlock because of his prison legal work. “Very impressive, intense, humorless, unbending,” Millemann says. “[He] had to be.” After meeting Landman, Arey learned of a case, Powell v. Texas, in which the defendant received a reduced sentence because he was an alcoholic. Arey’s court-appointed attorney had never mentioned Arey’s alcoholism at trial, therefore he thought there were grounds to contest his conviction.

“ONE OF THOSE TIMES, I WASN’T GIVEN A MATTRESS THE ENTIRE 30 DAYS. I WAS ONLY GIVEN TWO BLANKETS. AND I USED MY ROLL OF TOILET PAPER FOR A PILLOW.”

WRI T WRI T ING WI T H BOB L ANDM AN The superintendent of Virginia State Penitentiary was Courtland C. Peyton, who worked under the supervision of William K. Cunningham Jr., director of the Virginia Department of Corrections. Professor Millemann explains that the prison system then was still segregated by race, and Peyton and Cunningham were “deeply invested” in holding on to arbi-

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Proposed rendering of what a slavery museum in Shockoe Bottom could look like

COURTESY SMITHGROUP

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Last summer, as Confederate statues were coming down on Monument Avenue, and protests arose there and in other parts of the city in the wake of George Floyd’s murder at the hands of Minneapolis police, the idea of a slavery museum once again gained momentum. Mayor Stoney recommended that Richmond invest $25 million to $50 million in seed money over five years to memorialize the city’s “complete slave history” in a Heritage District set in Shockoe Bottom. That was in addition to the $11 million in state money pledged by former Gov. Bob McDonnell. The Heritage District would include not only a slavery museum but also a 9-acre memorial park consecrating the many thousands of African Americans buried in various areas of Shockoe in makeshift cemeteries or burial grounds. Overall, the Heritage Campus is projected to incorporate the Lumpkin’s Jail and African Burial Ground historic sites, and it will better connect the various portions of Shockoe from Main Street Station down the Virginia Capital Trail. Shockoe is generally bounded by the James River to East Leigh Street and from 14th Street to 25th Street to the east of the Central Business District. It encompasses the oldest section of Richmond, laid out in 1737 by Major William Mayo, and portions of the Shaccoe Plantation. CHALLENGE AND OPPORTUNITY Today, one of the biggest questions about the proposed slavery museum is its potential cost. The potential price tag comes into sharper focus in a recent feasibility study from the SmithGroup, an architectural and engineering firm based in Detroit that serves as the city’s principal consultant and architect for the slavery museum. The study, delivered to the city in early September, estimates that the final cost of a roughly 100,000-square-foot museum on the site of Lumpkin’s Jail could range from $184 milllion to $225 million. That far exceeds the $25 million to $50 million investment Stoney has proposed, in addition to the state’s $11 million pledge. The jail’s remains were unearthed 74

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during a 2008 archaeological excavation, but more-extensive archaeological investigation still remains, not only of Lumpkin’s Jail but also of other slave jail sites, auction houses and assorted businesses associated with the massive domestic slave trade that involved hundreds of thousands of men, women and children. Lumpkin’s Jail was called “Devil’s Half Acre” by enslaved people awaiting auction in its putrid swamp-like environs — it’s in a flood plain — and by others aware of its infamous reputation. In its executive summary, the SmithGroup says the goal of its feasibility report “is not to discover why NOT to build a museum.” “The challenges outlined and analyzed should not be the starting point. The goal, for memorialization and acknowledging the importance of both site and history should be to use human ingenuity to overcome the challenges, mitigate the constraints, and reveal the untold, hidden, and covered up story of the enslavement of Africans and African Americans.” The challenges outlined in building the museum include everything from potential flooding, large sewer-line structures, and vibrations from nearby Interstate 95. “The city is still working with the SmithGroup, consultants for the project, reviewing their site feasibility study,” says Kimberly Chen, a senior manager in Richmond’s economic development department, who has been a lead on the project. “We have been focusing in detail on several issues, including the flood way and flood plain, which are among the numerous constraints with the proposed site.” Chen says her group hopes to bring recommendations to City Council about how to proceed in early 2022. The Shockoe Small Area Plan, which Chen has overseen, was released by city planners in July 2021 and is expected to become a blueprint for making Shockoe Bottom a destination for both Richmond-area residents and tourists. In late September 2021, City Council approved the transfer of nearly $2 million in tax delinquent property sales to fund the planning and design of the memorial campus and to keep the ball rolling.

UNEARTHING BURIED HISTORY Perhaps no one is more determined to see the slavery museum built than Richmond Del. Delores McQuinn, who is widely acknowledged as a driving force in the development of the Richmond Slave Trail, which started small about two decades ago and has now become an iconic part of Richmond’s often hidden history, especially when it comes to slavery. The Richmond Slave Trail is where enslaved people and their handlers walked from the Manchester Docks to slave-trading sites in the city. McQuinn says she is undaunted by the prospect of raising $200 million or more for the museum, if that is what it costs to tell the story of the slave trade in Richmond. “Sometimes these things are a little costly on the front end, but when you get to the other end, you basically have these resources being poured back into the city,” she says. The Shockoe area has a long history of flooding, and related water issues and the pre-construction work associated with the museum will ultimately benefit the entire city, according to McQuinn. She says the success of the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C. (which was also designed by SmithGroup), foretells the appeal of having a slavery museum in the city. “There’s a hunger to better understand the history and to better understand the story,” McQuinn says. “People want to see where things happened.” A former Richmond City Councilwoman who was first elected to the General Assembly in 2009, McQuinn says she is pleased with the preliminary renderings the SmithGroup has published of the proposed slavery museum. In the October 2020 issue of Architecture magazine, Dayton Schroeter, a principal with SmithGroup, described what was then the design concept of the museum as

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A FR ES H S TART E IGHT RIC HM O N D E R S WH O U SE D THE PAN D E MIC T O TRAN SF O RM THE IR L IVES

ometimes change can be good. When COVID-19 took hold in

March 2020, work began to look and feel different. There were people who kept their jobs in very much the same fashion, while others began working from home. For some, employment seemingly vanished overnight. But some people were able to take advantage of a break in what had been their routines to imagine something new for themselves. For them, COVID wasn’t a shutdown as much as it was an opening up — an opening to possibilities, to imagination. Richmond magazine spoke with a handful of local residents who, for varied reasons, have moved in new professional directions. And for some, new personal directions, too.

By Paula Peters Chambers Photography by Monica Escamilla

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KERI A ND E L I G R AY Founders, Glare Goods

AS PARTNERS both personally and professionally, Keri and Eli Gray took advantage of the pandemic to nurture a business venture they began in summer 2019: making small, handcrafted mirrors, for the wall and the hand, out of larger mirrors that had been discarded or were being sold at thrift stores. The goal was to make art sustainably, by using primarily found materials. At the end of 2019, they took their mirrors to a holiday market, with a hope of selling just enough to cover the cost of the $30 entry fee. They sold all they had — fast. “It was enough to put a fire under us,” Eli says. But there were still bills to be paid, so both continued with their day jobs: Eli at a bar and Keri “doing a lot of little random things, already trying to be self-employed,” she says. Their focus changed in March 2020. “We very much were weekend warriors,” Eli says. “When the pandemic happened, it was an opportunity.” With the gifts of time and unemployment checks, the duo turned their full attention to Glare Goods, showcasing their mirrored creations via Instagram, which led to a strong following and attention of another sort: The company was named a Hometown Hero by national retail brand Madewell earlier this year. The Grays remain committed to sustainable production and are still the only two staff for the company, which often leads to demand outstripping supply. But they welcome customer proposals, especially if the customer has an existing mirror and an idea for how it can become something fresh and new. “It has been unexpected to see what we can actually achieve as two people. ... We're juggling marketing, manufacturing, packing and shipping,” Keri says. “Our customers really are the best. I need to remember to give myself and ourselves the same grace that our customers give us.”

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NO L A N BECK-RI V E R A Owner, Jolene

NOLAN BECK-RIVERA opened a graphic design studio right out of college and helped small businesses and nonprofits with design and branding. He was interested in interior design, too, but didn’t exercise that creative muscle until the pandemic changed the way he lived. “I was stuck in my apartment during quarantine and put a lot of time and effort into making it comfortable,” he says. The effort paid off. After his Cleveland apartment was featured in the July 2020 issue of Dwell magazine, Beck-Rivera began receiving requests to design other living spaces. He accepted those jobs, acknowledging his lack of formal training in interior design. “I believe design is a mindset, a way of problem-solving, and a many-tentacled thing,” he says. “I have that design eye. I’m learning how to apply my design chops to a whole new space and a whole new world.” More change came in fall 2020, when Nolan-Beck and his new partner decided to move to Richmond. “We wanted a [place] where we were both new and we were both learning about it together,” he says. He came here with an eventual goal of opening a home goods store, but everything fell into place sooner than planned. “I met a great couple who offered a storefront for a reasonable price, so now I’m a shopkeeper,” he says. The shop is Jolene, at 211 W. Broad St., a luxury home goods store with products made from stone, metal, clay and glass, with something for everyone, from those looking for a small accessory to others seeking (and willing to pay for) statement pieces. Nolan-Beck sees the store as a way to introduce himself, and other artists, to Richmond. “I get to buy things and travel around and meet designers … and bring their work to a new market,” he says. “I was surprised by the hunger for a certain aesthetic or type of design in Richmond; there’s an itch that nobody was scratching.”

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RIC K Y PARKE R

Co-owner, Shockoe Wine RIGHT AFTER COLLEGE, Ricky Parker worked as a brand ambassador for two high-end alcoholic beverages: Hennessey cognac and Moet & Chandon Champagne “I’ve always had a desire and passion for hospitality, and food and beverage,” he says. “I really had aspirations to grow in the space, but [opportunities] didn’t align.” Instead, Parker found work at Virginia Union University as an adjunct teacher of marketing and advertising classes. In 2018, he became scholar-in-residence at VUU’s Ruth Coles Harris Leadership Institute and was later named its executive director. But he still felt the hospitality itch. Spurred by a mentor’s foray into whiskey-making, in 2019 Parker arranged for a grape pressing, intending to distribute the wine only to family and friends. But when the pandemic began, he was able to expand his venture by partnering with friends — Steve Johnson III and Chris Randolph — to develop a “spirited” Black-owned business: Shockoe Wine. “Having time to sit still in the pandemic allowed us to plan this venture,” Parker says. “As a brand, we’re really led by three pillars: inclusion, community and education,” he adds, pointing to the incorporation of the historic Shockoe neighborhood in the company name. “One of our slogans is ‘Creating Our Own Table.’ This is really a dream opportunity to create wine and create a brand that has an impact.” The company’s first offering, Red Blend, came to market in May 2021, selling direct to consumers from shockoewine.com. Now available at the Midlothian and Short Pump Wegmans supermarkets, as well as the social club Common House Richmond, the red will be joined in early 2022 by a sparkling rosé. “The response has been startling,” Parker says, noting that more than 1,200 bottles were shipped in the first four months alone, and orders have come from 39 U.S. states. He’s also encouraged by a recent conversation with a Wegmans employee. “She said, ‘I’ve been following you [online], and I’m so happy to see you at Wegmans now,’ ” he says. “We are 100% Black-owned … you never know who’s paying attention; there’s a belief in this. “This is really a dream opportunity to create wine and create a brand that has impact,” he adds. “We are focused on establishing ourselves as a brand that cares about quality product and quality craftsmanship.”

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KRYS T L E S IMM S

Founder, Poppykock web and floral design WORKING AS a restaurant event and social media manager, Krystle Simms often created statement floral arrangements that attracted attention for their bold lines and striking compositions. She began fielding requests for weddings and parties and launched Poppykock, a floral design business, in 2019. At the time, her goal was to open a storefront and leave the restaurant world behind. “But when the pandemic hit, it made me rethink the future,” Simms says, noting the twin blows of supply-chain issues and event postponements and cancellations. With an infant at home, she considered her options. “I always considered myself a restaurant lifer,” she says. “I was able to take a step back and reevaluate what my priorities are, not just professionally but personally.” Simms decided to expand Poppykock, adding web design to her floral work. “I’m a pretty creative person, and I kind of wanted to branch out and learn something new,” she says. “I had an opportunity to take a [web design] course, and I really loved it.” The transition wasn’t always easy, as Simms fulfilled class requirements while the baby slept. “Juggling a lot of different things was difficult,” she says. “I tried to be as flexible and adaptable as possible, taking every day as a new day.” Now, Simms is designing both websites and floral arrangements, with her floral creations found in art installations, store displays and smaller, more intimate events, instead of large-scale weddings. “I’m one person, I don’t have a team,” she says. “I’m very selective about the work that I do.” Simms appreciates how her life has changed. “I was burned out from events in the restaurant industry,” she says. “I was surprised when I made the switch how much of a weight came off my shoulders. I’m very happy where I am right now; everything that has happened has led me to this moment. I have my own business, and I’m excited to see where it goes.”

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E VAN A RO M AN Psychic medium

AS LONG AS SHE CAN REMEMBER, Evana Roman saw auras — colors or lights — around people or things. After an optometrist assured her that her vision was normal, she began to consider what her visions meant, meeting with spiritual mentors and teachers to understand her unique awareness. “We call it being a psychic medium, because culturally, that is what we can understand,” she says. “What I do is reading energy. My entire life, I had inclinations toward this, but it was only when everything was shut down and silenced that I could allow these things to unfold.” Roman and her husband, both VCU grads, had been living in Philadelphia, but made plans in early 2020 to return to Richmond. “We wanted to be closer to nature, buy a home, and … build a life here for the long term,” she says, adding they arrived “pretty much the same day as lockdown.” Roman’s husband had a job lined up, but she was considering next steps, as her previous work as a post-production photo editor/retoucher no longer felt right. That open space was critical. “It was finally the chance to listen to myself and listen to my needs and feel the stillness of what life really is,” she says. “It was a moment to connect with serenity and peace.” Roman began to focus on meditating — quieting her own brain so she can perceive what comes to her. “I have to be in a receptive state, totally out of the picture,” she says. “I just pay attention to what I see, hear and feel.” Now, Roman is providing psychic readings, where she assists clients in understanding themselves and their lives, and medium readings, in which she helps people connect to loved ones. She recognizes she is working in the face of cultural stigma and, in some cases, fear, but she believes in using her abilities to help others. “Customers are looking for an acknowledgement they are not alone — to be seen, to confirm,” she says. “I’m just the messenger. There’s an incredible leap of faith that has to occur in order to deliver a reading. It’s not about me; it’s about these other people who need to heal. So much of this journey is about healing yourself.”

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CH A RL ES WIL SON

Founder, Legacy Builders S.T.E.M. Academy AS A BLACK MAN working in the nuclear power field, Charles Wilson has seen firsthand the lack of diversity in the energy sector. Following a career in the U.S. Navy working with the Nuclear Propulsion Program, Wilson became certified as a nuclear instructor, enabling him to train commercial operators. “With approximately 1,600 [certified nuclear trainers], maybe 25 are Black,” he says. “A lot of [the gap] has to do with awareness and opportunities.” Hoping to change that ratio, Wilson began formulating a plan for a technical training academy that would recruit and support people in underrepresented populations. In 2019, before the pandemic and before he moved to Richmond, he pursued accreditation through the National Center for Construction Education and Research. “I felt that when the time came, I would be ready,” he says. That time came in December 2020. Wilson had moved to Richmond in March 2020 to train reactor operators at Dominion Energy’s North Anna Power Station. But when the pandemic began, Wilson’s son began attending school from home as his wife began working from home, with no reduction in hours or responsibilities. Wilson’s new job had in-person requirements and a rotating shift schedule. “Something had to give,” he says. “[My] entrepreneurial background experience was the foundation of the courage to establish a business that allowed me to work from home and be attentive to [my son’s] academic and social needs during the school day.” Observing the construction boom in the Richmond region, Wilson believed the time was right to launch Legacy Builders S.T.E.M. Academy in Chesterfield. The academy offers training in carpentry and HVAC; two cohort groups have already graduated, and another cohort began in Petersburg this fall. Wilson and his wife used their savings to open the academy’s doors, but funding is now available through a variety of local, state and federal sources. And Wilson has left Dominion. “I saw I couldn’t have one foot in and one foot out,” he says. “The impact I could have would be greater in the community than what I could do in the industry.”

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MOXIE L ABO U C HE Voice-over artist

MOXIE LABOUCHE has held a number of jobs: She ran a goat farm, making soap and other products; she was a burlesque dancer and show producer (hence her stage name); and she worked a variety of retail jobs. When the pandemic hit, she was working in a grocery store but knew she couldn’t stay there, as a chronic health condition put her at higher risk for complications from COVID-19. LaBouche had started a podcast, “Your Brain on Facts,” in 2018, and thought she could leverage the equipment she had in place for another venture: voice-over work. “My mother had been an on-air radio personality in the 1960s and ’70s,” she says. “All her daughters can drop into a radio voice.” LaBouche found jobs through an online freelance marketplace and plenty of networking, especially with other small-business owners. She quickly realized voice-over work isn’t as easy as it, well, sounds. “I was surprised by how bad I was at first,” she admits. “I thought I could just jump in and be a professional, but my performance was terrible, and the audio quality wasn’t great.” LaBouche narrowed her focus to corporate and medical narration — “anything that’s not character voice or cartoony,” she says — and worked with coaches to improve her technique. She also came to terms with the reality that the voice is only part of the job. “You have to find a client, negotiate the job, get a script, understand the script, manage the pronunciations and do the actual recordings,” she says. “Then the fun part: the editing. A 30-second spot can take an hour to edit.” While she had been warned it would take three years to replace her prior income, LaBouche has found her $12-per-hour grocery income has been relatively easy to replicate. And her new venture can accommodate her health needs. “I didn’t even know what I didn’t know; every day continues to be a learning experience,” she says. “But if you’re not learning and you’re not worried about screwing up, then you’re not doing what you were meant to be doing.” R

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R•HEALTH

NOW WHAT? BY K A R I S M I T H

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THE LONG-TERM IMPACT OF PROLONGED COVID-19 INFECTION — AND WHAT COMES NEXT

MY NAME IS KARI, AND I’M A COVID-19 LONG-HAULER. If that phrase means nothing to you, I can explain. It means that COVID-19 has affected my daily life drastically. It means that recovering from the disease sometimes feels like a part-time job. It means that questions about my health often have no good answers. And I am not alone. COVID-19 has dominated household conversation, the news media and our lives in general since early 2020. According to the Virginia Department of Health, as of Dec. 7 there have been more than 985,000 cases of COVID-19 in the commonwealth, resulting in 40,090 hospitalizations and claiming 14,798 lives. Since numbers were first released on the VDH website in February 2020, there have been two surges — one around January 2021 and another (caused by the delta variant) that peaked in September 2021. The omicron variant that emerged in

November has fueled fears of another potential wave, but for many, life has slowly returned to normal, though few are completely unscathed. However, for one group, life has definitely not returned to normal — or at least the way it was pre-pandemic. Those still battling ongoing issues months after testing positive for COVID-19 may feel like it never will. This condition is called long COVID-19, or acute post-COVID syndrome, and patients who suffer this condition are often called “long-haulers.” According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, long COVID19 is a term used to describe the long-term symptoms that might be experienced weeks to months after primary infection with the virus that causes COVID-19. The World Health Organization says it may occur three months after initial infection;

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to “normal.” Depression may creep in, and some fear that they will be unable to work or maintain their standards of living. Linda Sharp Finnie, a Richmond-based counselor and therapist, says that COVID19 led to an influx of teen and adult patients suffering from anxiety, depression and even suicidal ideation. She also points

“NOT ONE WEEK

GOES BY THAT I DON’T THINK ABOUT WHAT

HAS HAPPENED AND THE THINGS WE

TAKE FOR GRANTED.” —CHERUD WILKERSON

After testing positive in March 2020, the Glen Allen resident was admitted to Bon Secours St. Mary’s Hospital with a temperature of 105 degrees. Put on a ventilator within 24 hours of being admitted, he was in the hospital for three weeks. He says he has recovered fully. “I didn’t have any lingering physical effects — not even shortness of breath,” he says. “I was riding my bike by June. I’m able to do everything I want to do.” But long-term COVID-19 effects are not just physical. Wilkerson says that his experience with COVID-19 has impacted him emotionally even more than his time as a combat veteran. “It’s definitely the mental part that at times will break me down,” he shares. There are serious emotional and mental impacts from COVID-19. Many who dealt with the infection feel anxiety as restrictions are lifted and life awkwardly returns

out that one additional emotional response to the disease and its ongoing effects is anger. “Since we don’t know why some have a more difficult strain or a longer-lasting case than others, anger is an understandable response,” she says. This resonates with long-haulers, as many express frustration when hearing of patients who “didn’t even know they were sick” or who downplay the disease and its outcomes. National Public Radio in late September reported on a study led by researchers at the United Kingdom’s University of Oxford that found about 36% of people diagnosed with COVID-19 continued to experience symptoms three months to half a year after their initial diagnosis. “As we start to get more information and become more aware of long COVID-19, we will probably see that number increase,” says Dr. Jessica Hupe, medical director of multispecialty rehabilitation at Sheltering Arms Institute and associate program director for physical medicine at VCU School of Medicine.

Cherud Wilkerson

DIRECTIONAL: PHOTO CREDIT

symptoms may last two or more months and “cannot be explained by an alternative diagnosis. Common long COVID-19 symptoms include fatigue, shortness of breath and cognitive dysfunction (brain fog). Glen Allen resident Cherud Wilkerson shared his experience with COVID-19 in Richmond magazine’s October 2020 issue.

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Dreaming The science of sleep, from lucid

All Over dreams to the benefits of REM

the Place BY D O N H A R R I S O N | I L LU ST R AT I O N BY CAT E A N D R EWS

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obert Waggoner likes to tell the story of a stressed-out woman who had a recurring nightmare of being chased by a train. “Her psychiatrist learned that she had lucid dreams,” says Waggoner, the author of “Lucid Dreaming: Gateway to the Inner Self.” “He convinced her to allow the nightmare to occur [and to] become lucid and change one thing.” In her next dream, as documented by the Israel Journal of Psychiatry and Related Sciences, she stopped running from the train and threw the track switch instead. “The train went elsewhere,” he says. “The psychiatrist said that she seemed a changed person after this.” It might sound like a plot device from the 2010 film “Inception” or a trope from a Philip K. Dick story, but lucid dreamers do walk among us — you may even be one. The American Psychological Association defines a lucid dream as one “in which the sleeper is aware that he or she is dreaming and may be able to influence the progress of the dream narrative.” It’s a very real concept, confirms Dr. Edward Peck, a Richmond-based neuropsychologist who treats conditions such as dementia, memory loss, ADHD, traumatic brain injury and various sleep disorders. Not only is lucid dreaming recognized by science, he says that its use as a therapeutic pathway is only one of many promising recent health discoveries in dream science. “It’s a fascinating area, given today’s technology and what might be available in the future,” Peck says. “I think lucid dreaming therapy or guided imagery through dream therapy may be another one of the wonderful ways that the human body can learn to take better care of itself.” Waggoner, a lucid dreamer himself, is an enthusiastic pied piper for dream consciousness. The Iowa resident, who has a bachelor’s degree in psychology, insists that lucid dreaming techniques can be taught, even if the process isn’t for everyone, especially those with very serious mental health issues. But for phobia sufferers and patients with sleep issues resulting from nightmares, lucid dream therapy can be beneficial. Waggoner notes how he encouraged a woman who was a

lucid dreamer and had a fear of flying to go to the airport in her dream and see how it felt. “If that went OK, I suggested over the next several nights that she enter the airport, buy a ticket and board a plane,” he says. “And if all of that felt OK, the next time she should take off. After five lucid dreams, she felt secure enough to buy a real plane ticket,” Waggoner says. Then he adds with a laugh, “She even wanted a window seat, so that she could see if the experience was like the one in her dream.” Scientists are already tapping into the dreamscape. Northwestern University researchers, working with subjects in the U.S., France, Germany and the Netherlands, released a study in February 2021 on how they managed to establish communication with vivid sleepers as they entered REM state, even training them to solve simple math problems by using eye movements as signals. The researchers wrote in the journal Current Biology that their findings present “new opportunities for gaining real-time information about dreaming, and for modifying the course of a dream.”

SLEEP, DREAMING and the PANDEMIC Scientists are learning a lot about dreams these days — what they are, what they do and how we might be able to control them — and the timing couldn’t be better. There’s been a sharp uptick in sleep-related maladies, including nightmares, during the COVID-19 pandemic, says David

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HEALTH and SLEEP

Lucid dreamers aren’t in total control of their dreams, Robert Waggoner says.

The sailor does not “ control the sea, neither does a lucid dreamer control the dream. It’s a hybrid state of consciousness where you lucidly engage the unconscious and learn from it.

”

Robert Waggoner, author of “Lucid Dreaming: Gateway to the Inner Self”

but if they are interfering with social functioning, they can become a disorder that needs treatment.” To that end, he thinks lucid dreaming is a subject worthy of attention. “I don’t think it’s bogus science at all, I think there is some scientific basis to it. If we are able to change some people who have traumatic nightmares, there’s some clinical value in it.” Lucid dream therapy has been shown to help patients with post-traumatic stress disorder, Waggoner points out. “Recurring nightmares seem to be one of the persistent symptoms of PTSD,” he says. “Also, anecdotally, lucid dreaming has helped people overcome other phobias — fear of insects, fear of heights, anxiety and habitual problems such as drug abuse.” At the end of the day, Peck says, “the body is the key to the mind.” What we chalk up as a psychological experience, he says, may just be the body telling us that we have a chemical deficiency, or that we had too much to drink before we went to bed — our blood sugar levels fluctuate wildly when we sleep, affecting the cycle — or that our sleepwear is tight and confining, hence that dream about being trapped. “The safe answer is that we’re still figuring it out, what dreams really are,” he says. “If you talk to a psychoanalyst, they are going to tell you about the psychological meanings of dreams, and then you have the school who thinks that dreaming is a physiological manifestation. I mean, they are each correct. And I think it’s best when you have both sides of the debate shaking hands, because there’s knowledge to be shared.”

COURTESY ROBERT WAGGONER

The new go-to book on the correlation between dreams and mental health is “When Brains Dream,” by Robert Stickgold, director of Harvard’s Center for Sleep and Cognition, and Antonio Zadra, professor of psychology at the Université de Montréal. While the authors don’t definitively solve the big question — what are dreams? — they do offer up a new way of understanding the sleeping brain called NEXTUP (Network Exploration to Understand Possibilities). It postulates that since serotonin, which aids memory, is blocked off during the REM stage, our dreams are shaped by the brain reaching inside its neural connections to find mental associations — sometimes absurd — to reconstruct those memories. “The takeaway of the last 10 years of various dream studies,” Peck says, “is a better understanding of the importance of persistent restorative sleep habits.” A 2017 Rutgers University report concluded that “the more REM sleep [a] subject had, the weaker the fear-related effect” they felt when awake. Last year, a joint project between the University of Geneva and the University of Washington found evidence that so-called scary dreams during REM can actually be beneficial coping tools — Tufts University researchers even gave this a name, The Overfitted Brain Hypothesis — assisting sleepers in responding well to emotional crises during waking life. “The mind may be gaining practice for confronting potential dangers,” Thakre says. “Nightmares aren’t necessarily bad,

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COSMETICS

SUSTAINABLE BEAUTY

hen Gabi Day can be especially difficult to recycle and founded Bright often are not accepted at recycling centers. Body, her RichGiven this striking data, large compamond-based clean nies like Ulta Beauty have joined the effort beauty line, she was to reduce packaging waste. According to an April Vogue article, Loop by Ulta unaware of the negative impacts that the beauty industry has on the environment. Beauty is working with beauty brands to Less than a year after Bright Body’s launch clean and reuse packaging so it does not end up in landfills. in 2017, Day’s environmentally conscious Another concern is that many beauty friends convinced her to switch to sustainproducts are not made from sustainable able, refillable packaging on all of her products. sources. For example, Day says, palm oil, a “I like to say I was positively peer-prescommon ingredient in beauty products, is sured,” she says. a “red flag ingredient,” because it is derived Day, like so many others, has realized and manufactured using unsafe practices that recycling single-use plastics should that have negative environmental impacts. be the last option when striving toward Day says that she researches her supsustainability. Around 91% of single-use pliers and her suppliers’ suppliers to plastics end up in a landfill or in the ensure that all of the ingredients in Richmond-based environment, according to the Nat- Wildly Free uses her formulas are obtained ethically packaging that ural Resources Defense Council; in can and sustainably. be recycled or reused. Jenn Brosch, the founder of addition, many single-use plastics

Gabi Day of Bright Body

Wildly Free, another environmentally conscious beauty brand based in Richmond, says working in the beauty industry for over a decade has made it clear to her just how unsustainable the products can be. She says that consumers deserve a better understanding of the products that they are using and the impact they have on the environment. Richmond resident Abbey Philips, a longtime consumer of sustainable beauty products, appreciates the transparency that brands like Bright Body and Wildly Free offer. Not only are the products that Philips uses refillable and sustainably sourced, but she tends to use less of them, which further cuts back on the environmental impact of her personal seven-step skin care routine. “These clean, natural beauty products are curated in really small batches,” Philips says, “so there is a lot of goodness packed into a little punch.” Both Bright Body and Wildly Free offer reusable pouches, shipping directly to the consumer and then taking them back to be cleaned and reused. Brosch says glass bottles are heavy to ship, so using pouches reduces the carbon footprint of shipping products, while maintaining the convenience. Day notes that sustainable beauty can be convenient, but consumers might need to adjust their definition of convenient. Small, independent companies may not be readily available through large online retailers, so you may have to do your research to locate them and buy direct. Philips contends that it’s worth the effort. “[There’s] such a beautiful benefit to [using sustainable beauty products] for your community, and for the planet, and for you,” she says. “And it’s kind of hard to argue against that model.”

FROM LEFT: WILD HEART CREATIVE; AMANDA ARNOLD PHOTOGRAPHY

Cosmetics go green with environmentally friendly packaging and ingredients By Leah Hincks

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editor’s letter

appy 2022! According to my horoscope, it’s going to be my lucky house year. What that means, I’m not quite sure. But it has got me thinking about the changes I might like to make to my living quarters. If you see home remodeling in your future, you’ll discover a multitude of inspirational ideas in the award-winning remodeling projects honored by the PRO Central Virginia (formerly NARI) Contractor of the Year Awards. Meridith Ingram leads us on a tour through the Richmond-area homes on Page 58. When she moved into her current home in 2020, Angela Wilson Lee reimagined the interior, transforming it into a personal environment through her creative pairings of fabrics, wallpapers and furnishings rather than tearing down walls. Taylor Peterson spoke with the Chesterfield-based designer about her design philosophy and her use of color and texture to enliven spaces (Page 50). One of the hardest things about renovating a 200-year-old house is meshing the old with the new. For Kristy Porterfield and her family, finding a designer who would respect the historic integrity of their house, which still has its original paneling, floors and window glass, was paramount. Patrice Williams spoke to Porterfield and her designer, Nicole Rutledge, ASID, about the recently completed renovation and addition (Page 38). Also in this issue, designer Karen Hardy talks window treatment basics with Kyra Molinaro — they’re coming back, along with brown furniture (Page 34); Tracy Tierney takes a look at the magic of Murano glass (Page 28); and Julinda Lewis reports on the discovery and restoration of a 19th-century ceiling mural in a Fan row house, which recently received a Top Job Award from the Painting Contractors Association (Page 26). I had the honor of interviewing Richmond art enthusiast Jane Joel Knox about her experiences as a collector and about “Gypsy Boy” (1885), a pastel portrait by American artist Frank Duveneck that she has loaned to a new exhibition at the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington, D.C. (Page 30).

(Clockwise from top left) R•Home Art Director Rachel Lee, stylist Melissa Molitor, designer Nicole Rutledge, me and photographer Kate Thompson on location in Old Church in Hanover County

CHECK OUT R•HOME ON CBS 6 DURING ‘VIRGINIA THIS MORNING’!

Tune in for our home and garden tips on the following Wednesdays: Jan. 5, Jan. 19, Feb. 2 and Feb. 16.

jan-feb 2022

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ONLINE, ALL THE TIME

Cheers to the potential that 2022 brings,

Susan SUSAN W. MORGAN

Find us at R•Home magazine on Facebook and @rhomemag on Instagram.

Find beautiful photos of local homes, expert design tips and advice, and much more at rhomemag.com.

CORRECTIONS

In “Truth Seeker” in the November-December issue we should have included that Regina Boone is a staff photojournalist with the Richmond Free Press.

In “Christmas Glitter” in the NovemberDecember issue, Cackie Trippe McCarty’s name was spelled incorrectly.

Top: Kate Thompson

12/9/21 12:31 PM

events

Home and Garden Events Beat cabin fever with these winter happenings

By Leah Hincks

ns, e a t io o r s d k Cr D e c t h e ve n at of o n e t w il l b e e & tha nd H om o m ow R ic h r d e n S h Ga

Jan. 7-9 Richmond Remodeling Expo For enthusiastic homeowners and contractors alike, this expo is the place to learn from construction and design experts. $3 for attendees 18 and over; free for children under 18. Greater Richmond Convention Center. homeshowcenter.com/ exhoverview/Richmond

Jan. 21-23 Virginia Home + Remodeling Show Browse a range of home

$7 online; free for children 12 and under. 600 E. Laburnum Ave. richmondhomeandgarden.com

Feb.18- April 3 Curtain Call Consignment Sale Sell or shop for furniture, artwork, bedding and more when Curtain Call returns to Richmond for its huge annual consignment event. Items range from designer goods to

modest options, including plenty of antiques. Drop off for consignments begins Feb. 18; the sale starts March 19. Curtain Call is collaborating with home design professionals from the entire East Coast, as well as national companies, to bring over 18,000 items to Richmond. In the former J.C. Penney location at Regency Mall, 1420 N. Parham Road. curtaincallrichmond.com

improvement exhibitors, including landscaping, interior design, flooring and builders. Adults $12, 65 and over $9, Children $3. Dulles Expo Center, Chantilly. homeandremodelingshow.com

Feb. 9-10 Winter Symposium CVNLA Short Course Master landscape and gardening skills in this short course presented by the Central Virginia Nursery & Landscape Association. Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden. lewisginter.org

March 4-6 Richmond Home & Garden Show Discover the latest home and garden trends at this annual building and remodeling industry fair. Richmond Raceway Complex, $9 at the door;

jan-feb 2022

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Elizabeth Fogel, Senior Horticulturist at Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden, at work in a landscape of native plants along the edge of Sydney Lake at the Garden.

From top: courtesy Richmond Home & Garden Show; courtesy Lewis Ginter

12/8/21 2:02 PM

design 101



K ar en H ar d y t o f A cc en In te ri o rs

Best Dressed Window treatments are making a comeback, and Accent Interiors’ Karen Hardy is here to help By Kyra Molinaro

hen it comes to window treatments, Karen Hardy knows her stuff. The owner and founder of full-service interior design studio Accent Interiors, Hardy got her start in interior design creating custom drapery for friends and family. R•Home spoke with her to learn more about the resurgence of window treatments and how to choose what’s best for your home. INTERVIEW

R•Home: You started Accent Interiors 32 years ago. What inspired your interest in interior design? Karen Hardy: I took home economics in eighth grade, and I fell in love with textiles, fabrics and sewing. Years later, when I was working as a registered nurse and my husband

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and I were building a new home, I wanted custom window treatments, but they were too expensive for us. I started researching how to make them, and we ended up having my custom-made window coverings on every single window in the house. Soon I was inundated with orders from colleagues,

family and friends asking me to make them their own. I decided to pursue interior design full time, so I attended Sheffield School of Interior Design [today the New York Institute of Art and Design] and got my certification. Today, our full-service interior design studio and custom drapery room on Chamberlayne Avenue offers clients a one-stop shop for all their interior design needs.

R•Home: What do you think has prompted window treatments becoming popular again? Hardy: I’ve been in the industry a long time, and I’ve experienced times when people want custom window treatments and nothing else. But especially since the COVID-19 pandemic, they’re making a comeback. It’s not just for looks anymore — people want something functional

“It’s not just for looks anymore — people want something functional that serves a purpose.” —KAREN HARDY

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History Lessons A HISTORIC HANOVER COUNT Y HOME REIMAGINED WITH RESPECT FOR THE PAST. BY PATR I C E J. W I L L I A MS

P H OTOS BY KAT E T H O M PSO N

STY L E D BY M E L I SSA M O L I TO R

Walls were opened up to create a new, grander kitchen. Shiplap on the ceiling and flat-panel cabinet doors nod to the historic heritage of the home.

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Black and white mural wallpaper adds a bold graphic element to this powder room.

A jib door under the stairs provides easy, but hidden, access to HVAC equipment.

Kristy Porterfield and her dog Charlie.

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In the main bedroom, a neutral palette and natural materials help keep the vibe relaxed and focused on the beauty of the natural landscape.

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An overscale floral wallpaper and an edited mix of furniture styles enliven the attic lounge designed for the Porterfields’ daughters.

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Depth Perception DESIGNER ANGELA WILSON LEE BALANCES BOLD COLOR , PATTERN AND TEXTURE IN HER HOME’S DISTINCTIVE INTERIORS BY TAYLOR PETERSON

PHOTOS BY MICHAEL WAY JR.

STYLED BY LAUREN HEALY-FLORA

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Throughout the house, Wilson Lee mixed color, texture and pattern to add dimension.

atmosphere. These visually layered textures extend to the layered meanings behind Wilson Lee’s designs, with some pieces carrying a deeper significance than what appears on the surface. This added perspective creates excitement, allowing guests to discover new meanings and focal points each time they enter a room. Wilson Lee mixes traditional, contemporary and transitional pieces alike, all sourced from her studio’s interior design showroom. The traditional cherry wood cabinets in the kitchen — an original feature of the home — are accented by modern hardware, and classic upholstered chairs sit by large pieces of contemporary art. For Wilson Lee, the interaction between different styles gives the home a classic feel, allowing for longevity in its design. Aside from aesthetics, Wilson Lee

incorporated functional pieces to add a sense of clarity to the space. “Part of the clarity piece is organization,” she explains. “Having things that will help facilitate [organization] makes life better for everybody.” This takes several forms in the home, from spacious mirrored storage cabinets featured in the dining room to opting for a circular table in the kitchen to allow for better mobility along tighter walkways. Perhaps the most ingenious feature was the addition of a “pot filler” at the kitchen coffee station; this water spout allows avid coffee drinkers in the family to easily refill the coffee maker without making several trips to and from the kitchen sink. The balance of shapes plays a big role throughout the home. “When this house was built, they put in a lot of arches,” Wilson Lee says. “I wanted to

bring some squares and some angles in the space so that the right amount of balance would be there.” Large arched windows and circular accents are paired with boxy, rectangular tables, couches and artwork, creating an air of stability in the home. This feeling is heavily evoked in the study, where square patterns appear in the artwork, rug and drapes, complemented by a circular chandelier to offset the sharp angles. “I purposely did a lot of squares in this room, because I wanted it to feel a little bit more like an office without having to go through the ordeal of putting applied moldings to the wall,” she explains. The changing color palettes used in the home serve as a subtle thread between rooms, guiding the eye effortlessly through each space without using identical palettes. “I wanted to maintain the interest as you go from space to space ,without having copycats,” Wilson Lee says. To complement the teal stripes of a French bergere chair and ottoman in the living room, Wilson Lee added velvet teal chairs in the adjacent dining room. Elements of gold seen in the living room couch are also mirrored in the gold furnishings, and framed peacock paintings hung proudly in the dining room. “I fell in love with peacocks,” Wilson Lee recalls. “My aunt and my uncle took me in after my mom died, and [my aunt’s] brother had peacocks. In my mind, I would say if a peacock … spreads their feathers, it means that my mom is paying attention.” Drawing inspiration from the peacock’s train of tail feathers, Wilson Lee added cascading chandeliers, feather-like wallpaper and layered wall sconces to her design. The interaction of these pieces serves as a homage to her mother, creating beauty and meaning beyond the surface.

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Seaside Dreams KENNETH BYRD GAVE the main bedroom suite in this Virginia Beach home the heady vibe of a luxury hotel with an invitingly personal atmosphere. The color palette of soft neutrals works with the silk fabrics and linen window coverings to complement a sand-swept landscape. A teak-root table with a hand-applied gesso finish grounds the sitting area. Oak detail in the bed and nightstands, along with a Kelly Wearstler ceiling fixture possessing a sea-urchin quality, pulls the coastal living look together. —Amy Deal

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