Urge Spring 2009

FREE 150+ UNIQUE SHOPS, PRODUCTS & GALLERIES IN CENTRAL VIRGINIA SPRING 2009 | ISSUE #5 |

WILLIAMSBURG’S DUTCH ITALIANATES | JANE JOEL KNOX: INSIDE ART AUCTIONS

IMAGINE

FREDERICKSBURG’S

JOSEPH DI BELLA:

‘Try Something Different.’

SONGFEST

PURE COUNTRY

CREATING MIXED MEDIA WITH MATERIAL AS METAPHOR

IN CHARLOTTESVILLE:

DESIGN

& THE YOUNG

JIM WAIVE DIVORCEES

DOWNTOWN LOFT TOUR: URBAN CHIC

GILLS AND WINGS

ALSO:

POPULAR PETERSBURG PRIMITIVE

PARKS DUFFEY DEPICTS

D.C.

HENLEY STREET THEATRE’S ALL-FEMALE

‘ROSENCRANTZ

&

GUILDENSTERN

WINE ’TIS THE SEASON FOR

SPRING TASTING IN

ALBEMARLE COUNTY

RA RA RIOT CORE87 PRABIR & THE SUBSTITUTES

RICHMOND

ARE DEAD’

+

ONSTAGE

POET, TEACHER, AND ACTOR d.l. HOPKINS

THE ARTIST-IN-RESIDENCE AT UNIVERSITY OF RICHMOND IS CONSIDERED ONE OF THE FATHERS OF RICHMOND’S SPOKEN WORD MOVEMENT

AENEUS 100 % Authentic Fashion

WHY HER?: Madonna-esque stockings, a few select vintage jewelry pieces, two-tone hair and an oversized top worn as a dress make the perfect outfit for a petite frame. Discovered in Richmond’s Fan District. Find more street chic on page 30.

URgE ‘Try Something Different.’

Staff Executive Publisher Ted Randler

Publisher|Senior Editor David Smitherman

Managing Editor Rebecca Jones

Advertising Sales David Smitherman

Gallery Editor Rebecca Jones

Contributing Writers

BRIgHT IDEAS

ENTERTAININg

People | Products | Pizzazz ..............................................5

Springtime in Jefferson’s Wine Country; Richmond’s Movieland Opens; Sip Spring;; Gourmet Gadgets; Satiate Your Sweet Tooth With a Key Lime Cupcake.................. 28

DESIgN I Dream of Knick-Knacks: Lara Koplin’s Genie Bottles are Intriguing Trompe-l'œil Objets d'art ..................................8 Cover Story: Mark Lipscombe Rethinks Form Over Function .....................................................................8 Downtown Loft Tour 2009: A Preview of Richmond’s Urban, Chic Residences......................................................9

Zac Bardou Stephen Barling Petie-Bogen-Garrett Copeland Casati Susannah Clark Leslie Cozzi Joan Davis Danielle Di Salvo Sally Fretwell Kathleen Hefty Jenn Henderson Terri Jones Jane Joel Knox Ginger Levit Megan Marconyak Julie McGuire Jeffrey Pillow Ginny Ross Donald Schrader, PhD Rosemary Smith, PhD Marshe Wyche Diane York

Spectacular Spectrum: Interior designer Patti Ryan wants to help you color your world ............................................13

Photographers

Elegant Complexity: Joseph Di Bella’s Mixed Media Employs Material as Metaphor ......................................22

Walker Allen Stephen Barling Travis Fullerton Jenn Henderson Dave Lipscombe Ben Madden Aaron Sutten Sarah Walor Marshe Wyche Diane York

URGE MEDIA LLP Mailing Address Palari Publishing LLP PO Box 9288 Richmond VA 23227

Brilliantly Neutral: Interior designer Kathy Corbet shares how to make a neutral room warm and captivating ......13 Palette Savvy: Warm Green Tones for 2009 ................13

IMAgINE Cafe Conversations: Richmond genre artist Greig Leach captures the social intricacies of everyday life ..............14 William Fletcher Jones: A guru of Richmond’s Underground Art .............................................................. 15 New Location & Partners: The Arts Council of Richmond Evolves ..............................................................................16

©2009 by URGE MEDIA LLP a division of Palari Publishing LLP

All About the Children: Handmade and durable inspirations for fun; Just Ride Like When You Were a Kid ......29

gLITZ & gLAM

Street Chic ......................................................................30 Fashion Notes ..................................................................31 Hot, Hot, Hot Handbags; More Accessories at 2 Best Friends; Tame Your Tummy; World Fibers & Fabrics; Tales of Fashion; Guys, Dress Outside Your Comfort Zone ....31

SONgFEST

The Great Escape: Core87 at The National; Prabir and the Substitutes; Ra Ra Riot in Fredericksburg ......32 Real Country: Jim Waive & the Young Divorcees; C’ville Sound Check; Gills and Wings ....................................33

ONSTAgE

A Thirst for Theater: Ask actor d.l. Hopkins what he does, and his answer might surprise you. ............................34

Art Works for Virginia: Activist and Professor Nikki Giovanni Presented the Keynote ..........................16

Richmond Ballet’s Djangology; Eleone Dance Theatre; Richmond Symphony’s Video Games Live; Nights at the Opera ..................................................35 Spring Preview: Williamsburg’s Kimball Theater ....36

Andy Warhol at University of Richmond: 153 Original Photos Added to the Permanent Collection ..................18

Richmond’s 6th Italian Film and Food Festival ............36

Parks Duffey: Petersburg’s Consummate Primitive Painter Tackles The New Political Landscape ..........................18 Sol LeWitt’s “Wall Drawing #541” ................................20

Richard Weisman at UMW ............................................23 20th Century Masterpieces Make a Big Bang at UVA ................................................24 The Hand and the Soul: LeWitt, Slutzky, Iliescu On View at UVa Art Museum ..........................................25 Central Virginia’s Off the Clock Photography Exhibit ......................................................26 Gallery Reviews Christopher Quirk at 1708 Gallery ................................13 Embodying the Sacred in Yoruba Art hosted by VCU’s Anderson Gallery ................................18 Form and Story: Narration in Recent Painting Joel & Lila Harnett Museum of Art University of Richmond ..................................................20 Ryan Poe at The Athenaeum’s Wounded Bookshop ....22

URgE ‘Try Something Different’

SPLURgE

Jeanne Drevas at Second Street Gallery ......................24 The Dutch Italianates: Seventeenth-Century Masterpieces from the Dulwich Picture Gallery at The Muscarelle Museum of Art in the College of William and Mary ......26

SCREENINg ROOM PAgES

The Auction: Richmond art collector Jane Joel Knox is the author of the upcoming book A Celebration of Art: Notes from a Collector ................................................................37 Book Reviews Mulligans by Charlie David; Breaking Spirit Bridge by Ruth Perkinson; Holy Faces, Holy Places by Vienna Cobb Anderson ......38 The Browser..........................................................................38 ISSUE

QUARTER

YEAR

5

SPRING

09

gALLERIES

Richmond Broad Street Area ....................................16 Shockoe Slip; South of the James River & Manchester, Fan ............17 Uptown ......................................................18 Carytown; Museum District ....................19 Northside; Staples Mill & Broad Street; Libbie & Grove Avenues; Short Pump Town Center ........................21 Petersburg ............................................21 Fredericksburg ....................................23 Charlottesville ......................................25 Williamsburg ..........................................27

SPRING 2009 | www.URg Eonline.com |

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Announcing the release of the limited edition giclee print of “Our Hands Are His Hands” From the painting

by Greig Leach of Barack Obama’s rally in Richmond, VA. Available in two sizes: 10"x12" for $35.00 plus s/h ($6.50) 20"x24" for $275.00 plus s/h ($17.25)

Order online at www.URGEonline.com or by phone at 804-231-3118 For more information email greigsart@comcast.net Or call 804-231-3118 www.greigleach.com

CHANGE YOUR MIND

CHANGE YOUR LIFE

Hypnosis is a safe and effective intervention for life change. It is recognized and accepted as a complementary treatment for many conditions, often requiring only a few sessions.

Deborah H. Smith, M.A., CH Certifications in Complementary Medical Hypnosis and Pain Management Richmond The Wellness Village at Starling, and Referral Staff for Dr. James Cook, MD VA Beach Health & Rejuvenation Center

804.747.3419 www.mindingyourlife.com

PEOPLE | PRODUCTS | PIZZAZZ Crafty Shakedown

Grab your doilies and take cover because, this spring the mafia is shaking down “big box” home stores—no white chalk will be necessary, however, unless you plan on creating some lovely frameable artwork to hang in the foyer. Richmond’s local crew, The Richmond Craft Mafia, poises itself to present the 4th annual Spring Bada-bing on April 19th (11 a.m.-4 p.m.) at Plant Zero

Virginia’s Green Drinks!

in Southside. The event spotlights Richmond’s DIY movement by providing a venue for 40+ independent artists/designers to exhibit a wide variety of items from perfume to home furnishings. Described as being “the boss” in the Richmond craft scene, Spring Bada-bing could possibly be the Cadillac of all craft show. Think you might miss it? FA-GEDD-ABOUD IT!

Change is Alive at Henley Street’s Rosencrantz & Guildenstern are Dead

Copeland Casati

In 1989, Edwin Dashefski and friends came up with the idea for new green enthusiasts and seasoned industry professionals to gather informally over drinks.

Twenty years later, Green Drinks thrives in 430 cities (and counting!) worldwide. Virginia’s first Green Drinks was founded in Charlottesville in 2007. Since then, Green Drinks has spread to twelve Virginia locations including Richmond, Danville, Fairfax, Fredericksburg, Northern Shenandoah Valley, Salem, Smith Mountain Lake, Virginia Beach, Virginia Peninsula, Warrenton, and Williamsburg.

Richmond Green Drinks’ non-profit sponsors have included Virginia Green, JRGBC (James River Green Building Council), Tricycle Gardens, urban organic gardening organization, Back Porch Energy Initiative, which promotes energy efficiency and conservation, and The Chesapeake Bay Foundation.

We strive to focus on helping local nonprofits by building awareness of their organization and mission. In Richmond, we also introduced five-minute topics, not always sponsor-driven, which helps to foster conversation. Our e-news includes a RoundUP! which includes photographs of events and business cards of attendees, so they may reconnect outside of Green Drinks, as well as a NextUP! which outlines future sponsors, topic, and location.

Recent topics include UVA's ECO.HOUSE / ecoMOD with John Quale, LEED, presenting, and the Southface Eco Office, targeting to be the Southeast's first LEED platinum new construction building designed by Lord, Aeck & Sargent, with Jim Nicolow, LEED, a nationally recognized expert on sustainable design. We finished the year touring local organizations who are aiding our community to be sustainable and energy-efficient. The 2009 Richmond Green Drinks season aims to examine zoning sustainability, local food initiatives, and more.

If you’re in Richmond, you may see events by going here: http://groups.google.com/group/richmondgreendrinks/web and clicking on WhatsUP? to your right. If you are not in Richmond and would like to find your city, or if your city is not listed and you would like to start your own, just visit www.GreenDrinks.org to get started! We hope to see you at a local Green Drinks soon!

COPELAND CASATI IS THE FOUNDER OF GREEN MODERN KITS, A RICHMOND-BASED PROVIDER OF ENVIRONMENTALLY-SUSTAINABLE, AFFORDABLE HOUSING SOLUTIONS.

Rebecca Anne Muhleman & Terry Menefee Gau

This spring, Henley Street Theatre reverses the Elizabethan all-male tradition with a radical new staging of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead. Producing Tom Stoppard’s best-known play with an all-female cast, this production will explore questions of gender, friendship and identity in an

Blues Jam in Fredericksburg Who doesn’t love a blues jam with local area musicians? Come join in and play or listen.

Dougherty’s Tavern 2055 Jefferson Davis Hwy three blocks south of Stafford Courthouse on Rt 1. Wednesdays through April.

A Gardner’s Must-See: Albemarle County’s ‘Little Eden’

Thomas Jefferson called his home area of Albemarle County near Charlottesville “Little Eden” for its unparalleled natural beauty—rolling green pastures and gentle rivers, framed by the misty Blue Ridge Mountains.

The “Country Homes and Gardens” tour in Albemarle’s Free Union neighborhood (April 20 and 21) features five lovely estates at the peak of Virginia’s springtime color.

The Free Union area is dotted with picturesque estates and bucolic farms nestled in the foothills of the Blue Ridge, and visitors to the April 20 and 21 tours will want to linger in this special world. Garden lovers will be especially pleased by the lovely gardens featured with this year’s tours of outstanding homes. Check out www.vagardenweek.org for details.

absurd and unpredictable world.

The action follows Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, two minor characters from William Shakespeare’s Hamlet. Stoppard turns this timeless classic on its ear, showing us all the offstage action the Bard left out. As the character of Hamlet fades into the background, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are thrust into the spotlight and left to ponder the laws of probability, the mysteries of mortality and the perils of traveling tragedians. Directed by Michael Sater and starring Emma Mason (Guildenstern), Kerry McGee (Rosencrantz), Rebecca Anne Muhleman (Hamlet), and Becca Bernard (Ophelia & Laertes). March 12 - 28 at Pine Camp Cultural Arts Center.

April: Grieving Child Month

This spring, the arts may be found in the unlikeliest of places. In honor of Virginia’s designation of April as Month of the Grieving Child, the Bereavement Coalition of Central Virginia presents a series of events that use the arts to raise awareness and inspire resolution. Programs include workshops, performance art, teen productions and a First Friday exhibit. On April 26th, Slash Coleman performs his oneman show, The Neon Man & Me: A Spiritual Rock n’ Roll Comedy about Best Friends at Children’s Hospital.

‘Top Chef’ Envy No More...

Located at 501 Prince George Street in the heart of downtown Williamsburg, A Chef’s Kitchen offers the novel opportunity to learn how to make the recipes for a multi-course dinner while also being served the complete meal paired with “great find” wines. Classes are taught by Chef John Gonzales, a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, NY, who has been in the food and beverage industry for thirty years. www.achefskitchen.biz.

SPRING 2009 | www.URg Eonline.com |

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Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Museum Unveils Five-Year Outdoor Art Exhibition A fascinating array of folk art meant for the great outdoors comprises the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Museum’s newest exhibition, “Sidewalks to Rooftops: Outdoor Folk Art.” This five-year exhibition will be on view through 2013. Comprised largely of objects drawn from the permanent collections of The Colonial Williamsburg

26 Hot & Torchy Songs at Swift Creek Mill

Foundation, the exhibition showcases 19th- and 20thcentury artworks that were exposed to the elements and survived. Objects in the show include signboards, storefront figures, weather vanes, marine carvings, whirligigs, carousel animals and other objects originally intended for use outdoors. Several pieces have been re-interpreted. Fur-

ther study and evaluation prompted revisions of the paint schemes of a figurehead and two tobacconist figures, while an important circus carving will be shown newly cleaned to reveal a resplendent gilded surface.

Admission is by Colonial Williamsburg admission ticket, annual museums pass or Good Neighbor card.

From Williamsburg “Sidewalks to Rooftops” Exhibition: Shoe Shop Sign. Artist unidentified.

America, probably 1920-1940.

Materials: Wood, leather, paint, cardboard, rubber, and shoelacing Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Charles Gignilliat

The universal language of the blues wails out full and strong this spring in a dynamite revue at Swift

‘Poe’-etry In Motion

Creek Mill. The show features twenty-six hot and

Hear a tapping at your chamber door? Leave it unanswered “nevermore” as Edgar Allen Poe, in all his dreary splendor, is celebrating his bi-centennial year. Marking the occasion, Richmond’s Poe Museum has a slew of events planned to get even the most tortured of spirits going.

The opening act, the Poe: Face to Face exhibit, showcases of Poe that provide a glimpse of the man nineteenth-century society saw walking the streets of Richmond so long ago. Most notable of these images are the famous daguerreotype Poe portrait called “Ultima Thule” (“Beyond the Known World”). The show also features the “Players’ Club” portrait, which was rediscovered on Antiques Roadshow after mysteriously disappearing from the Player’s Club in New York City. How “Poe”-etic…

torchy songs by blues and jazz legends Bessie Smith, Duke Ellington, Harold Arlen, & Johnny Mercer. They tell the sweet, sexy, and sorrowful experiences that three women have with the lying, cheating snake of a man who does them wrong.

Alternately wistful, tender, and naughty Blues in the Night brings down the house May 13 – 30 at this 300-year-old landmark.

Hilarity Ensues in C’ville

Relive the Music of the Year 1964 The Cultural Arts Center at Glen Allen will present 1964: The Tribute for two shows on Saturday, June 13 at 5pm and 8pm. This group is known for taking their audience on a musical journey to an era of rock and roll history that forever changed the music world.

They have been hailed by critics and fans alike as the most authentic Beatles tribute group in the world.

Years of researching the

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Fab Four have made 1964 masters of their craft. Choosing songs from the pre-Sgt. Pepper era, the band recreates an early 60s live Beatles concert, with period instruments, clothing, hair styles, onstage mannerisms and speaking voices and the unmistakable harmonies of the lads from Liverpool. Alstair Taylor, former president of Apple Records said, “The resemblance was uncanny; it sent shivers down my spine. It was

just like the boys. Never have I seen another group go to such detail...born again Beatles.”

1964 has been featured on television programs including Entertainment Tonight, CNN, the USA Network and the Nashville Network. They have toured around the world performing at major concert venues, festivals, colleges, corporate events and conventions. Highlights include Philharmonic Hall in the Beatles’ native Liverpool, England.

www.URg Eonline.com | SPRING 2009

Charlottesville’s Live Arts (123 East Water Street) seems to have a fondness for classically wacky theatre. In March Thornton Wilder’s The Matchmaker offers “Shenanigans, stuffed whales, and pudding,” as a day out in old New York spins merrily out of control. Cast Includes: Chris Baumer, Sean Chandler, Ray Doss, Michael Durland, Sarah Eshleman, Don Gaylord, Ronda Hewitt, Chris Patrick, Doris Safie, Geri Schirmer, Denise Stewart, Josephine Stewart, and Casey Wagner.

In April, Satch Huizenga will direct Dario Fo’s Accidental Death of an Anarchist. Of the production, Live Arts maintains: “The Nobel Prize-winning satirist and world-class provocateur tweaks the nose of the authority till bright red. It’s a fight to the finish between ‘Blame Everyone’ and ‘Admit Nothing’ for the topsy-turvy constabulary, but their double-speak is no match for our lunatic-hero. Remember: When farce is outlawed, only outlaws will have the last laugh.”

The Heiress at Klein Theatre

Creativity & the Law

A lush period cliffhanger based on the Henry James Novella Washington Square, Ruth and Ausustus Goetz’s The Heiress teeters in the delicate balance between wisdom, passion, love, and fortune. Shy and wealthy Catherine Sloper is ensconced in her well-to-do Washington Square brownstone when a handsome suitor, Morris Townsend, comes to call. Her gruff widower father is suspect of Townsend’s motives as Catherine falls deeply for his charm and affections. April 2-12 at University of Mary Washington’s Klein Theatre.

Shining Silver at BAMA & VMFA

Myer Myers Salt Cellars, sterling silver with gold wash interior. Beth Ahabah Museum & Archives collection. Photo: Katherine Wetzel, courtesy Beth Ahabah Museum & Archives.

Joan Davis

Question: I am a fashion design student and have designed a fabulous dress. The fabric has multiple designs which I created myself and had imprinted on the fabric. Additionally the dress has a unique collar design. How can I prevent others from copying my dress when it is displayed in the spring fashion show?

Fashion designers have been fighting for years to convince lawmakers to provide fashion designs the same protections that are afforded other articles of intellectual property, such as books, music and movies. The Design Piracy Prohibition Act (HR5055) is a bill pending in the United States Senate that would amend Title 17 of the United States Code to provide protection to fashion designs for a period of three years. You can find out more about this proposed legislation at http://www.stopfashionpiracy.com.

Currently, there are no bright line rules to protect fashion designers from infringement.

It appears from your question that you only want to protect the way the dress looks and not the way it was made or is to be worn. One avenue of protection is a design patent. Under design patent law, an ornamental design may be protected if it is new and non-obvious. If the design of your dress meets these requirements, the next step is to prepare and submit drawings or photographs in a patent application to the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). The examination time can be lengthy and attorney fees and filing fees associated with the application can be expensive. If the USPTO approves your application, you will be granted a design patent.

Keep in mind your design is not protected while the patent is pending and once issued the patent protection of your design will be limited to specific design elements that are new only against dresses that are visually similar to yours. It is for these reasons that many fashion designers do not pursue design patents. If

you would like to see a design patent for a dress, you can go to the USPTO website and search for this patent number, D 146,000.

The good news is you can protect the artwork that you created and included in the design imprints on the fabric through current copyright law. The copyright will apply only to the artwork not the design of the dress. A copyright is the least expensive of intellectual property protection. You can obtain forms at the U.S. Copyright Office (copyright.gov) and fill them out yourself or pay an attorney a nominal fee to do it for you. The same requirements apply as would for any work of visual art. It must be your original artistic expression in a tangible medium.

Finally, another form of intellectual property is very important to designers. Trademark protection will become important to you as your designs are released to the public. Fashion designers often apply for trademark protection of their brand names so consumers can easily identify their designs.

Think about these famous marks that the fashion conscious can easily identify ; Gucci, Kate Spade, Lily Pulitzer and the list goes on forever.

Since you are a new designer you should start using your trademark name immediately and seek registration as soon as possible.

Under design patent law, an ornamental design may be protected if it is new and non-obvious.

The Beth Ahabah Museum and Archives (BAMA) has been given a most special gift—the personal Bible of silversmith Myer Myers (1723-1795). Known as the Jewish Paul Revere, both were prosperous, prominent silver artisan contemporaries of the Colonial period.

The Bible was printed in 1751 in London; it is unique because of

Detail of Myers’ inscribed Bible page.

Myers’ handwritten notes about family events on various pages. Also on view are two sterling salt cellars with gold wash interiors and a sterling silver snuff box, both made by Myers. Three objects crafted by 19th-century silversmith Henry Hyman and four portraits of Richmonder Myers’ descendants round out the show. In tandem with BAMA’s show, the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts is showing photographs of the entries in Myers’ Bible, as well as the magnificent 1765 Myer Myers inverted pear-shaped teapot with chased silver decoration. It is the only piece of American silver in the museum’s Gans Collection. One of only twelve documented coffee pots by Myers on view is especially rare because it was made during the turbulent Revolutionary years. Myers was eclectic; his style was continuously evolving—from Anglo-Dutch to Baroque to elaborate Rococo. BAMA is located at 1109 West Franklin Street.

BY GINGER LEVIT

André-Michel Schub & Imani Winds This inspired ensemble takes the classic configuration of the wind quintet in adventurous new directions, blending traditional and contemporary Western music with jazz, blues, Latin and other ethnic styles. Friday, May 15, at the Phi Beta Kappa Hall of the College of William & Mary.

Copyright on Project Runway

TO LEARN MORE ABOUT THE "COFFEE WITH AN ART LAWYER" PROGRAM OR TO MAKE AN APPOINTMENT CONTACT JOAN AT SCHRODER FIDLOW & TITLEY, PLC AT 804-225-0505 OR EMAIL JOAN JDAVIS@SCHRODERFIDLOW.COM SPRING 2009 | www.URg Eonline.com |

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Cover Story

WORDS BY

TERRI L. JONES

MARK LIPSCOMBE RETHINKS FORM OVER FUNCTION

I Dream of Knick-Knacks

WORDS BY

DIANE YORK

LARA KOPLIN’S GENIE BOTTLES ARE INTRIGUING TROMPE-L'ŒIL OBJETS D'ART

Specializing in floor coverings and wall murals, Lara Koplin has been working in the decorative arts for 15 years. Her work was selected to decorate rooms in the Richmond Designer House for four years in a row.

Her most current efforts are focused on the creation of intricate, 12-to-24”-tall bottles in kaleidoscopic colors (genie bottles if you will). While constructed from paper, cardboard and acetate, crocheted together and finished with patterns copied from stamped tin art, then decorated with beads, sequins and jewels, they have the look of glass decorated with gemstones.

“My imagery comes from the first half of the 20th century—I quite often am

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drawn to and find inspiration from patterns that are one era’s interpretation of another era...like an art deco interpretation of Chinese design. Some others similar to this are Victorian interpretations of Persian decoration or a 1970's interpretation of art nouveaux etc.”

Koplin’s own house, which is painted purple, is called the “genie bottle” by her friends because it is filled with surprises—an unending collection of vintage tins, antique cards, gems, sequins, wooden filial, toys, and other objects that catch her fancy.

“I can be captivated by the way the glaze on a piece of pottery looks,” she explains. g

www.URg Eonline.com | SPRING 2009

When most people see a radiator, they see an eyesore to decorate around. When Mark Lipscombe sees the chipping paint and rusting ribs of iron, he sees a chance to get creative.

The first covers that this machinist, who dabbled in woodworking in his spare time, built for friends included furniture-quality details like raised panels and beveled edges. But because Richmond is a town full of radiators, Lipscombe had plenty more opportunities to experiment with his designs.

As this entrepreneur built a business out of building custom radiator covers, he began to also integrate design elements from the home into his covers. In one cover, which stood next to the home’s front door, he included a double row of rectangular vents to echo the door’s sidelights. Another mirrored a staggered bricklike pattern in the room’s wallpaper. “I like to come up with a unique design to complement each space,” says the owner of Richmond Radiator Covers.

But aesthetics are only part of their appeal. These covers also work for their tiny bit of real estate. While Lipscombe measures each radiator to ensure its cover doesn’t claim an inch more square footage than necessary, he also makes the space lost to the radiator more functional. Each cover provides a spacious surface for displaying pictures, plants and bric-a-brac, and can even incorporate storage space for magazines, hats and gloves or bathroom paraphernalia. And thanks to the energy-efficient design of the vents, the covers direct the radiators’ heat into the room, rather than up into the ceiling or against windows.

After building about 120 covers, Lipscombe guesses that he’s made only the slightest dent in the Richmond market. The abundance of radiators in old neighborhoods like the Fan, Westover Hills, Church Hill, and Bellevue could keep this craftsman’s creativity—and business—hot for years to come. g

D O W N T O W N

RICHMOND URBAN CHIC

LOFT TOUR 2009

Seeing is Believing. Buy a one day “all access pass” to tour Downtown’s most exclusive, private residences.

Includes parking and transportation.

Many of the lofts and condos have been featured in Southern Living, Dream Lofts and Condos, R-Home Magazine, Creative Work Space, Richmond Times-Dispatch, Style Weekly, HouseTrends Magazine, Urge and other publications.

Sponsors: Rocketts Landing, One South Realty Group, House Trends Magazine, First Market Bank

www.VentureRichmond.com

See lofts in Shockoe Slip, Shockoe Bottom, Jackson Ward, Manchester, Rocketts Landing, & along the Riverfront|Canal Walk.

Tickets: $20 in advance. $25 the day of the tour.

Purchase tickets online at www.venturerichmond.com or at any of the following locations: La Difference, 125 South 14th Street Waller & Co. Jewelers, 19 East Broad Street J. Emerson, Inc., 5716 Grove Avenue Papeterie, 3048 Stony Point Road Wine & Beer Westpark, 9631 West Broad Street The Boathouse at Sunday Park, 4602 Millridge Parkway Day of the tour: any remaining tickets will be sold for $25 at the Downtown Loft Tour information area located on the Canal Walk at 14th Street.

photo: © John Magor 2008, www.johnmagor.com

SATURDAY March 28, 2009|10:00 AM to 5:00 PM

Broad St. | Jackson Ward

RICHMOND Rocketts Landing

Emrick Flats 101 West Marshall Street Unit 37 Unit 48

D O W N T O W N

LOFT TOUR 2009

Park at the 14th and Cary Street parking deck. Private buses will connect the sites and run every 10 minutes.

210 Rock 210 Rocketts Way Unit 609

See multiple lofts at most stops and tour at your own pace. Plan to try a new restaurant for lunch and explore the neighborhoods.

Shockoe Bottom

Shockoe Valley Lofts 215 N. 19th Street Loft 31 Loft 33

Sterling Row 110 North 19th Street Unit 3A

Sky Line Condominiums 4820 Old Main Street Unit 707

URBANCHIC

Manchester

Cedar Works Condominiums

The Decatur

251 Rocketts Way, Unit 418

39 East Third Street Unit B Unit C

Only Unit B

Main Street Gotham 1205 East Main Street Unit PE (Penthouse East)

Shockoe Slip | Canal Walk Canal Walk | Brown’s Island

Vistas on the James

Riverside on the James

301 Virginia Street Condo 1501

1101 Haxall Point Condos 1009 and 1010 Condo 815 Condo 602

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The Blue Loop Stop 1 Shockoe Slip|Canal Walk Vistas on the James 301 Virginia Street Condo 1501

Stop 4 Main Street Gotham 1205 East Main St. Unit PE (Penthouse East)

Stop 2 Manchester The Decatur 39 East Third Street Unit B Unit C

Stop 5 Broad Street | Jackson Ward Emrick Flats 101 West Marshall Street Unit 37 Unit 48

Stop 3 Shockoe Bottom Sterling Row 110 North 19th Street Unit 3A

Stop 6 Canal Walk | Brown’s Island Riverside on the James 1101 Haxall Point Condos 1009 and 1010 Condo 815 Condo 602

Shockoe Valley Lofts 215 North 19th St.

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Parking Located at the 14th and Cary Street parking deck in Shockoe Slip.

Stop A Cary Street | Parking On Cary Street, just east of 14th in front of These 4 Walls.

Stop B Rocketts Landing 210 Rock Cedar Works 210 Rocketts Way Condominiums Unit 609 251 Rocketts Way Unit 418

Sky Line Condominiums 4820 Old Main Street Unit 707

Orleans St.

B

Stop 1: Shockoe Slip | Canal Walk

Shockoe Bottom continued

Buffalo Wild Wings, 1501 E. Cary St. Cha Cha's Cantina, 1419 East Cary St. City Dogs, 1316 E. Cary St. Richbrau Brewing Co. & Restaurant, 1214 East Cary St. Sam Miller's Restaurant & Oyster Bar, 1210 East Cary St. Shockoe Espresso, 104 Shockoe Slip Sine Irish Pub & Restaurant, 1327 E. Cary St. Southern Railway Deli, 111 Virginia St. Stool Pigeons Pub, 115 S. 15th St. The Dining Room at the Berkeley, 1200 East Cary St. The Hard Shell, 1411 East Cary St. The Tobacco Company Restaurant, 1201 E. Cary St. Trevi’s Restaurant, 100 South 12th St.

East Villa Restaurant, 1900 East Main St. GlobeHopper Coffeehouse & Lounge, 2100 E. Main St. Halligan Bar & Grill, 3 N. 17th St. La Bamba Mexican Restaurant, 19 North 18th St. McDonald’s, 1800 E. Broad St. Millie’s, 2603 East Main St. Poe’s Pub, 2706 East Main St. River City Diner, 7 N. 17th St. Sette, 7 N. 23rd St. Starbucks Coffee, 2320 East Main St. Sumo San, 1725 E. Main St. The Pizza Place, 1727-37 E. Main St. Zuppa, 101 N. 18th St.

Stop 2: Manchester

Stop 5: Broad Street | Jackson Ward

San Marcos Café, 0 East 4th St.

Bistro 104, 104 N. 18th St.

Lift Coffee Shop, 218 W. Broad St. Marshall Street Café, 23 W. Marshall St. Popkin Tavern, 121 W. Broad St. Tarrant's Café, 1 W. Broad St.

Bottom’s Up Pizza, 1700 Dock St.

Stop 6: Canal Walk | Brown’s Island

Bubbling Restaurant, 1712 E. Main St. Cafe Gutenberg, 1700 E. Main St.

BlackFinn Restaurant & Saloon, 1001 Haxall Point

Alex’s Thai Cuisine, 13 N. 17th St.

MAGAZINE

Nicholson St.

Restaurants Open for Lunch Along the Loft Tour

Stop 3: Shockoe Bottom Sponsors

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Stop 4: Main Street Amore Rotisserie & Grill, 1219 East Main St. [Also See Shockoe Slip Stop 1.]

Spectacular Spectrum

Ryan finds inspiration for her designs in everything from works of art to fashion magazines.

INTERIOR DESIGNER PATTI RYAN WANTS TO HELP YOU COLOR YOUR WORLD

Remember The Wizard of Oz, when Dorothy crosses from a world that is black and white into one that is filled with color? Patti Ryan’s clients know how that feels.

Ryan began as a decorative painter and faux finisher, perfecting techniques that bring many colors together for one multi-dimensional effect. As an interior designer, she employs the same process, combining dramatic tones in ways that assert their presence without overwhelming the eye.

“I find ideas all over,” she says.

“From works of art, of course. I love Karen Blair and Laura Loe. But you

can find interesting color statements in fashion magazines, the Neiman’s catalogue—inspiration is everywhere.”

But so is risk. How do you bring bold colors into your house without having them compete or take over?

“With color, three is often the magic number,” says Ryan. For one client, she balanced the terra-cotta walls of an octagonal foyer by adding green and rich cream to the floor. The adjoining living room picked up variations on that color scheme: bluegreen, pale pink and golden yellow.

Another client who liked country interiors had just married a man

whose taste was formal and traditional. Ryan blended the two styles in a family room designed mostly in neutrals, adding vibrancy and interest with a strong, multi-tone Kilim rug.

Varying color intensity guards against something Ryan sees often,: too many brights in one space. She also recommends challenging old ideas about color, noting that many greens go with almost everything and thus function as a neutral.

A color planning consultation with a designer, even if you are planning to do the room yourself, can save time and money. This is a service she and many of her colleagues offer.

Brilliantly Neutral

Palette Savvy

INTERIOR DESIGNER KATHY CORBET SHARES HOW TO MAKE A NEUTRAL ROOM WARM AND CAPTIVATING

WARM GREEN TONES FOR 2009 It seems that lately we are constantly bombarded with reports of economic instability.

Turn on the radio or open a magazine, and you will likely hear about developments out of the blue over which we have little control. But we can – and should - control the atmosphere we create in our homes and work spaces.

While color choices probably won’t turn an iffy investment around, replacing those lackluster off-whites with something more inspiring will add life and warmth to an environment - and to the people in it. Increasing the comfort and joy in spaces we frequent helps stabilize a hectic day and brings a sense of renewal.

What seems to be the color of choice today? In my store, customers are gravitating toward warm tones of green that I developed, along with several greens introduced by interior designers who created their own colors in my paint line. Clients seem to want a fresh but earthy green that offers a burst of color without being too bright or neon.

They are using greens that have a drawing power and natural, nurturing warmth.

This is not surprising, given green’s many positive connotations: lush spring foliage or the “green light” given to a new idea or project. And green is also, of

WORDS BY

RACHEL GREGORY

WORDS BY

When you think of beige, black, and beauty and versatility of neutrals. brown, boring may soon come to “There is such a renewed awareness mind. But for former fashion designer of nature and our environment now.” now interior designer Kathy Corbet, If you are looking to incorporate these are some of the very colors she this trend into your own home, Corbet uses to create a “stunning room that suggests balancing your warm and isn’t a shock to the eye.” cool neutrals and paying close atten“I want to know what kind of tion to every detail. “stuff” you have,” Corbet says when beginning a design, because neutrals put the art, accessories, forms, and architecture of a room center stage.

On one project, Corbet transformed a traditional master suite with Chippendale pulls and mahogany furniture into a relaxing living space with a grey Texture can prevent a neutral palette from color palette and looking cold and one-dimensional. white, airy linens, causing the client’s funky artwork “Start with what exists in the from the Beatles to immediately catch room when all of the furniture is elimyour eye. She vibrantly accented the inated---the floors, walls, architectural neutral scheme with a bright-red details, windows, lighting, etc.” lounging chair and golden-red powAgain, she stresses the imporder room. tance of textures and making them Even better than color, texture work together. can prevent a neutral palette from “Perhaps use something fuzzy, looking cold and one-dimensional. something slick…if a room already Corbet layers textures like wood has a lot of glass in it, then you don’t grains, leather, stone, metallic, and need something shiny,” says Corbet. crushed silk.

In the end, you’ll have a sophisti“Texture gives a room its warmth,” cated look well worth the challenge of says Corbet and adds depth by re- bringing all these elements together. flecting, refracting, or absorbing light.

Neutral palettes are “very calm“So many of the palettes come ing and soothing to your eyes,” says from nature,” she explains. And more Corbet. “It’s a safe approach to decopeople are starting to appreciate the rating a room.” g

Her goal for every interior is to create an innovative, lasting effect built on colors that don’t soon fade from memory. g

SALLY FRETWELL

course, “the color of money.”

You want to be as careful with the green on your wall as you are with the green in your wallet. Too much gray or blue can make a green cold. Vibrant greens can be perky on an accessory, but too abrasive on a wall. I suggest picking a warm green that attracts and absorbs natural light for an effect that is peaceful yet uplifting, comforting yet rejuvenating. Do this, and you will have a space that glows in all kinds of weather and economic climates. g

F OR 25 YEARS , S ALLY F RETWELL GIST, CONSULTING WITH CLIENTS

HAS WORKED AS AN ARCHITECTURAL PSYCHOLOON HOW TO MAKE THEIR HOME AND BUSINESS SPACES MORE FUNCTIONAL THROUGH EFFECTIVE USE OF COLOR . H ER BOOK T HE P OWER OF C OLOR , DETAILS HOW COLOR CHOICES AFFECT THE MOOD AND EFFEC TIVENESS OF PUBLIC AND PRIVATE SPACES .

SPRING 2009 | www.URg Eonline.com |

13

REVIEWS

[Top} “Refrain” 68x68” oil and acrylic on canvas 2008 [Bottom} “Twain” 9x13” oil and acrylic on canvas 2008

Christopher Quirk at 1708 Gallery

Cafe Conversations R G L ICHMOND GENRE ARTIST

[Top left] “Summertime Blues” 2008; [Top right] “Garden Goddess” 2008; [Bottom left] “Late Night Chorus” 2009; [Bottom right] “Our Hands Are His Hands” 2009

REIG EACH CAPTURES THE SOCIAL INTRICACIES OF EVERYDAY LIFE Leach’s work has been widely collected through the United States, including the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Ethyl Corporation, Phillip Morris, Chubb Insurance and the Progressive Companies. He has exhibited at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, 1708 Gallery both in Richmond, VA, Jasper Center for the Arts in Jasper, IN and the Chattahoochee Valley Art Museum in LaGrange, GA to cite just a few venues. He has served as an Artist-in-Residence for the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, the Virginia Commission for the Arts and the Webb School in Knoxville, TN and is a current artist on the Artist-in-Education roster for the Virginia Commission for the Arts.

Composer John Cage said, “Music is constant; only listening is intermittent.” For artist Greig Leach, this also holds true in the visual world: perfect subjects are everywhere, in everyday places. Leach’s oil stick paintings transform the familiar into lush, color-drenched vignettes that demand a second look.

Ironically, one of his favorite subjects was notable for not looking.

“I was at the National Gallery one afternoon and saw this very chic, older couple sitting in front of a Matisse painting, fast asleep.

Tourists were coming up and taking pictures of them.” Leach recorded it, too, in a painting titled “Sleeping with Matisse,” which is now in the collection of the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts.

Leach’s work is also in many large corporate and private collections. His Painting a Day series, now in its second year, makes more affordable original works of art available to collectors. Leach’s paintings also sparkle along the walls of many a salon and cafe on Richmond’s Main Street.

“As an artist, I love to watch people. And my wife [Bridget Gethens] is an actress, so she is constantly fabricating those kinds of events,” says Leach, who also designs theatrical sets and sometimes gives preliminary sketches to cast members as gifts. Bridget often titles his paintings, a practice that began when “Four Cups of

14 |

Coffee” (his title) became “Intimate Conversation” (hers).

Inspiration also comes from Leach’s work tending bar at The White Dog. His sketches of customers and food subjects later become fullscale paintings, such as “Late Night Chorus.”

One of his newest works depicts a historic, but similarly vibrant, event: a rally in Richmond before Barach Obama's election. The title “Our Hands Are His Hands” reflects Obama’s call for people to work together toward a common goal.

A giclee print of the painting is available in limited edition through the artist’s website. g

www.URg Eonline.com | SPRING 2009

How pristine and sacred the x/y axis—so malleable and seemingly so viable to contemporary art that it really ought to have its own designation like still lifes, portraits and landscapes.

Whether pronounced as in Mondrian’s reductive works or the DNA component of the thousands of artists’ work that rely on the grid to create a matrix for composition, the intersection of the horizontal and vertical—perhaps because of its prevalance in our culture from architecture to calendars—seems have a universal acceptance as the ultimate design panacea in abstract or formalist motifs.

Christopher Quirk’s paintings in his recent show at 1708 Gallery (January 9-February 14) would certainly qualify as a prime example of the x/y genre. His series, with a few exceptions, is a play of central focal points and peripheral activity that attempt compositional tension through a combination of rendered and then confounded negative and positive space. The singular intersection of the horizontal and vertical axis provides compositional structure and, in Quirk’s case, becomes his cross to bear.

While the artist is prone to produce large fields of slate gray with brief, turbulent passages of densely applied pinks, oranges, reds and fluorescent greens that pop forward against the muted field, ultimately Quirk is not a sophisticate when it comes to color. In fact, like his reliance on the x/y axis to carry the compositions, color is used more as a placeholder or a drawing device.

In “Refrain” a large 68” acrylic and oil square pivoted to a diamond, Quirk builds impasto complexes of pigment in each corner [continued on page 16]

gALLERIES

Downtown Galleries: Broad Street Area

Richmond Downtown

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4 5 blocks west of Belvidere

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A FIRST FRIDAYS GALLERY

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1708 Gallery

319 West Broad Street: 804.643.1708 Tue–Fri 11am–5pm; Sat 1pm–5pm.

Other hours by appointment only.

March 6 - April 11 Rain or Shine Group Show Mixed Media Installation, Painting, Drawing and Photography by Kate Bingaman-Burt, Sarah Hollis, Ryan Mulligan and Stacy Searcy.

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2 blocks north of Marshall 13 on 1st Street

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15 1st Street & 3 blocks south of Broad St.

18 7 20 blocks

east of 1st Street on Broad St.

1 block east of 1st St. on Broad St.

2

April 17 - May 30 Prints, Sculpture and Installation by Jeremy Drummond and Rod Northcutt.

4 blocks south of Broad on Cary Street

June 5 - July 7 Feed 1708 Gallery Juried Show

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William Fletcher Jones

312 Gallery

312 Brook Road: 804.339.2535 Thurs– Sat 1pm–7pm; Sun–Wed by appointment.

Original art by local artists, with an emphasis on African-American and African tribal art.

[6] A FIRST FRIDAYS GALLERY [3]

Art6

6 East Broad Street: 804.343.1406 Wed–Sun 12pm–4pm.

March 6-29 Shoot the James: Photo Invitational Celebrating the James River; Coordinated by Tricia Pearsall New Paintings by Jennifer Yane.

April 3 - 26 High School Juried Art Exhibition, Coordinated by Mitzi Humphrey [4]

Astra Design

3110 West Marshall Street: 804.257.5467 Mon–Fri 10am–5pm, or by appointment.

Features handmade contemporary furniture, lighting, sculpture, & jewelry.

[5] Corporate & Museum Frame, Inc

301 West Broad Street: 804.643.6858 Mon–Fri 10am–5pm; Sat by appointment.

Showcases emerging Virginia artists with an emphasis on photography.

years, the paintings in this show illustrate the career of an artist who never caved in to artistic trends or financial necessities. More than twenty-five paintings, many of them recently added, comprise this retrospective, which spans the early ’40s through the mid ’90s.

Jones was born in 1930 and attended Richmond Professional Institute. His mentors were Theresa Pollak and Jewett Campbell; he also studied under Hans Hofmann. A world traveler,

he visited Tuscany “to walk the same cobblestones as Michelangelo and Leonardo,” but always returned to Richmond. His last years were spent in an apartment near The Hotel Jefferson, keeping warm with an electric stove and sometimes trading paintings for rent, food and medical bills.

“His work exhilarates; he is the Rachmaninoff of painting,” said one collector of his breathtaking cityscapes, which include Florence and Paris, and familiar Richmond sites.

The show remains on view by appointment through June 30.

Elegba Folklore Society

101 East Broad Street: A FIRST FRIDAYS 804.644.3900 GALLERY Mon–Fri 10am–6 pm; Sat 12pm–4 pm.

International Art Warehouse: Experience an array of arts and crafts from across the globe. Find imported treasures such as textiles, instruments, jewlery, sculpture, wearable art, & much more.

[7]

Eric Schindler Gallery

[8]

ForInstance Gallery|Museum

2305 East Broad Street: 804.644. 5005 Tue–Fri 10am–3pm; Sat 11am–4pm.

Other hours by appointment.

March Urban Landscapes by David Rohr

107 East Cary Street: A FIRST 757.574.4111 FRIDAYS Studio visits arranged GALLERY by appointment only.

First Fridays hours: 7–10 pm The ForInstance Gallery / Museum is an ongoing experiment in the outlandish oeuvre of visionary-conceptual artist Marty Johnson. Housed in a 1850 restored home, there are 4 floors of gallery and studio space featuring 35 years of multimedia works by the artist.

[9]

Gallery5

A FIRST FRIDAYS GALLERY

200 West Marshall Street: 804.644.0005 Tue–Sat 11am–4pm. All other hours by appointment only.

March 6 - 31 Cost of Living A group show of artists who will give a critical look at the 'economic fallout' - its media coinage, its global effect in the political sphere, and its effect on us in our daily lives as youth, artists, students, families, professionals, and the retired.

April 3 - 30 Sleight of Hand An educational printmaking exhibit showing the public the many different steps and tools of both traditional and new processes. This exhibit will feature printmakers educators from some of the most well known printmaking schools from across the nation.

May 1 - 29 Repressed IV: May Day An Exhibition of workers rights related artwork.

[10]

Ghostprint Gallery

A FIRST FRIDAYS GALLERY

220 West Broad Street: 804.344.1557 Wed-Sat 1-7pm or by appointment March Brooke Olivares: Award-winning California illustrator/ artist works in oil, focusing on urban and socially conscious themes.

April Klutch: Solo show of (in)famous Portland area stencil artist and creator of Vinyl Killers.

May Alicia Suarez: South African born painter based in NYC creates exquisitely detailed close-up portraits of humans and animals using African and coffee pigments and graphite.

SPRING 2009 | www.URg Eonline.com |

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continued on page 17

[2]

A FIRST FRIDAYS GALLERY

A guru of Richmond’s underground art world during his heyday, William Fletcher Jones was an imposing, bohemian figure striding down Cary Street, or passing time at Becky’s or the Village Café. But he was best known for being an innovative colorist, continuing the painterly tradition established

by Richmond masters Nell Blaine and Theresa Pollak.

The third William Fletcher Jones exhibition since his untimely death in1996 opens at Ginger Levit atelier en ville at Contract Associates (1519 West Main Street) the weekend of April 3.

Curated by Ginger Levit, Jones’ exclusive dealer for more than twenty

New Location & Partners THE ARTS COUNCIL EVOLVES

The Arts Council of Richmond has relocated to offices at 1906-A North Hamilton Street. In addition to the new facilities, the Council’s president John Bryan has developed alliances with four Richmond companies. Palari Publishing LLP, Data Network Services, Hamilton Beach Brands, and Design Manifesto will help serve the area’s cultural arts community through philanthropic partnerships.

Palari Publishing’s URGE magazine, now in its fifth quarterly issue, will become the official printed voice of the Arts Council. “We have enjoyed supporting the Arts Council on several fronts over the past few years,” says executive publisher Ted Randler,“and now we are pleased to have this formal partnership that will include content in URGE, Urgeonline.com web content and service, and other things to help wave the banner of the cultural arts.”

Data Network Services has become the Arts Council’s official IT support and consultation partner. “After several years of building our company, we are glad to have this opportunity to give back to the community,” says president David Campbell.“This partnership with the Arts Council

will indirectly touch the cultural arts throughout the region.”

Hamilton Beach Brands’ partnership is experimental. “We and the Arts Council are going to spend 2009 doing two things together that go hand-in-hand with our company’s trademarked tagline, Good Thinking,” says vice president Kathleen Diller. “The Arts Council will coordinate a spectrum of cultural arts involvements for the 230 employees here at our corporate headquarters—all designed to enhance the employees’ already wonderful senses of creativity and innovation. Concurrently the Arts Council will provide ongoing opportunities and incentives for our employees to attend and engage with cultural arts organizations and events throughout Greater Richmond.”

Design Manifesto has become the design and marketing partner for the Arts Council—specifically in its work with the ArtsFund and other special programs and initiatives. “We have been involved with the ArtsFund since its inception,” says Design Manifesto president Lisa Cumbey, “so we are delighted with this formal partnership. We are excited about expanding our involvement with the Arts Council in its work serving the region’s cultural arts community.” g

Art Works for Virginia

WORLD-RENOWNED WRITER, ACTIVIST AND PROFESSOR NIKKI GIOVANN PRESENTED THE KEYNOTE

The Richmond Marriott was the gathering place for hundreds of Virginia’s artists and arts administrators as the Virginia Commission for the Arts and Virginians for the Arts convened the annual Art Works for Virginia conference. The January meeting was well attended despite inclement weather.

Following pre-conference sessions on public art and cultural tourism, the forum began with a keynote address by worldrenowned writer, activist, and professor Nikki Giovanni. Professional development sessions addressed topics such as the Michigan Cool Cities Initiative, marketing the arts effectively, and the

implications of new media for the arts.

There were also updates on Minds Wide Open, an initiative being led by the VCA, the Virginians for the Arts, and 22 major cultural organizations across the Commonwealth. Under the Minds Wide Open brand, these organizations will promote the visual, performing, and literary arts across Virginia under the 2010 theme “Virginia Celebrates Women in the Arts.” The final day of the conference was devoted to arts advocacy with legislators in the General Assembly. g

Minds Wide Open will promote the 2010 theme ‘Virginia Celebrates Women in the Arts’

REVIEWS

[Quirk—continued from page 14] while leaving the ground slate gray untouched except for a constellation of four dots of pink that holds the center. In effect, the diamond is rendered into a gray cross set on an angle. The intentionally overworked corners give an illusion that undertow of undulating, gooey pigment is ripping into the field. This system of gray field and biomorphic complexes of pigment or streaks counterpoised to flat dots and spherical shapes dominates the work.

What is disappointing is that Quirk has become complacent with his process. If the approach was particularly complex or multifaceted or even done with a sense of irony, then that would be understandable. But his orchestration of gray field, biomorphic pigment and dots on the axis or striations across horizontals are less about aesthetics and more about art objectmaking with formula and signifiers.

As with the x/y axis, formula and signifiers seem also to be pandemic in contemporary painting. Maybe because a fair amount of artists are schooled in modern art history, or perhaps our culture is at a point where icons and branding have replaced authentic experience, but what Quirk provides is more about postmodern collage than aesthetic event.

His gray panels are placeholders for Barnett Newman field paintings, the drips and stains are Morris Louis or Helen Frankenthaler references, the impasto passages are deKooning’s.

In short, the assemblage of techniques that were originally produced through true experimentation and aesthetic discovery are now being employed by Quirk and others as a type of painters’ shorthand reference or perhaps used as a riff of history-bound technique. The x/y axis genre is really a Rubik’s Cube approach of rearranging a closed system of possibilities.

Clearly there isn’t anything wrong with formula and signifiers; certainly many artists have made it work, Andy Warhol and David Salle come to mind. But those postmodernists who employ it successfully also realize in the effort to recombine established techniques, you also need to somehow create something viable and authentic; otherwise, it becomes simple regurgitation of art school flash cards.

With Quirk there is an obvious passion for drawing and composition, but perhaps he would do well to limit his color selection and explore developing hue and tone relationships without the singular hat trick of popping fluorescent dots on a gray field. He’s more successful with his play of periphery and central focal point. Whether he needs to rely on the x/y axis is debatable. And ultimately it would great to see what he would do outside of his comfort zone where he would have to treat painting less as prescribed object-making and a little more straightforward compositions of color, form and edge without the use of formula and signifiers.

The x/y axis genre is really a Rubik’s Cube approach of rearranging a closed system of possibilities.

Ted Randler

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www.URg Eonline.com | SPRING 2009

gALLERIES Studio 418

418 West Broad Street: 804.225.0020 Hours: By appointment only; First Fridays 7pm-9pm

A FIRST FRIDAYS GALLERY

[20] [12]

Metro Space Gallery

A FIRST FRIDAYS GALLERY

119 West Broad Street: 804.643.7125 Monday-Saturday 11am–6pm First Fridays hours: 6pm–10pm Converted from a turn-of-the-century furniture warehouse, Metro Space Gallery fuses a variety of visual and performing arts, specializing in revolving works of art by emerging artists and performances by regional musicians, as well as an exciting event space for both private and corporate functions., Metro Space Gallery provides a new gathering place for lovers of good art, music, film, and performance in Downtown Richmond.

[13]

Propaganda Gallery & Studio

101 East Leigh Street: 804.253.4053

By Appointment First Fridays hours: 6:00pm – 10:00 pm The Propaganda Gallery & Studio seeks to elevate the arts in the Historic Jackson Ward area while providing a relaxed atmosphere for patrons.

[17]

[18]

[14]

Quirk Gallery

A FIRST FRIDAYS GALLERY

311 West Broad Street: 804.644.5450 Mon–Sat 10am–6pm.

March 6 - April 18 Susann Whitier May 22 - June 27 Rita & Erin Root

Studio/Gallery 6

A FIRST

6 East Broad Street: FRIDAYS GALLERY 252.207.4677 Hours: By appointment only; First Fridays 7pm-12am April Mixed Media and Photography by Todd S. Hale "Mexico/Hawaii/Australia/Indonesia" May Drawings and Photography by Todd S. Hale- "Mexico/Hawaii/Australia/Indonesia/Thailand/Morocco June Paintings and Photography by Todd S. Hale- "Mexico/Hawaii/Australia/Indonesia/Thailand/Morocco"

Visual Art Studio

A FIRST FRIDAYS GALLERY

208 West Broad Street: 804.644.1368 Tue–Fri 12pm–6pm; Sat 12pm–4pm.

April 3 - May 29 Out of the Shadows: New Paintings by Chris Semtner

South of the James River & Manchester

[19] 12 12 Gallery

Second Glances Photography

2104 East Main Street: 804.783.6121 Tue–Sat 10am–3pm; extended viewing hours by appointment.

Richmond’s first and only gallery specializing in fine art photography. Fine portraiture by photographer Nicholas K. Corey.

[21]

12 East 12th Street: 804.233.9957 Thurs–Fri 12pm–4pm; Sat 11am–6pm; Sun 12pm–5pm or by appointment.

Through March 29 Photography by Anca Dobrian and Chuck Koutnik; Assemblage by Krishanna Spencer; Acrylic on Panel by Chris Semtner.

April 3 - May 10 Photography by Kim Beckmann; Watermedia on Canvas by Marti Fann; Acrylic on Canvas by Inge Strack

The Birdland Sculpture Studio & Gardens

4094 Old River Trail Powhatan, Virginia 23139: 804.598.7512 Saturday and Sunday 9am-4pm Located in the historic area of Michaux in Powhatan County, Virginia, Birdland is a work-in-progress venue of magical sculpture gardens, meandering pathways, and a working art studio.

Artspace

0 East 4th Street: 804.232.6464 Wed–Sun 12pm–4pm.

March 27 - April 19 Janie Samuels in Main Gallery; Paintings by Dan Mouer in Helena Davis & Frable Galleries; Photographs artspace Members' Show in Suzanne Foley Gallery April 24 -May 17 University of Richmond Senior Thesis Show in Main, Helena Davis and Frable Galleries; artspace Members' Show in Suzanne Foley Gallery May 22 - June 21 Sculpture by Burtin Tysinger in Main Gallery; Paintings by Duane Cregger in Helena Davis & Frable Galleries; artspace Members' Show in Suzanne Foley Gallery

[24] Anderson Gallery

907 1/2 West Franklin Street: 804.828.1522 Mon–Fri 10am–5pm; Sat–Sun 1pm–5pm; Summer Hours Tue–Sat 1pm–5pm.

March 20 - 29 Juried Student Design Exhibition & Juried Student Kinetic Imaging Exhibition April 10 - April 19 Juried Student Fine Art Exhibition April 24 - May 17 Masters of Fine Arts Thesis Exhibitions

[22]

Art Works

320 Hull Street: 804.291.1400 Tue–Sun 12pm–6pm.

March 27 - April 19 Exhibits and Earth Christaphora Robeers: New Paintings; March All-Media Show; Nudes on Film by Brian Grossman; “In Response to Nature” by Regina Tune; Recent Work by Julie Coughlin; “Beneath the Surface” by James Timberlake

Shop Shows Ed Trask - March Thea Duskin - April Harrison Reed - May Aleta Braun - June

[23]

Fan District

June 5 – August 7 New Oil Paintings by Chester artist Dan Rhett

The Vault Susanne Arnold February 23 - March 28 Don Davis April 3 - May 9 Ji-Wan Joo May 18 - June 20

[15]

43rd Street Gallery

1412 West 43rd Street: 804.233.1758 Tue–Thurs 10am–6pm; Fri–Sat 10am–4pm.

Focus on studio pottery by Ana Anderson and Robin Cage, Features functional pottery made on site by studio artists.

Also showing new clay, jewelry and wood work by local artisans Lee Hazelgrove, Angie Wiggins, and Barbara Dill.

April 18 - May 17 SPRING SHOWS @ Art Works Diane Clement; April All-Media Show; Art for Small Spaces by Chrisana Reveley; “The Eclectic Eye” by Mark Shively; “Inflorescence” by Cheryl Clayton;"Earth's Intuition by Ray Abell April 18 - May 17 Annual Student Art Shows; Henrico High School Senior Show; Maggie Walker Senior Show; May All-Media Show; Southwest Images by Andy Sherman; Recent Works by Daniel Rettinger; “Hip to the Square” by Roger McClung; “Dimensionality in Clay” by Carolyn Gabb

[25] Locker 50b

VCU, 1000 West Broad Street: 804.828.1113; Daily, 9 - 5 What's 12” wide, 14” tall, 19” deep and has held the work of James Siena, Bonnie Collura, Richard Carlyon, Carolyn Henne, Richard Roth, Ed Trask and Mark Harris? The VCUarts Locker 50B Project. This diminutive exhibition space, with wood floors, removable foam core walls, and track lighting that turns on when visitors approach, is on the third floor of the VCUarts Fine Arts Building at 1000 West Broad Street.

SPRING 2009 | www.URg Eonline.com |

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[16]

REVIEWS

Andy Warhol at University of Richmond THE UNIVERSITY OF RICHMOND MUSEUMS ANNOUNCED THE RECENT ADDITION OF 153 ORIGINAL ANDY WARHOL PHOTOGRAPHS TO THE PERMANENT COLLECTION OF THE JOEL AND LILA HARNETT PRINT STUDY CENTER. THE GIFT IS PART OF THE ANDY WARHOL PHOTOGRAPHIC LEGACY PROGRAM. Warhol’s Photographs and vide a rare opportunity to Pictures: Selections from the view and study Warhol’s Gift of the Andy Warhol Founcreative process and work. dation for the Visual Arts, an The photographs have alexhibition showcasing the ready sparked much internewly acquired works, is on est among our faculty, staff, view from March 20 to May and students.”

22 in the Joel and Lila HarThe University of Richnett Museum of Art. The exmond received 102 Pohibition is curated by Lucy laroid photographs in Andy Warhol (American, 1928-1987), “Mick Jagger, Mackenzie Phillips and Nicky Green and will be the subject addition to 51 black-andLane Weymouth,” circa 1970-1987, of her senior thesis project at white silver gelatin prints silver gelatin print, 8x10” the University of Richmond. made by Warhol from 1970 The collection explores themes such as to 1987. Several of these Polaroid photographs Warhol’s ever-increasing preoccupation with fame, served as studies for Warhol’s later works. For inhis use of the camera both as an equalizer and a stance, “Witch” (1980) directly correlates with his social diary, the method behind his technical later myth series of pop culture figures such as the process, and Warhol’s theories of art and business.

Wicked Witch of the West from the film The Wizard Executive director of the University Museums, of Oz. Also, the black-and-white works, most of Richard Waller, notes,“We are greatly appreciative of which are candid shots, provide a personal lens into the Warhol Foundation’s gift. The photographs pro- Warhol’s life, social circle, and artistic milieu. g

Parks Duffey PETERSBURG’S CONSUMMATE PRIMITIVE PAINTER TACKLES THE NEW POLITICAL LANDSCAPE. Parks Duffey’s lifelong love of architecture has served as the basis for the body of work he has created over 30 years. His interest in old buildings became apparent after a visit at age four to the ruins of Rosewell in Gloucester County.

Throughout childhood, Duffey amused himself by drawing floor plans and elevations of houses he wanted to design.

“Nobody could afford to build those houses anymore,” he says. “So I built them on paper.” Duffey began painting in earnest while a student at Episcopal High School. He often spent study time painting portraits of the homes of fellow students on commission.

A new painting by Duffey portrays one of the most famous historic houses in the world.

Titled “A New Day Is Dawning,” it depicts the White House on a snowy day. It is a tribute to the incoming Obama family and administration. In the foreground, figures in dress from several eras in American history promenade across the front lawn. The tops of Washing-

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“A New Day Is Dawning” 2009

ton landmarks including the Lincoln Memorial, the Smithsonian Castle, and the Washington Monument are visible amid the tops of ice-tipped trees in the background. And in the lower right corner, an elephant walks out of the picture plane as a patriotically dressed rider bounds in on a donkey.

Today Duffey’s work is displayed in numerous private and corporate collections around the world, including the United States Embassy in Moscow. Three of his paintings are in the permanent collection of the White House Historical Association. g

www.URg Eonline.com | SPRING 2009

Gelede Headress, 20th-century Nigeria Wood, pigment 19 x 12 x 14” Collection of Bernard and Patricia Wagner Promised gift to The Newark Museum

Embodying the Sacred in Yoruba Art hosted by VCU’s Anderson Gallery The sacred is at the root of most African art, with the Yoruba being no exception. The art on display had an original purpose of being used in ritual; its original intention was not to be part of this wonderful exhibit, Embodying the Sacred in Yoruba Art (January 16-March 1). Process and ritual are the original intentions in African art. They are intertwined and dependant on each other.

African art is highly stylized and not meant to mimic nature. Eshu/Elegba, one of the deities represented in this show, was represented with an elongated head and serves as the guardian of the crossroads. Sometimes cowrie shells, a symbol of prosperity adorn his image. This trickster also serves as an intermediary between the spiritual and physical worlds. Divination trays and boards used to transport messages to the otherworld often feature the image of Eshu.

Embodying the Sacred Yoruba Art featured many masks. African masks are traditionally used in dance and ritual to connect with the ancestors. Death is not the end of life, but rather a time when the spirit leaves the physical body.

The human body is also revered as art and can be used as a mask. Throughout, there is a duality of the visible and invisible, of being covered yet exposed.

This show featured beautiful examples of Gelede masks. These masks are brightly colored and represent the power of women. Sometimes they have carved figure representations adorning them. Most African societies are matrilineal; therefore, Gelede masks are extremely powerful. They are danced in ritual to honor the female ancestors.

Monumental Egungun headdresses and masquerade costumes lend color and vibrancy to the show. To imagine the original experience of these pieces, close your eyes, hear the drums, fabrics are moving, flowing and flaring in their purest form. Interaction with the ancestor world temporarily transports one’s physical self to that of the otherworld.

GINNY ROSS HOLDS A MASTER’S DEGREE IN ART HISTORY FROM VCU. HER SPECIALTY IS WEST AFRICAN ART.

Uptown is located along Main Street in the Fan District 7 blocks south of Broad Street and 5 blocks west of Belvidere Street

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Richmond Uptown

Carytown and the Museum District are 12 blocks (1.6 miles) west of N Lombardy Street.

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gALLERIES

34 [36] Brazier Fine Art

3401 West Cary Street: 804.359.2787 Tue–Sat 10am–5pm March Works by Maggie Siner.

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April New works for spring by gallery artist.

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[26]

ADA

Carytown

May New works by Roger Dale Brown, representing over 35 artists from all across the United States, Canada, France and Russia. Original oil paintings and some sculpture pieces rendered in modern realist and impressionist styles.

Uptown

1829 West Main Street: 804.644.0100 Mon–Tue by appointment only; Wed–Sat 12pm–6pm.

[27] Artemis Gallery

1601 West Main Street: 804. 254.1755 By appointment.

Features fine hand-crafted objects, especially American crafts by nationally recognized artists.

[37] Chasen Galleries

[34] Visual Arts Center of Richmond

[31] Page Bond Gallery

1625 West Main Street: 804.359.3633 Tue–Sat 11am–6pm March 6 - 28 Harmon, Cooley, and Sabour

at Contract Associates

Presents contemporary art by regional, national and international artists in a variety of media and discipline.

1519 West Main Street: 804.740.1471 By appointment.

March 6 - April 2 19th Century French Paintings With Provenance April 3 - 30 William Fletcher Jones: A Richmond Art Icon May 1-May 29 Degas’ Ballerinas: The Etchings of La Famille Cardinal

April 3 – June 14 Turning Wood into Art: The Jane and Arthur Mason Collection

1620 West Main Street: 1.888.358.1990 Tues-Fri 10am-6pm Sat 11am-4pm

[32]

April 17 - May 23 New work by Matt Lively

1537 West Main Street: 804.355.6151 Mon–Fri 9am–6pm Sat 10am–5pm March 6 - 31 Kelly Nelson April 3 - 28 Don Crow May - June 30 Rosemary Jesionowski

[38] Chop Suey Books Gallery

2913 W. Cary St.: 804.422.8066 Mon– Thurs 10am–6pm; Fri 10am–7pm.

Sat 10-8; Sun 12-6 Chop Suey's upstairs gallery promotes the artistic endeavors of both young, unknown artists and established artists. The space also hosts readings by local poets and fiction writers, and may be used by appointment by book clubs.

[35] Uptown Gallery

Red Door Gallery

1607 West Main Street: 804.291.7728 Wed–Sun 12pm–6pm (open until 9pm on Fridays).

March 6 - April 11 New work by Paul DiPasquale

Main Art Gallery

May Joanne Miller Rafferty

Museum District

[29] glave kocen gallery

[30]

April Bruck Bingham

1305 West Main Street: 804.353.8343 Tue–Fri 11am–5pm Sat 11am–4pm The gallery has more than 32 juried artists with work in varied media and techniques.

Showcases a variety of original works from local and national artists.

March 3 - April 25 Works by photographer Dick Burleson and pastelist Linda Wolitz; Botanicals by painter Celeste Johnston and photographer Minh Chau.

[33] Reynolds Gallery

March 31 - May 30 All to Pieces: Collaged Works by Members of the Collage Society of Virginia

2911 Grove Avenue: 804.367.0816 Monday - Friday 9 - 5 March 6 – April 10 Photography: Traditional & Alternative Processes

April 28- June 27 Works in watercolor by Kathy Miller and mixed media by Stuart White; works by Sally Booth & Vince Calabrese.

April 17 - May 22 Thursday Morning Painters: An exhibition of recent paintings by Studio School students of Sally Bowring.

1514 West Main Street: 804.355.6553 Tue–Sat 10am–5pm.

Leading commercial gallery, features artists with regional as well as national and international reputations.

[39] VMFA Studio School

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[28] Ginger Levit atelier en ville

1812 West Main Street: 804.353.0094 Mon-Fri 11am–7pm Sat 10am–4pm Sun 1pm–4pm Through March 22 From Sand: Works in Glass by Ken Daley, Richard Jolley and Joyce J. Scott

3554 West Cary Street: 804.204.1048 Mon–Tues 10am–6pm; Wed 10am– 4pm; Thurs–Sat 10am–6pm March Mostafa Keyhani

REVIEWS

Angela Dufresne (American, born 1969), "Nosferatu" Street Scene with Italian Hookers, 2007, oil on canvas, Courtesy of the artist and Monya Rowe Gallery, New York Before it was taken down, this is how Sol LeWitt's "Wall Drawing #541" appeared.

(Photo by Travis Fullerton, © 2009 Virginia Museum of Fine Arts)

In January, artists began the task of reinstalling Sol LeWitt's wall drawing adjacent to the entrance to the Lewis Galleries. (Photo by Travis Fullerton, © 2009 Virginia Museum of Fine Arts)

Sol LeWitt’s “Wall Drawing #541”

LAST WINTER, VISITORS TO THE VIRGINIA MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS SAW ART HISTORY BEING MADE.

Sarah Heinemann and a team of Richmond- personally and acquired “Wall Drawing #541” for based artists reinstalled late American Concep- the museum. He thinks LeWitt’s philosophy altual artist Sol LeWitt’s “Wall Drawing #541.” This lows for posthumous reinstallations that present the artist’s vision exactly. followed the 2008 removal of “There’s a long record of the work as part of VMFA’s renoSol’s statements on the process vation and expansion. of art making,” says Ravenal.

The piece suggests floating “He separated the idea from the isometric cubes and fills 4 walls execution. He saw the idea as along the entrance to the Lewis ‘the machine that makes the Galleries. It was originally inart.’ The planning and decistalled in 2000. Heinemann and sions are made beforehand, so her team re-installed it in its origexecution is perfunctory.” inal location. The only change But not without an occawas replacing ink wash with sional surprise for the observer. acrylic wash, in accordance As Ravenal and Heinemann with instructions by LeWitt. A short video featuring interviews John Ravenal look over the nearly-completed and Sarah Heinemann work, he notices the beveled with Heinemann and the artists edge of an electrical outlet is on YouTube.

“Sol liked a brighter palette, and acrylic cover on the unfinished wall.

“Do you ever have to cheat and paint somewash allows for that. The original ink was a little brownish,” says Heinemann, who was trained thing like that out?”

“Yes—take a look at where we did it on the personally by the artist. She has supervised 6 Leupper right-hand side of the gray wall,” says Witt reinstallations since his death in 2007.

Throughout the project, Heinemann worked Heinemann.

No one can see anything but a soft exclosely with John Ravenal, VMFA’s Sydney and Frances Lewis Family Curator of Modern and panse of color. One senses that LeWitt would Contemporary Art. Ravenal also knew LeWitt be pleased. g

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www.URg Eonline.com | SPRING 2009

Form and Story: Narration in Recent Painting at the Joel and Lila Harnett Museum of Art University of Richmond Is there really “Narration in Recent Painting?”

To say that narrative has returned to painting is, perhaps, an overstatement in that the stories told by these paintings are implied, not revealed or fully realized. Yet, this brilliant group of about 40 paintings at the University of Richmond Museums (through May 15th) tells an important story about contemporary art.

Angela Dufresne’s seemingly epic landscape of the “Jarmusch Residence and Studios, Hrausfjorder, Iceland” tells its story entirely through atmospheric effects. “The Portrait of Surfer Paula Cronan posed as Charles Chaplin” portrays her model as the celebrated film artist rendered in Fauve colors, and evokes a narrative through cinematic memory alone.

In “Thaw,” Hanneline Røgeberg obscures her intensely sexual narratives with wiped surfaces, washes and deliberate smears evoking both the sense of shame and the titillation of voyeurism. This again puts the responsibility on the viewer to imagine how the action plays out.

With “Stunt Double” Erling Sjovold elevates the mundane and presents his potentially mythic subjects with dramatic flair in his natural and man-made environments. He creates a sense of heightened realism in his use of forced perspective rendered in eerie pastel hues. Yet the relationship between interior and exterior, humdrum and legendary is wholly unexpressed. Once again, we must make these connections ourselves.

Suggesting 1950s sci-fi scenarios, Steve DiBenedetto’s “Chaosctopus” is a horrific clash of geometric and biomorphic forms. The tension between urban structure and organic imagery evokes the mortal drama of conflict yet leaves out any pretense of actual storytelling.

When compared to all of art history, from cave painting to social realism, today’s artists have been freed of the responsibility to deliver a coherent chronology. When we visit a gallery, we take on the role of writing a narrative of emotional truth in our own hearts and minds.

Whether this exhibition delivers what we need to make that happen is entirely up to you.

PETIE BOGEN-GARRETT IS THE CURATOR OF THE GCCR GALLERY IN RICHMOND AND HAS BEEN AN ART CONNOISSEUR SINCE VISITING THE GUGGENHEIM AT THE AGE OF FOUR.

gALLERIES Northside

Petersburg 49

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Exchange

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Jager Gallery

Alley

6939 Lakeside Ave: 804.262.2931 Mon - Fri 10am-6 pm; Sat: 10am-4pm Featuring recent works in oil and watercolor by Mary Jager. Also showing artistry in wood, metal, pottery, glass, jewelry and photography by local and regional artists.

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Petersburg

[41] Crossroads Art Center

Libbie & Grove Avenues

[44]

Friend House Gallery & Atelier

27 Bollingbrook Street: 804.733.8200 Open Wed-Sat 10am-4pm Housed in the Nathaniel Friend House, built in 1816 by the then-mayor of Petersburg, and listed in the National Historic Register.

[42] Gallery 5800

Suitable for Framing

[45]

April 10 Henry Kidd

Andrew’s Gallery

11800 W. Broad Street: 804.364.9377 Andrew’s Gallery in Richmond, Virginia offers an excellent selection of original paintings and hand-embellished limited canvas art from the world’s leading artists.

132 N. Sycamore Street: 804.733.8200 After years as Shockoe Bottom Arts Center, this gallery and working studio collective moved to Petersburg in 2003, making it one of the first large galleries in Old Towne. The space features 70 artist studios, and a mezzanine gallery. The Center hosts eleven juried, all-media shows a year.

[48]

The Gallery at Enteros Design

[49]

Sycamore Rouge

314 Exchange Alley: 804.861.1200 Enteros Design is a full-service architecture firm dedicated to design excellence. Its gallery, open during business hours and on Fridays for the Arts, features rotating exhibitions.

Petersburg Area Art League

7 E. Old Street: 804.861-4611 Tue-Sat 10:30 am-2:30 pm; Sun 1-4 pm March 13 Bryant White & Pamela Patrick-White March 14 Gallery talk w/box lunch: Noon

[43]

Art Center

March Juried All Media Show

5800 Grove Avenue: 804.285.0774 Mon–Fri 10am–5:30pm; Sat 10am-4pm.

Features regular exhibitions of fine art and selected work by regional and national artists.

Short Pump Town Center

[46] Petersburg Regional

May 8 Ignatius Creegan-Hat Show Rod Givens- Gallery Exhibition

[47]

Sol Cooper Gallery

306 North Sycamore Street: 804.240.6859; Open by appointment.

The Sol Cooper Gallery is relocating to the William E. Lum Building and will resume its exhibition program in late spring of 2009.

21 West Old Street: 804.733-6180 This music, cabaret, and theatre venue features regular exhibitions in their gallery and is a vibrant Petersburg Friday for the Arts presence.

Galleries should contact Rebecca Jones (rebecca@theworkfactory.com) regarding their listing information.

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2016 Staples Mill Road: 804.278.8950 Mon–Thurs 10am–6pm; Fri–Sat 10am–6pm; Sun 12pm–6pm.

March 20 - May 4 Featured Art Wall: VCU Intercultural Festival Art Winner; Gallery 1: The Umbrella Market – Local Farmers Market Celebration; Rhoda MacCallum Gallery: Robert Vanderzee; Side Car Gallery: Sharon Lalik; Caboose Gallery: AllMedia Show May 15 - July 6 Featured Art Wall: Linda Hollett; Rhoda MacCallum Gallery: All-Media Show; Side Car Gallery: Brian Korte; Caboose Gallery: David Tanner

PRAC is located between Franklin Street & E. Washington Street

REVIEWS

Elegant Complexity JOSEPH DI BELLA’S MIXED MEDIA EMPLOYS MATERIAL AS METAPHOR

BY

SUSANNAH CLARK

Joseph Di Bella, Distinguished Professor of Art, has taught at the University of Mary Washington since 1977 and received the Simpson Award for Excellence in Teaching in 1983. He holds a B.A. in Art History from Rutgers College and an M.A. and an M.F.A. in Painting from Northern Illinois University. In addition to teaching, Di Bella served as the Director of the University of Mary Washington Galleries (19831988) and was instrumental in the establishment of the Ridderhof Martin Gallery.

“Beneath the Mount No. 1 Idyllic/Serene (Quasimodo, Isola di Ulisse)”modified oil monotype and mixed media on paper 30.5x38" 1998

When Joesph Di Bella’s son left for Iraq with the Marine Corps in 2005, he expressed his conflicting emotions with acrylic paint, ripped target paper and a ballpoint pen in a painting called “Faux Pas.” “I can remember when my son was a little boy and would play with toy guns,” Di Bella says.

“I never imagined he’d grow up to use real guns.

I used the ballpoint pen to create a ‘toy-gun motif’ in the chaos.”

“Frames of Reverence: Compass” oil on copper sheet on wood panel 24 x 24" 2008

“Faux Pas” is one of many experiments in mixed media that Di Bella has on display at Dupont Gallery at the University of Mary Washington. Departures and Arrivals: Previous and Recent Works. Di Bella has been a professor of art

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“Not (to Gergen)” Acrylic on canvas and masonite 48x 46" 1994

at UMW for over 30 years.

While the majority of the works displayed are on wood panel, Di Bella also has paintings on copper sheets, linen, masonite and canvas. In each piece, the artist combines various textures and materials, using watercolor, acrylics, oil paint, and egg tempura.

“Each material I use has its own contribution to the art; both aesthetic and metaphoric,” Di Bella says.“Mixing media can be difficult; you have to plan ahead.”

Many of Di Bella’s pieces are influenced by the art of ancient civilizations, notably his trio of Arabic-inspired Mihrabs.

“While Mihrabs are used for prayer, the origin of the word comes from ‘war.’,” Di Bella says. “I tried to convey this juxtaposition [in the painting].”

Literary allusion is another common theme in Di Bella’s art, as several of his works pay homage to another artist with an Italian name; Dante Alighieri.

“Dante wrote in the vernacular, and broke away from the norm,” Di Bella says.“I would love to be able to convey complexity in an elegant and clear form the way he did. I want to make my art sophisticated, yet accessible.” g

www.URg Eonline.com | SPRING 2009

Ryan Poe: “Two-Horse Night” Lomographic photograph

Ryan Poe at The Athenaeum’s Wounded Bookshop

The Wounded Bookshop has a fitting name; along with dusty shelves of yellowing hardcovers and curling paperbacks, the 17th century warehouse has creaky floors, chipped paint and no central heating.

“It’s a pretty hardy building and it is used to itself,” says owner Paul Lewis. “In terms of renovations, we’re proceeding with caution.

We’re trying to use what’s already there.”

Lewis is the director of the Fredericksburg Athenaeum; a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting arts and literature in Fredericksburg. “We decided to call the Athenaeum’s headquarters ‘The Wounded Bookshop’ so that people would not be off put,” Lewis says. “Athenaeum’ is kind of an intimidating name, and we wanted people to feel comfortable discussing the arts.”

Along with art shows and Open Mic Nights at The Wounded Bookshop, the Athenaeum also sponsors the Rappahannock Film Festival and concerts produced by Fredericksburg All Ages. “[The Wounded Bookshop] is an eclectic place that represents an eclectic community,” Lewis says.

In December and January, the bookshop showcased Square: A Show with Photos taken by local photographer and filmmaker Ryan Poe. Poe’s photos, which are printed as squares instead of rectangles, were taken with the Holga; a Chinese analog camera made in the 1980s. The Holga was created as an affordable camera for the everyman, and its film still runs for relatively cheap today.

“It was my first time using film, so I didn’t know what to expect,” Poe says. “But I guess you should never go into art expecting anything.”

The Holga uses extra large negatives, which gives Poe’s photos with a retro, muted tone.

Along with various portraits and landscapes, Poe also experiments with double exposure, as seen in the photograph, “Two-Horse Night.”

“The Holga process takes a lot longer than digital, and that’s why I enjoy it.” Poe says.

“I think it’s nice to slow things down. Artists don’t do that that much anymore.”

by Susannah Clark

Fredericksburg

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Through April 15 Gari Melchers Home and Studio at Belmont The Unpretentious Garden by Gari Melchers [56]

Sophia Street Studios

1104 Sophia Street: 540.372.3459 A pottery studio with two potBY SUSANNAH CLARK ters who make functional Pop: The Richard Weisman Colearthenware lection, Weisman has brought his pottery as well Warhol athletes to art museums as Raku decoand university galleries all over rative pieces. the country. After stopping in Fredericksburg, Weisman and his collection will travel to galleries in Beijing and Shanghai, China.

“I’m not an art history person; I just collect what I like,” Weisman says. “I was with Andy at the peak of the changing American landscape. He saw art in everything; even the creams and colognes in our hotel rooms.”

[57] UMW Galleries

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the largest parts of the permanent collection. Exhibitions of works by art faculty, art students, and senior art majors are held annually.

916 Liberty Street: 540.371.7255 Mon-Thur 10am-7pm; Fri-Sat 10am5pm; Sun 12pm-4pm LibertyTown Arts Workshop is the largest art center within a 45mile radius of Fredericksburg.

The pieces are part of private collection of Richard Weisman, one of the founders of the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles and old friend of the late Andy Warhol.

Weisman met Andy Warhol in the early 1970’s, and says he has plenty of fond memories of adventures with the eccentric artist.

“I became friends with him after he got shot,” Weisman jokes, “I swear I had nothing to do with it.” In light of his recently published book, From Picasso to

[52] Fredericksburg Center for the Creative Arts (FCCA)

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Richard Weisman at UMW

813 Sophia Street: 540.373.5646 March Powerful and Fragile Earth National Exhibit April Regional Art Exhibit May National Art Exhibit A Fine Line

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810 Caroline Street: 540.368.0560 Mon,Tues,Thu & Fri: 11am-6pm; Sat: 11am-6pm ; Sun: Noon-4pm.

March 2 - 28 All Member Show in the Ground Floor Atrium and in the Second Floor Gallery: Featured Artist on the Second Floor: Dee Antil March 30 - April 26 All Member Show in the Ground Floor Atrium and in the Second Floor Gallery; Featured Artist on the Second Floor: Kandra Orr

When Andy Warhol fashioned a silkscreen portrait of football player O.J. Simpson in 1977, he probably had no idea the haunting effect the piece would have on today’s audience, after 30 years of history.

Along with Dorothy Hammil, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Muhammad Ali, O.J.’s neon silkscreen was on display at the Ridderhof Martin Gallery at the University of Mary Washington in February, in a show of Andy Warhol’s Athletes: Portraits from the Richard Weisman Collection.

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Fredericksburg Athenaeum

109 Amelia Street: 540.373.1311 Thursday 11am-9pm Fri 11am-9pm ; Sat 10am to 5pm The Fredericksburg Athenaeum exists as a not-for-profit corporation dedicated to the promotion of the arts, literature, philosophy, sciences and technology through education, formal and informal exchange and dialogue, to the benefit of those living in the Rappahannock River region and the global community of shared interests.

Through March 28 Samantha Emswiler - Landscapes in Painting

Fredericksburg

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[50] Art First Gallery & Studio

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St. Pitt

Fredericksburg is located 59 miles about 1 hour from Richmond’s Downtown financial district. Take I-95 North to exit 130A to Plank Rd. St. Pitt

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824 Caroline Street: 540.371.7107 Mon–Sat 10am–6pm; Sun 12pm–6pm.

March Judith Merrill, Cathy Herndon April All Member Show May Patte Ormsby, Helen Butler

gALLERIES

Ridderhoff-Martin & Dupont Galleries are located on the campus of the University of Mary Washington at College Ave & Thornton St. 1.5 miles west of Caroline St.

709 Caroline Street: 540.371.8499 The P. Rose Gallery keeps on permanent view the paintings of Paula Rose and the ceramics of Claudia Dunaway.

Periodically, we show the work of other prominent artists in "by-invitation-only" exhibits.

Ridderhoff-Martin Gallery: College Avenue at Seacobeck Street; Dupont Gallery: College Avenue at Thornton Street; 540.654.1013 Mon. Wed., and Fri., 10am-4pm, Sat.-Sun. 1pm-4pm The University of Mary Washington Galleries present art exhibitions and educational events of interest to the university community and the general public. Exhibitions are brought in from museums around the country, or are drawn from the permanent collection of over 5000 artworks. Mid twentieth-century American and Asian art make up

March 13 – April 24 Ridderhof Martin Gallery: Mind and Metaphor: Psychology and Symbolism in Mid-Century Painting April 4-19 duPont Gallery: Annual Student Art Exhibition

[58] Visual Treats

903 Caroline Street: 540.372.7537 Featuring art, greeting cards, pillows, aromagraphs, postcards and other products designed by Joni Ulman Lewis.

[59]

Wegner Galleries

314 William Street: 540.374.8300;

By Appointment The S.S. Wegner Wildlife Gallery and Wegner Metal Arts present wildlife paintings bronze sculpture and shore landscapes by Stephen and Stewart Wegner.

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REVIEWS

Jeanne Drevas at Second Street Gallery

Henri Matisse “Lorette,” 1917 Oil on panel, 13 3/4 x 10 7/16”

20th Century Masterpieces Make a Big Bang at UVA ICONS OF FRENCH MODERNISM ON DISPLAY IN CHARLOTTESVILLE

BY

GINGER LEVIT

Paris: The T. Catesby Jones After all the pretty art of the Collections at the Virginia Mu19th century, ranging from seum of Fine Arts and the Unithe Academics, Romantics versity of Virginia Art Museum and the Barbizons to the euis a collaboration. T. Catesby phemistic Impressionists and Jones (1880-1946) graduated Intimists, there came a big from UVA in 1902 and went bang! Like a firecracker, in the on to become a prominent first decade of the 20th cenAdmiralty lawyer in New York. tury, Picasso, Braque and Gris His passion was collecting entered onto the scene, dismodern French art. In 1947 secting every vantage point he made significant bequests that they saw and transferring to both UVA and the VMFA, it onto canvas. Call this intelwhere he was a trustee. lectual, visual geometry CuThe collection also inbism if you wish; it certainly cludes works by such 20th broke new ground, introduccentury masters as Chagall, ing the element of time into Lipschitz, Masson and what the viewer sees. MeanRouault. Jones was personwhile, the Fauvist Matisse had George Rouault “Le Petit Nain (the Litally acquainted with many suggested the use of brilliant, tle Dwarf),” 1934 Etching and aquatint, of them, often going to Paris but flat color, often outlining it 12 3/8 x 8 ½” in black. Leading the way into Expressionism, he to buy their work. View the exhibition through April 24 at the UVA Art Museum. g also broke new ground.

Now, 88 masterpieces of modern French art ranging from 1910 through 1946 are on view in GINGER LEVIT IS A PRIVATE ART DEALER SPECIALIZING IN FINE Charlottesville. Matisse, Picasso and Modern Art in FRENCH PAINTINGS. CONTACT HER AT GINGER@VCU.ORG

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www.URg Eonline.com | SPRING 2009

It took 25 people a total of 400 hours to assemble Jeanne Drevas’ “Grove,” on display in February at Charlottesville’s Second Street Gallery.

The 12 by 24 foot work is comprised of over 1200 heavy cylindrical bamboo stalks, called culms, spaced inches apart and suspended within a delicate net from the gallery’s ceiling. Visitors were encouraged to walk through the piece, changing its ambiance as they do. These subtle shifts rendered it an apt metaphor for environmental change.

On my first foray into the grove I moved slowly and hesitantly and had an impromptu meeting with the artist’s mother. On my second, when the habitat had become more crowded, I sped up to avoid being inadvertently battered by the heavy stalks swinging in others’ wakes.

The artist herself confessed to being surprised at how disorienting the experience of threading through the grove was. The exterior of the work appears placid and still; within it the ability to move in a straight line is thwarted, visibility is curtailed and one’s sense of direction is frustrated.

Community and closeness characterize the exhibition, from the density of the grove itself to the manner in which the installation was mounted. Drevas’ husband Carl engineered the framework for the piece, which Second Street gallery director Rebecca Schoenthal introduced as a “local, organic interpretation of the phenomenological art of the 1970s.”

Signs along the gallery walls urged viewers to “be mindful,” “have patience,” and “hold hands” while experiencing the work of art. For many, the playful spirit of the work seemed to be infectious. A number of children were visible flitting back and forth within the thickets of this grown-up twist on a jungle gym.

The artist herself confessed to being surprised at how disorienting the experience of threading through the grove was.

LESLIE COZZI

IS A FOURTH-YEAR GRADUATE STUDENT IN ART HISTORY AT THE UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA. HER DISSERTATION-IN-PROGRESS, WHICH DEALS WITH CONTEMPORARY ART AND ITALIAN FEMINISM, IS TITLED "SIAMO FEMMINISTE: ART AND FEMINISM IN POST-WAR ITALY.”

Charlottesville [60]

Art Upstairs

[61]

BozArt Gallery

gALLERIES

University of Virginia Art Museum is 71 located 1.6 miles west of the Old Town district.

Charlottesville

112 West Main Street, Suite 4: 434.923.3900; Tues-Sun: 12-5pm March Anne D. Hopper 211 West Main Street: 434.296.3919 Wed & Thurs: 3pm to 9pm; Fri & Sat: noon to 9pm; Sun: 1-4pm March Carolyn McPherson

C'ville Arts: A Cooperative Gallery [62]

118 East Main Street : 434.972.9500 Mon -Thurs: 10am-6pm; Fri: 10am9pm; Sat: 10am-8pm; Sun: 12-6pm C'ville Arts: A Cooperative Gallery is the same group of Virginia artists and craftspeople who have been known as Transient Crafters, with a gallery located on the pedestrian mall in historic, downtown Charlottesville, Virginia.

March Bone Sigh Arts

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Through August 9 Best Loved Works from the Kluge-Ruhe Collection

60 62 68 67 64 66

119 Fifth Street SE: 434.293.2200 Tues - Sat: 11am- 6pm; First Fridays: 11am-8pm; Closed weekdays from 2-3pm; Sun & Mon: by appointment

Sage Moon Gallery

The Bridge Progressive Arts Initiative is located near 9th St SE.

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420 East Main Street: 434.977.9997:Sun, Mon: 1-5pm Tues, Wed, Thurs: 11 am- 6pm March John Lynch April Rhonda Raban

400 Worrell Drive, Peter Jefferson Place: 434.244.0234 Tues - Sat: 10am to 4pm Sunday 1 - 5pm The Kluge-Ruhe Aboriginal Art Collection of the University of Virginia promotes learning about Australian Aboriginal art and culture through an integrated program of collection management, exhibition, education, research & publication.

Through May 3 Yuru-yururla: Women's Painting from Yuendumu This exhibit of colorful acrylic paintings is on loan from the Warlukurlangu Artists Aboriginal Association collection in Australia's Northern Territory. The exhibition title translates as "remembering the Dreaming," which is the creation period when the land and its inhabitants came into being.

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[66] Migration: A Gallery

[67]

[63] Kluge-Ruhe Aboriginal Art Collection

McGuffey Art Center

201 Second Street, NW: 434.295.7973; Tues-Sat: 10am to 6pm; Sun: 1-5pm March Diane Siebels; Russell Richards; Jesse Coles; High School Show April Jennifer Cox; Judy McLeod; Nini Baeckstrom May Jim Henry; Wilma Bradbeer; Rhonda Roebuck; Boys and Girls Club

Kluge-Ruhe Aboriginal Art Collection is located 3.2 miles east of the Old Town area.

[69] The Bridge Progressive Arts Initiative

[68]

Second Street Gallery

115 Second Street SE: 434.977.7284 Tues-Sat: 11am-6pm March 6 - April 25 Lisa Beane: - XO; Divide Et Tempera : International Selections of Sequential Art May 1 - May 30 Yoko Iwanaga: Mementos

Invisible: Rhythm 1001

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209 Monticello Road: 434.984.5669 Wed- Sat: Noon-3pm March Empty Nest: A collaborative installation

by Sebastijan Jemec and Jocelyn Spaar and others of projections and light and sound that explores the objectification and spatialization of memory and human presence.

April Art made in local prison art classes.

May Senior thesis exhibition by UVA photography students.

[70] University of Virginia

Art Museum

Thomas H. Bayly Building, 155 Rugby Road:434.924.3592; Tues-Sun: 12- 5pm Through April 19 The Hand and the Soul: LeWitt, Slutzky, Iliescu Through April 24 Matisse, Picasso, and Modern Art in Paris The T. Catesby Jones Collections at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts and the University of Virginia Art Museum; Co-organized by VMFA and the UVA Art Museum.

The Hand and the Soul: LeWitt, Slutzky, Iliescu on view at UVa Art Museum through April 19

[64] Les Yeux du Monde

500 West Main Street: 434.973.5566 Tuesday- Saturday 11 to 5 and by appointment March Paintings by Sonia Fox Sculpture by Steven Strumlauf Prints by Russ Warren April Photographs by William Albert Allard May Plein-Air Painting by Richard Crozier and Edward Thomas

Sentence 28 from Sol LeWitt’s Sentences on Conceptual Art (1969) reads: “Once the idea of the piece is established in the artist’s mind and the final form is decided, the process is carried out blindly. There are many side effects that the artist cannot imagine. These may be used as ideas for new works.” Robert Slutzky defines as his aesthetic foundation a theory of transparency in which “the transparent ceases to be that which is perfectly clear and becomes instead that which is clearly ambiguous.” LeWitt’s and Slutzky’s assertions of artistic process are central to The Hand and the Soul: LeWitt, Slutzky, Iliescu, an exhibition that includes a wall and a line drawing by LeWitt, one of Slutzky’s grand canvases, and a set of Sanda Iliescu’s collages. In each artist’s

imagery, rational order gives rise to serendipitous glimpses of humanity in a dialogue about form, format, and social context.

Central to this exhibition is the notion of instruction. Slutzky and LeWitt were mentors of Iliescu, now an associate professor of art and architecture at the University of Virginia. Over the years Iliescu has created drawings and collages that pay explicit homage to the two late artists. In her recent edited volume, The Hand and the Soul: Aesthetics and Ethics in Art and Architecture, Iliescu analyzes the two artists’ work, focusing on their shared conviction that aesthetic experiences are enriched through teaching, writing, and collaborative art-making—through the testing and

contesting of artistic ideas and processes.The show includes a series of collages by Iliescu produced while she edited the book. Using discarded drafts from the Sanda Iliescu, manuscript, scraps of Romanian, “Shoran’s Scraps: brown paper bag, and other forms of detritus, TERUE,” 2007 Paper fragments, Iliescu sews, glues, and constructs her surfaces cotton thread, in a process that emugraphite, watercolor, and colored lates the methods of pencils on paper, her mentors.

In preparation for 91⁄2 x 8” the exhibition, Iliescu will lead students from her studio class in the rendering of a LeWitt wall drawing.

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REVIEWS

Adam Pynacker: “Bridge in an Italian Landscape”

The Dutch Italianates: Seventeenth-Century Masterpieces from the Dulwich Picture Gallery at The Muscarelle Museum of Art in the College of William and Mary

Mark Atkinson: “Cook House Girls” photograph

Central Virginia’s Off the Clock Photography Exhibit

THE CENTRAL VIRGINIA CHAPTER OF THE AMERICAN SOCIETY OF MEDIA PHOTOGRAPHERS PRESENT THE FIRST EXHIBITION OF PERSONAL WORK CREATED BY COMMERCIAL PHOTOGRAPHERS Off the Clock, the first exhibition of personal work created by commercial photographers of the Central Virginia Chapter of the American Society of Media Photographers will open from 6 – 9 p.m. on March13 at The Crittenden Studio (207 West 7th St., Richmond).

The juried exhibition is comprised of 22 photographs created by 14 photographers from across Virginia and parts of North Carolina. The Central Virginia Chapter covers Richmond, Charlottesville, western Virginia and Tidewater, Norfolk and Virginia Beach. The exhibit will travel throughout Virginia during the year.

The exhibition was juried by three nationally recognized and diverse jurors including David Alan Harvey, Magnum and National Geographic photographer, Jeffrey Allison,Virginia Museum of Fine Arts Paul Mellon Collection Educator, and Keith Ireland, award-winning creative director for BCF Advertising in Norfolk.

“When we say photography, we usually imply the profession, but the term photographer can be more complex,” says Allison. “The photographer is at once both businessman and creative personality, and all too often the businessman is forced to the front while only on rare occasions can the heart of the artist be allowed to take hold.”

The exhibition is based on the personal portfolios of the 14 selected photographers. Jurors se-

lected the works based on three criteria: the quality of the image both technically and aesthetically; how the work represents the broad range of interests in photography; and how the works might hang together as a unified show.

“We conceived this idea in an effort to show the fine art capabilities of our member photographers,” says Allen Jones, ASMP board member and exhibition coordinator. “With so much of our time spent on commercial projects, we wanted an opportunity to show the personal side of our members.”

The works range from literal photographs describing scenes from everyday life to manipulated, dreamlike images of an imagined world.

“The exhibition represents works that have value as objects themselves rather than serving the alternative purpose of selling a product or representing a documentary narrative,” explains Allison.

ASMPCV is the Virginia Chapter of the leading trade association for photographers who photograph for publication and includes photojournalists, corporate and advertising photographers. The ASMPCV was founded in 1996 and includes many of Virginia’s finest commercial photographers. Today, ASMPCV has more than 90 members. ASMPCV photographers work for companies worldwide.

On display through May 13, Off the Clock is free and open to the public. g

The exhibition is based on the personal portfolios of the 14 selected photographers.

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www.URg Eonline.com | SPRING 2009

An environment where a lush, fragrant atmosphere surrounds the ghosts of an ancient past; a land with a bewildering variety of fresh, abundant food and wine, populated by a cynical, self-absorbed people gifted with an inborn sense of personal style: the Dutch of the 17th century appreciated Italy for many of the same reasons that we do ourselves.

A magical result of this love for all things Italian was a fashion for paintings of Italian scenes, real or imaginary, that is one of the great legacies of painters in the age of Rembrandt.

The Dutch Italiantes, an exhibition of these paintings at the Muscarelle Museum at the College of William and Mary (through March 22), gives splendid opportunity to fall in love with these very special works, pictures that are rapturous and poetic, yet often earthy and even squalid at the same time.

Some of the great names of the Italianate genre are represented—there is absolutely nothing like the perfumed, afternoon light in paintings by Jan Both or the ballets danced by clouds in the paintings of Aelbert Cuyp—but some less familiar names provide an endless parade of picturesque and delectable details.

Who could resist the patient cows, who look as wise as any classical scholar, resting in front of the Arch of Titus in William Romeijn’s view of Rome? Or an insolent yellow hound, relieving himself in the golden sunshine of a large hunting scene by Adam Pynacker?

Herdsmen with their families mingle with genteel horsemen at watering holes; ancient trees spread their broken limbs over roads furrowed by centuries of travelers.

The Dutch Italianates is only the most recent of a marvelous series of exhibitions of old-master paintings sponsored by the Muscarelle as of late; a series of rare opportunities to view some extraordinary works for which the museum deserves much gratitude.

The Dutch Italianates It is a show well worth the visit.

DONALD SCHRADER HOLDS A DOCTORATE IN ART HISTORY FROM THE UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA , WHERE HE SPECIALIZED IN ITALIAN RENAISSANCE ART. HE TEACHES ART HISTORY AT THE UNIVERSITY OF MARY WASHINGTON AND RICHARD BLAND COLLEGE AND IS A LECTURER FOR VMFA.

gALLERIES [75] Prince George Art and Frame

71 Located about

107 Colony Square, 1303 Jamestown Road: 757.229.7644 Features custom framing as well as a large collection of handcrafts from local artists and a wide selection of prints and photographs.

Richmond Rd.

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[71] A Touch of Earth

6580 Richmond Road: 757.565.0425 Mon–Sat 10–5; Sun 11–5 For 30 years this award-winning gallery has had an emphasis on pottery. Featuring fine crafts by 180 artists including clay, metal, glass, watercolor, fiber, wood, jewelry and photography. A great source for art by Virginia artisans.

Lianne Lurie and Paul Pittman, owners and potters.

[72] ArtCafe26

[76] The Abby Aldrich Rockefeller

Folk Art Center

325 West Francis Street 757.229.1000 The Folk Art Museum offers changing exhibitions of American folk art from its permanent holdings and museum loan shows.

Through December 2009 Scenes of Everyday Life: The Drawings of Lewis Miller Through November 8, 2009 Seeing Stars in American Bedcovers Through January 3, 2010 Sidewalks to Rooftops: Outdoor Folk Art

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Located about 2.6 miles west along Route 31 or Jamestown Rd.

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[77] The Andrews Gallery

440A Duke of Gloucester St.: Mon - Sat 10 to 6; Sun 12 to 5.

Merchants Square in historic Colonial Williamsburg features art and antiques, including regional historical subject paintings, regional maritime art, prints and jewelry. The gallery also offers an eclectic mix of art that is not Williamsburg inspired, including a new collection of work by Russian artists.

Andrews Hall, 605 Jamestown Road, College of William and Mary 757.221.1452 Since 1977 the college has supported an exhibition program at Andrews Gallery, providing for a part-time coordinator and a small budget. The Gallery has approximately 1,300 square feet of exhibition space and is located on the first floor of Andrews Hall.

March 31 - May 1 Michal Mahgerefteh; Fred Vallade, Cermaics; Upstairs Gallery: From the Garden; Kiwanis Children's Gallery: Williamsburg Christian and Walsingham Lower School May 5 - June 5 Wynn Creasy; Lisa Aronzon, Glass; Upstairs Gallery: Seascapes and Landscapes; Kiwanis Children's Gallery: DJ Montague, Matthew Whaley and Clara Byrd Baker [82] Williamsburg Library Gallery

515 Scotland Street: 757.259.4070 Mon- Thur 10-9; Fri 10-6; Sat 10-5; Sun 1- 5 Individual and group art exhibitions.

Paintings, photography and crafts by local artists. Exhibitions of local and regional history.

[78] The Muscarelle Museum of Art

Lamberson Hall on Jamestown Road, campus of William and Mary 757.221.2700 Through April 1 Los Nuevos Olvidados/The New Outcasts: Octavio Kano Photographs April 2 - May 17 Picturing Paradise: Cuadros by the Peruvian Women of Pamplona - Alta as Visions of Hope April 17 - July 21 A Riot of Color: Tiffany Glass

‘Because It’s Cool’ [80] Vernon Wooten

Studio / Gallery

1315 Jamestown Road, Suite 204: 757.253.1953 Original oils, acrylics, watercolors and bronze sculptures are on exhibit. Also a wide selection of limited edition hunt prints, giclees, prints of Williamsburg and other subjects are available.

[81] Williamsburg Fine Art [74] Nancy Thomas Gallery

Merchants Square: 757.259.1938 Nancy Thomas is a nationally-known contemporary artist who has lived and painted in historic Yorktown and Williamsburg, Virginia, for the past 30 years. Her projects include commissions for a variety of institutions such as Colonial Williamsburg, the Museum of American Folk Art and the White House.

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74 73

5107-2 Center Street: 757.565.7788 Tues-Thurs 8:30-5; Fri 8:30am-9:30; Sat 8:30-3 & 6-9:30; Sun10-2 An art gallery with culinary offerings.

Enjoy the artcafé26 for breakfast, lunch, desserts and afternoon teas or have your own party in the evening.

[73] Gallery on Merchants Square

Williamsburg

6.7 miles

81 north along

[79] This Century Art Gallery

219 North Boundary St: 757.229.4949 Tues - Sat 11-5 March 27 Tom Tartaglino, Oils; Kim Young, Jewelry & Mixed Media Art; Upstairs Gallery: Black and White; Kiwanis Children's Gallery: Norge, Stonehouse and James River

6592 Richmond Road: 757. 564.9484 Mon – Sat 9:30- 5:30 Widely praised contemporary original art ranging from tranquil landscapes to vibrant abstracts. Local, regional and international artists. Oils, acrylics, watercolors, encaustics, etchings and mixed media. Superb custom framing from a selection of 2,500 on-site frame samples.

The Museums of Colonial Williamsburg offer a special audio tour by teenagers for teenagers called “Teen Takes: A New Angle on Art.” High school students wrote and recorded the tour. According to Patricia Balderson, manager of museum education, the tour addresses a specific need.

“The museum already offers many options for both adults and younger children, but had nothing for teenagers,” she said. The hour-long tour discusses 17 decorative arts and folk art pieces.

Each object is described from a teen perspective. Balderson said objects were chosen for either historical significance or a “coolness” factor.

“The Thomas Tompion clock is included because we hope every guest to the museums sees this object,” she said. “The teen tour tries to present information about the clock that will interest teens. A blunderbuss pistol also is included because it’s cool.”

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Springtime in Jefferson’s Wine Country

TOURING AWARD-WINNING WINERIES

WORDS BY

The Inn, ruins and gardens of Barboursville Vineyards.

“The great thing about Charlottesville is that we have so many wineries within a short distance of each other close to the history of Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello and surrounded by the beauty of the mountains. There’s no place else with the combination of history, wineries and beauty that we have here,” says George Benford, owner of Charlottesville’s Siips Champagne and Wine Bar. Certainly springtime is beautiful in Jefferson’s wine country. The countryside awakens from its slumber and signs of re-birth are present in every bloom and every breeze. The scenery takes on a new freshness and the wines are youthful and ready to be tasted—especially straight from the barrel.

On the site of Jefferson’s original attempt at winemaking with Italian Winemaker, Fillipo Mazzei, sits Jefferson Vineyards. Well-known for their Viognier, Jefferson Vineyards is situated per-

JENN HENDERSON

fectly to take full advantage of the fertile soil and over 200 day growing season. Their Barrel Tasting Dinner (March 21, 2009) is a perfect showcase for 2008 vintages against the backdrop of a fourcourse meal.

“You can try vintages on their way to being bottled. Sort of a coming-out party,” says Missy Stevens, Tasting Room Manager, of the more-bohemian, less-formal nature of tasting directly from the barrel.

At Barboursville Vineyards (the estate house being one of only three that Jefferson designed for friends), the Spring Barrel Tasting (April 18-19, 2009) is also a time to celebrate and explore. There is live music all afternoon and selected wines are released from the library for purchase, some that guests may be impressed by.

“People are surprised when they have wines like our Cab Franc or Octagon. They see that we are able to make wines that rival those from regions like the Napa Valley,” says Jaclyn Conlogue, Events Coordinator at Barboursville Vineyards.

More than 200 years after his original attempts, Jefferson’s wine country has blossomed into a thriving appellation capable of producing award-winning wines. And what better way to enjoy them than on a sunny springtime afternoon with a glass drawn right from the barrel. g

Movieland Opens

Sip Spring When warmer temperatures move in, Rick Rayburn, owner of Teaki House starts thinking of fruity, green and white teas. One of his favorite varieties is Shanghai Lichee Jasmine because it tastes great hot or iced: “It has green tea, jasmine blossoms and a bit of lychee that adds sweetness,” he says. This is just one of the more than 60 exotic tea varieties available on Teaki House’s web site. Some Teaki House products are also available at Marshall Farms (24109 Constitution Highway, Unionville near Fredericksburg).

Gourmet Gadgets

The Kitchen at Whittingham (1019 Caroline St., Fredericksburg) is stocked with items to make cooking easier. One of owner Bob Whittingham’s most popular items is the Fasta Pasta which allows you to make pasta in the microwave. You just fill it with water, add pasta and microwave it for about 12 minutes: “There’s no big pot to get out or clean up,” Whittingham says, adding that Epicurean cutting boards are also must-haves for easy cooking and cleanup. “They’re knife-friendly. They don’t stain, they’re heat resistant and the can go in the dishwasher,” he says.

THE SEVENTEEN-THEATER MULTIPLEX ON RICHMOND’S BOULEVARD OFFERS EVERYTHING FROM BLOCKBUSTERS TO FOREIGN AND INDEPENDENT FILMS

In 1895, the Lumiere Brothers’ film footage of a train reportedly had audiences running for cover as they believed that the locomotive itself was about to plow into the theater.

Today, Charley and Ben Moss are reversing that direction with fare that they believe will have cinema audiences flocking to the former locomotive factory that is now Movieland.

The new seventeen-theater multiplex on Richmond’s Boulevard shows a varied program of films ranging from first-run Hollywood blockbusters to foreign and independent films. Weekend programs such as Insomnia Theater and Movies and Mimosas feature cult and classic films. Films are shown without commercials.

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The concession counters offer popcorn and candy as well as hot food, beer, and wine.

“Seeing a movie here won’t be like going to the airport on a holiday weekend,” says Charley Moss. Other features that distinguish Movieland from an airport—or a standard suburban multiplex— include gallery-like displays of antique railroad iron and tools excavated during the building’s renovation (two twisted iron beams resembling a Martin Puryear sculpture are displayed above the ticket windows). A separate building on the property is being converted into a full-service restaurant.

Movieland is the eighteenth movie house project of the Mosses, father and son owners of Bow-Tie Cinemas. They discovered Richmond during a motorcycle trip through Virginia 10 years ago.

“Richmond has a vibrant culture, educational institutions, and an arts community. We knew there was a substantial audience for independent films here. It was a perfect storm for us,” says Ben Moss. g

www.URg Eonline.com | SPRING 2009

Satiate Your Sweet Tooth With a Key Lime Cupcake “It’s not your average flavor,” Christina Perlman, co-owner of Two Sweet (3422 Lauderdale Drive, The Shops at Wellsley, Richmond) says about her favorite cupcake flavor, Key Lime, that’s made from a vanilla cupcake with a delicious lime filling tucked in the center. It’s one of 26 rotating cupcake varieties that appear on the menu at this new cupcake boutique that’s drawing sweet teeth from all over the city. Perlman notes that the light, refreshing flavor of this treat causes it to sell out every time it makes an appearance on the menu.

All About the Children H

ANDMADE AND DURABLE INSPIRATIONS FOR FUN

Shopping Spree Join us in celebrating Spring! At the 43rd Street Gallery we are ready to bring the flowers indoors with a great selection of vases and ikebana containers. Getting married? We have a bridal registry and gifts for the newlyweds. Come browse the large selection of fine crafts made by artisans specializing in jewelry, pottery, wood, glass, and mixed media. Shop local and find gifts for every occasion.Open Tues-Thurs, 10am - 6 pm, Fri & Sat, 10 am-6 pm.

For more information, Call 804-233-1758 or go to www.43rdstgallery.com

When searching for costumes for her daughter, Saylor Anne, Catherine Ward had trouble finding high quality garments that wouldn’t tear, so she began whipping up fantastical outfits just has her mother had done for her.

She decided others also may like them too and started It’s a PARTY…Let’s Wear HATS! (itsapartyletswearhats.com), an online shop selling handmade, durable costumes and children’s bridal wear. Some of the most popular designs include crystal fairies, a princess dress with flowers, Daniel Boone and Captain Hook.

Ward also donates some of the proceeds to throw parties for terminally ill children and children with parents in the military. When you buy an outfit from It’s a PARTY…Let’s Wear HATS! you know it’s been tested:“We just let our daughter run around in the different styles at the playground to make sure they’ll hold up,” Ward says.

SIDETRACKS MUSIC new and used CDs, DVDs, Vinyl LPs, turntables, local music, local art, etc.— one of the last small independent CD/record stores on the planet. Great selection of all types of music, knowledgeable staff, good attitudes, relaxed atmosphere. We buy, sell, and trade. Quick special orders and mail orders available.

Mon-Sat 10-6, Sun 1-5.

One block off the Downtown Mall, 218 West Water Street, Charlottesville,VA 22902 (434)295-3080; calicotunes@mail.com.

Doctors agree: music is good for you.

Green framing has come to FRAME NATION in Richmond! Featuring the new Nurre Caxton line, EcoCare. This frame line is made using sustainable timber—New Zealand pine—and finished with water based stains. FRAME NATION was the first to sell the new EcoCare frame line in the central VA area. Stop by to see our other sustainable mouldings in additional profiles and colors.

11 S 15th St. Richmond, VA 804.64.FRAME or 643.7263 in the river district www.FrameNation.net

Just Ride Like When You Were a Kid If you’ve ever wanted a bike, but have felt intimidated about heading into a bike shop where every cycle has complicated gears, bells and whistles, visit Olde Towne Bicycles (1907 Plank Road, Fredericksburg) and ask for the Trek Lime. It’s an automatic-shifting bike that’s easy to maneuver.

“The bike manufacturers tried to come up with a bike that goes back 40 years,” says co-owner Geoff Murphy, adding that this is the perfect choice for someone who wants to get out and ride without have to master the features of a fancy bike.

West Main Design Co. is an upscale, boutique salon in Charlottesville, Virginia for both women and men. Lead by Master Stylist Glenn Gibson, their talented team offers a personalized beauty experience in a hip, fun environment.Whether it’s just a trim or a fabulous new style, let West Main Design Co. help you look your best!

Visit us online: www.westmaindesign.com 713 West Main Street, Charlottesville, VA 22903 9-6 Wed.-Fri. 9-3 Sat. (434) 296-7560

Jager Gallery and Custom Picture Framing has art for the people and places you love. This great neighborhood gallery features works of local artists. Brighten your favorite space with original paintings, prints, and photographs of the Eastern Shore, Virginia wildlife, and local landmarks.

Handcrafted jewelry, pottery, and stained glass make excellent gifts. Affordable picture framing is designed and built on location.

The Hub Shopping Center, 6939 Lakeside Ave. 10-6 Mon. - Fri. 10-4 Sat. 804-262-2931

SPRING 2009 | www.URg Eonline.com |

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Oversized Andy Warhol-style glasses, dark denim and a simple striped shirt paired with a vintage hat can make any guy look like a ’80s heartthrob.

NICK

Singerson and frie gwriter Nick nd freq Storm uently center visit th of Rich e mond out new to chec lo k about u cal style and find ou pc t Shades oming music s of blue offset w hows. dark de ell fittin nim. Va g n always a classic s slip-ons are comple dude's ti urban h ip ward ng any robe.

ZACH &PAL STREET CHIC

GIRL IN RUSSIAN HAT WHY HER?: Highschool fashion has sure come a long way. Bright red stockings with a authentic Russian hat demand attention.

Petite frames all over Richmond adjust to the money crunch by wearing elongated pieces that can be worn several ways. Just who is that girl in the Russian hat?

Above all else, she is stunning, bold and unique.

TIARA

Tiara Wil liams ha s a sophistica ted yet pla yful look.

By pairin g mute sha des of bro wn with bri ghter m ahogany an d teal acc essories she has create d a day to n ight look.

CARAI &ZIRCH

eye There is nothing more uple co a n tha ing tch ca le whose personal sty er. oth ch ea ts complemen kind Wearing a one of a helknit head piece by top in qu se loellora with a ic, att r’s the mo from her ca i's ch Zir ts se off Cara d an sual modern denim vintage plaid blazer.

PHOTOS BY KAITLYN BRIDGES AND MARSHE WYCHE, CO-OWNER (WITH CASEY LONGYEAR) OF RUMORS BOUTIQUE IN THE FAN, RICHMOND.

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www.URg Eonline.com | SPRING 2009

Fashion Notes Capitalizing on the success of Project Runway and a renewed interest in the design and production side of fashion, Heidi Story’s Carytown space is now a sewing studio.

“The classes are more popular than ever,” says Story, who studied design at Parsons and worked in New York for Norma Kamali and Liz Claiborne.

“People are really interested in learning an old skill they can use to make something. I think my students aren’t really thinking only about expense, but about creativity. I have had several girls make their prom dresses and they are fabulous. No one else will have anything like it and they tailored the dresses to their body type and personal style.”

This spring, Heidi Story is offering a seminar on how to take old things from your closet and make them new again with cutting edge alterations and embellishments.

Rumors, the ultra-hip VCU-area boutique covered in Nylon last winter is now offering a large selection of lower-priced, hand selected, lightly used clothing for men and women.

Rumors receives its hip inventory from the community on a buy/sell/ trade basis.

“We are selective in what we choose to purchase in order to maintain a stylish mix of pre-loved clothing,” co-owner Casey Longyear says. “We have a constantly changing inventory, and new items for men and women arrive multiple times a day.”

Popular items have included lines from Urban Outfitters, American Apparel, Levis, Cheap Mondays, and vintage dresses and accessories.

The new Rumors Boutique still appeals to their original clientele, and broadened its market by offering lower prices and wider selection of sizes for men and women.

More Accessories at 2 Best Friends

Next time you stop in 2 Friends (6920 Lakeside Ave., Richmond), you’ll notice an inventory shift. “I’m taking on a new direction,” owner Joyce Bushman says. “I’m adding more jackets and jewelry lines.” The expanded accessories selection will include exclusive jewelry lines such as Kameleon that allows women to change the look of sterling silver base pieces by adding metal- and crystal-adorned JewelPops. “It’s especially nice if you’re traveling,” Bushman says. “You only have to take one ring, one necklace, one pair of earrings and one bracelet.

You can change your JewelPops and look like you have a different piece of jewelry every day.”

Tales of Fashion

World Fibers & Fabrics Located at 2124 Ivy Rd. near Foods of All Nations, Minda’s Fashions is a uniquely Charlottesville boutique for women with a one-of-a-kind selection of jewelry, accessories, and clothing from which to choose. This boutique offers an individual flare all its own with contemporary styles featuring fibers and fabrics the world over. Minda’s Fashions adds the exclamation point to your wardrobe, be it for work, travel, or daily wear. Specializing specifically in batik clothing made in Bali, Indonesia.

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The staff at Beecroft & Bull (5029 Huguenot Road, Richmond) will help you. Store manager Tom Haring and his trusty associates want you to know dressing nice doesn’t have to mean looking stuffy, especially with the colorful garments that are arriving for spring. “A lot of guys are afraid to do stripes on stripes on stripes,” he says.

“We know the people who shop here and work with them.” They’ll use their expertise to keep your style modern and matched to your preferences.

One Bag, a Bunch of Style The spring designs for Reverse-A-Purse are in at Old Chickahominy House (1211 Jamestown Road, Williamsburg). The Reverse-A-Purse is a basic-toned bag (it comes in four different sizes) that’s design can be changed by adding reversible covers: “The nice thing about them is you chance the covers not the contents,” says buyer Robin Butler. The spring line includes 12 covers including “Jungle” with an animal print on one and a tropical design on the other and “Happy Hour” with a graphic cocktail print on one side and a pretty paisley on the other. “This season the fabrics are just exquisite,” Butler says.

H O T H O T

Marketing behind a fictional literary character, the genius of Robert Redd is quickly spreading across the continental United States. Robert Redd, (108 2nd St., NE, Charlottesville), specializes in a polo line primarily for gentlemen and boys, but also has a little something for the ladies. Quality craftsmanship, sophisticated wear, and a knack for storytelling have Robert Redd on the up.

Guys, Dress Outside Your Comfort Zone

Accessorize for Spring Spring styles have arrived at Grateful Soles (407 N. Sycamore St., Petersburg) and owner Arifah Rogers is excited about all the new, sassy choices. “This season orange and peach are the colors to have,” Rogers says, adding that she’s got new styles arriving constantly. One of her favorite statement-making designs is a pump by Michael Antonio that’s adorned with colorful feathers. For high-end handbags, Grateful Soles has a new selection of BGrateful leather bags that are handmade with lambskin leather exclusively for Grateful Soles in Costa Rica.

Relax with Resort Wear Yorktown Republic, (Riverwalk Landing, Yorktown) is a resort-wear boutique geared to women who “love color and love life,” says co-owner Teresa Grantham. One of the most unique collections you’ll find in-store is owner Dan Grantham’s hand-designed gold and silver line featuring nautical emblems. New for this season are Spartina handbags, which are designed to reflect the relaxed lifestyle on Daufuski Island, S.C. Teresa calls the brightly colored patterned bags, which come in all shapes and styles, “a must-see.”

Tame Your Tummy

When the weather warms up, Sheri Squires, owner of Bella Fine Lingerie (427 W. Duke of Gloucester St., Williamsburg) pulls out her Yummie Tummie tank tops to layer with her tees.

These miracle-worker tanks that come in colors from basic black to leopard print are made from lightweight cotton from the top to below the bust line and below the hip, but have a control panel tucked in between. “This layering piece just kind of pushes my tummy in,” Squires explains. It’s a must-have for those who want to avoid the dreaded muffin top.

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The Great Escape: Core87 at The National

A HIGH SCHOOL GARAGE BAND GAINS PROFESSIONAL STYLE, A LOYAL FAN BASE AND NATIONAL POTENTIAL

Mike Lipscomb, vocals|guitar; Mark Finney, guitar; Jared Achenbach, bass; Shaun Dunham, Drums

guitarists have different styles that meld well.

All the songs they played were original music written by the band with Mike Lipscomb penning the lyrics.

As the lead singer, Lipscomb is a tall, dark and broodingly handsome presence on stage.

Belting out the lyrics to “My Favorite Addiction,” he swooned the front row. Lipscomb is the most punk-looking of the group with piercings in ears, brow and lip. The tattoos on his back are of tribal wings, signifying that angels can be the people among us.

“My dad was in the military; I was actually born in Scotland. We moved around a lot and I wound up living with my grandparents for awhile,” Lipscomb says. “Growing up, watching MTV was my escape. I was fasci-

Prabir and the Substitutes The Washington Area Music Association’s Best New Artist of 2009, Richmond’s Prabir and the Substitutes will follow up the March release of their new EP with a return to Virginia stages for three shows in April.

After touring in the Midwest and Northeast in March, the fun-loving five-piece will join David Schultz and the Skyline to showcase some of their new

WORDS BY

material at The Loft in Fredricksburg on April 9, Capital Ale House in Richmond on April 10 and Clementine in Harrisonburg on the eleventh.

The band started writing new material for the upcoming disc in the fall and began selfrecording at their South Side practice space in mid-January.

The EP, featuring five or six songs, will be the band’s fourth

Ra Ra Riot in Fredericksburg

WORDS BY

DIANE YORK

ZACHARY J. BARDOU

studio effort, following 2006’s Annabelle, I’m Coming Home Tonight, 2007’s Share, and 2008’s Five Little Pieces.

Prabir and the Substitutes play a melodically energetic, no-frills brand of rock all around the country, inspired by such influences as the Beatles, Dr. Dog, Otis Redding, the Velvet Underground and the Beach Boys.

[Clockwise from bottom] Prabir Mehta, Charlie Glenn, Tyler Williams, Robbie King, Chris Smith

SUSANNAH CLARK

has a college in it,” says guiDespite their name’s implications, if tarist Milo Bonacci, who met you came to a Ra Ra Riot concert exhis bandmates at Syracuse pecting to hear hardcore punk, University. The band has just you’re in for a melodic surprise. Infinished an international tour stead of Mohawks and moshing, how with another bizarrely named about violins, cellos, and lyrics about band; Vampire Weekend. The unrequited love?

Rhumb Line, their debut It’s the Sunday before winter album, was released in Aufinals at the University of Mary Washington, and Ra Ra Riot is The Rhumb Line, Ra Ra Riot’s gust 2008.

Bonacci says Ra Ra Riot playing at the Third Floor, an all- debut album, was released in August 2008. loves playing at all-ages venages venue on Caroline Street in Downtown Fredericksburg. College and high ues: “It’s refreshing to see energy that’s not alcoschools students alike have packed the venue, hol infused,” he says. “Kids just don’t care as eager to relive stress by listening to the hottest much; they’re there to have fun.”

There is no stage at the Third Floor, and the name in indie pop.

“Pretty much any town that’s worth playing band takes up less than a 15 feet radius. The

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WORDS BY

nated with that world, the music, the people. It had what I most needed, a way to express my deepest, sometimes darkest feelings. I also began to express myself with my looks, my hair, the tattoos. I was the only person in my family to do that type of stuff. I got my first guitar at a yard sale as payment for helping.

My mom had played guitar some and I picked it up fast.”

Mark Finney is blond and Irish and looks like a Viking. He is probably the most trained of the group. His dad, John Finney, who plays country and gospel, taught him music.

“I played drums in the marching band and the concert band,” he says. “Music can really express all my emotions—I am so irritable when not playing. I am very unhappy without music. I will always want to play, whether for others or myself. I need the music, my drive is to be a better musician, it will always be a part of my life.”

The Core87 crew has developed not only viable music, but they’ve also gained the more elusive resonance with their audience—many who had come from other parts of the state just to see the band.

The men of Core87 agree that they need to play the music as much as their fans need to hear it. Finney says, “Our music is our escape— maybe we can help other people to escape. If our music says anything, I hope it tells people to be original.” g

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dancing crowd is careful to not get hit in the face

by Rebecca Zeller’s jerking violin bows or lead singer Wes Miles’ spraying saliva. Drummer Eric Danton has cotton balls at the tips of his drumsticks, as not to overwhelm with harsh beats in such a small venue.

Two of the band’s six members are wearing Ra Ra Riot t-shirts.

After an upbeat performance, Miles thanks the crowd graciously: “Here’s why it’s great to play in a small town; the concert promoter’s wife baked us cookies and banana bread.”

After a few giggles and cheers from the audience, Miles shouts the band’s final goodbye: “Thanks a lot, Fredericksburg. We’ll be back soon. Really soon.”

Photo: Sarah Walor

Tonight at the National, (a 1920’s downtown theatre turned concert hall) is everything you would expect—walls and floor vibrate to thumping guitar backed by the sexy undercurrent of heavy drums; fog swirls through red and blue spotlights; sweat and perfume is thick in the air; the energy of a crowd of hundreds moves as one.

The place rocks with the sounds of four bands including Core87 who won the crowd’s love with “The Way I Am” and “Comfort in Silence.” The music is rock, laced with metal undertones, bluesy guitar solos and driving vocals.

Core87, who has been playing in Richmond for a number of years, began to gain ground in April 2008, when they won the Local Exposure Band Contest. They followed that by providing the opening sounds at the Chili Cook off, also in April.

Mark Finney, blond guitarist, played his own clear but complex rhythms that blended perfectly with the other two guitars. Their bass guitar player, the dark-haired, dark-eyed Jared Achenbach featured fluent riffs.

Shaun Dunham, the drummer was particularly appealing with his well muscled, barechested body gleaming in the red spotlights.

Shaun who plays barefooted as well as shirtless says “I get hot.”

The band operates as a tight unit, their breaks are perfectly coordinated—the three

Real Country: Jim Waive and the Young Divorcees

C’ville Sound Check WORDS &

WORDS

&

PHOTOS BY

STEPHEN BARLING

[From left] Anna Matijasic, Jen Fleisher, Jim Waive and Charlie Bell

Country music has gone through inumerable iterations in the last century, from the earliest days of old-time to today’s folk rock Americana. Charlottesville’s Jim Waive, however, is no trendsurfer, rooting his music in the ballads and work songs of the mid-20th century. You’ll find no laser lights, technicolored duds or headset mics on this refreshing revival. As revealed in “I Sure Like,” from his eponymous 2001 solo debut, I don't like today's country music radio/ it ain't country even though they say it’s so.

Since forming in early 2005, Jim Waive and the Young Divorcees have released two CDs, garnering a warm following and even landing opening slots for Randy Travis and Kenny Rogers.With a decidedly Grand Ol’ Opry approach to country showmanship, the cowboy-booted four-piece delivers smooth ballads, upbeat stompers and darkas-death dirges with a sincerity that's almost unnerving. It’s a return to a time when acoustic guitars still jangled to the slow thump of dog-

house basses, the sweet whine of high lonesome fiddles and the heartwrenching purr of pedal steel guitars.

Being country music, there are, of course, all the usual thematic elements: Hearts are broken. True love is found. Daddy lives and dies in a mine. Meaning is found in simpler things and irony is the salve of aching existence. All the while, Jim’s smooth-asvintage-leather vocals soothe the listener with bittersweet warmth. A Young Divorcees show generally oscillates between originals and soulful tributes to the masters —Buck Owens, George Jones, Willie Nelson (via Patsy Cline)—along with some unusual choices converted to the idiom, such as Bob Dylan or the Beatles. The players are masterful, with Jen Fleisher on bass, Anna Matijasic on fiddle, and Charlie Bell on slide and steel guitars and backing vocals.

For those who prefer the hard-worn music of working America to the flash and glam of Nashville narcissism, the Young Divorcees cannot be matched. g

PHOTO BY

JENN HENDERSON

“Didn’t have to improve the sound; we’ve already got the best in town,” says Outback Lodge owner Terry Martin. With last year’s closing of Satellite Ballroom, and the recent re-opening of Starr Hill’s upstairs in the form of IS Music Venue (above Si Tapas), Martin’s refurbishing had nothing to do with keeping up with anyone else, but rather merely keeping up with the times.

“After 17 years it was time to do something,” says Martin who has owned Outback Lodge for three of those years. The general sprucing up also made its way downstairs in the form of new lights and a cage around the stage.

The ability to host two totally separate bands simultaneously is unique to Outback which sees everything from rock to heavy metal or bluegrass.

Across town, the death of Saxx Jazz Bar and Lounge meant the birth of Bel Rio Restaurant. Conceived by Dave Simpson, Gareth Weldon and Jim Baldi, no obstacle has gone unnoticed.

“One of the greatest challenges for us is trying to marry music and food to- Live music gether. It’s a tough wedding to get a at Bel Rio ticket to,” says Simpson, owner of Charlottesville’s renowned C&O Restaurant for 31 years.

With brains behind the food like that of Simpson, and the addition of Chef John Meiklejohn (formerly of Continental Divide), the team could focus on the entertainment.

“We wanted a place that was friendly and people could mix and listen to local music,” says Weldon. The problem was the acoustics of the space. With help from Auralex, a sound engineering company, and Greg Weber Cabinetry, the renovation went about with the detail and precision of that of a recording studio. Acoustical paneling and complementary windows with ¼” glass panels angled towards those panels were installed to improve the sound. With acoustics in check and an experienced staff in the kitchen, the trio from Belmont can share their love of both food and music.

Says Weldon, “Charlottesville’s got the best music around and we’re there to promote that local music scene and help it grow.” g

Gills and Wings WORDS BY

ZACHARY J. BARDOU

Rock band Gills and Wings was finally officially formed in October, when vocalist and synthesizer player Danny Reyes and pianist Santiago De La Fuente moved up to Richmond from Miami. The song-writing duo began collaborating with Richmond guitarist Alex McCallum and drummer Andrew Hackett via the internet in April and decided to relocate when excitement surrounding the project began to swell. In February, the band found their full-time bassist in Matthew Hulcher and now Gills and Wings can be found playing all around Richmond at venues like the Camel, Cary Street Café, the National Theatre and the Czar. Drawing from influences as widely varied as Ella Fitzgerald, David Bowie and Radiohead, Gills and Wings has created a unique and dramatic sound that blends danceable pop with over-the-top rock composition and versatile vocals. They plan to join Duchess of York at Toad’s Place for a show in April.

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Photo & Cover Photo: Ben Madden

A Thirst for Theater

ASK POET, TEACHER, AND ACTOR D.L. HOPKINS WHAT HE DOES, AND HIS ANSWER MIGHT SURPRISE YOU. OR IT MIGHT NOT. “I’m a theater evangelist,” he says.

Hopkins sees his larger project as attuning people to the power of the spoken word. And he ought to know. As creator of the Just Poetry Slam and a founding member of Ernie McClintock Jazz Actors, he is one of the fathers of Richmond’s spoken word movement.

“Acting and poetry are synonymous,” says Hopkins, whose forays into slam poetry grew out of the need to illustrate the power of the human voice while teaching poetry. As artist-in-residence at University of Richmond, he has a new crop of students, but his method is the same.

“I don’t teach as much as get them on board with the material and push them to find their role in it,” he says.

He has performed on stages throughout the East Coast, and in film and television, but Hopkins sees Central Virginia as uniquely fertile ground.

“Richmond is a creative incubator—a great place to test an idea. If it’s good, they tell you.

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And if it’s crap, they let you know—in a nice Southern way.” Audiences for new projects are also readily available.

“This place has so much diversity. There’s a palate for just about anything, so you pull out an audience you didn’t think Richmond had. You look around and think, ‘I didn’t know so-and-so from the office was an Amiri Baraka fan, but there he is.’”

What challenges do artists in the region face?

“When dollars get involved, lines are drawn.

There’s always commerce [in the arts], but it has to stay in perspective. That’s not just a Richmond problem.” The relative ease of the artist’s life can be another challenge.

“A friend of mine and I laugh about things being ‘Richmond Famous.’ It’s a mistake to stay a big fish in a smaller pond. Incubate here, but then put it out there,” he says.

Hopkins is currently involved projects aimed at democratizing the arts and building community.

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He will direct Baraka’s The Dutchman as part of Sycamore Rouge’s Six Box Series, a program of fully-produced plays using only six acting blocks and basic lighting. He also remains involved with the Yellow House film and theater collective, noting that its Project Resolution program means that, “Once a month, everybody gets eyeballs.”

Further on the horizon is a film documentary about Hopkins’ artistic mentor, the late Ernie McClintock.

“If I had never met Ernie, man—my life would have been a lot easier,” says Hopkins of the brilliant, demanding founder of New York’s Afro American Theater and Richmond’s Jazz Actors Theater. Hopkins often encounters other artists who found their avocations under McClintock and were inspired by him to pursue them.

“He brought out a thirst for the art form. For me, that’s been a honeymoon that lasted 20 years.”

And one that shows no sign of ending any time soon. g

Inspired by and staged to the music of Django Reinhardt, Djangology heats up the stage March 24-29 with soulful sizzle and light-hearted fun in a work created for the company by noted contemporary choreographer Val Caniparoli.

A composer and guitarist of the ’40s and ’50s, Reinhardt is considered one of the first prominent European jazz musicians. He admired the works of Eddie Lang, Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie. Djangology was recorded in 1948.

Eleone Dance Theatre More than just a dance company,

Eleone is a dance experience. This Philadelphia-based group dedicated to the preservation and creation of historical and contemporary theatre dance takes the stage at the Cultural Arts Center at Glen Allen on April 23 and 24.

In addition to providing exciting and innovative dance experiences and performances, Eleone is dedicated to presenting a variety of dance works and workshops and preserving and presenting American dance forms.

The company has a diverse repertoire of works that are contemporary modern, spiritual, rhythm and blues, African, as well as hip-hop in theme. Eleone's works of dance inspire critical, intellectual thought from the community and invite inquiry into historical and contemporary issues from a variety of viewpoints.

Nights at the Opera

this adventure without razor burn.

The Barber of Seville opens at the Harrison Opera House in Norfolk on March 13 and runs through March 22. Performances continue at the Landmark Theater in Richmond on March 27 and 29.

Virginia Opera Artistic Director, Peter Mark, will conduct all performances. Mark conducted his 100th Virginia Opera production, Il Trovatore, this season, totaling 700 successful performances led by him on the company’s stage during his career.

The Richmond Symphony provides the orchestra for the production, which will be sung in Italian with Digitext Supertitles projected above the stage.

If you enjoyed Virginia Opera’s recent operatic comedies, The Marriage of Figaro and Pirates of Penzance, you will fall in love with The Barber of Seville. Rossini’s spicy masterpiece is a nonstop comedy express. Its spirited music bounces happily along with the outrageous mayhem dispensed by a singing barber, whose meddling ways may yet help the handsome young Count Almaviva to marry the beautiful Rosina. However, her guardian, Dr. Bartolo, has other plans! To what extremes will these men take their cat and mouse games for one woman’s heart? It will take a close shave from the barber we all know as “Figaro! Figaro!

FIGARO! Hopefully you will escape

True West 2008-2009 season

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entertainment experience. As part of the experience, special festival events surround the show for those who want to come early where guests will enjoy interactive game demos, a costume contest, prize give-a-ways, game competitions and the very popular meet-andgreet with top game composers and designers. April 25 at Richmond’s Landmark Theater.

by

Video Games Live is a spectacular concert event featuring music from the most popular video games of all time. Join the Richmond Symphony and Richmond Symphony Chorus for exclusive video footage and music arrangements, synchronized lighting, solo performers, electronic percussionists, live action and unique interactive segments that create an explosive

by Sam Shep ard

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Photo: Aaron Sutten

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May 14-30, 2009

Jan. 15-31, 2009 09 March 12-28, 20

, 2008 Sep. 25 - Oct. 18

Info & Tickets call 804.340.0115 www.henleystreettheatre.org

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March’s line-up includes the The Greater Williamsburg Women’s Association and the Williamsburg Symphonia Concert in Black and White, a musical showcase in a variety of styles. March also features a concert by The Three Jolly Coachmen, a Kingston Trio tribute group.

In April, Coyote Run, a critically acclaimed Celtic band, takes the stage.

In addition to live performances on the main stage, the Kimball Theatre offers a screening room that seats approximately thirty-five.

Viewers can watch independent and foreign films seven days a week.

Two examples from spring’s line up are Waltz with Bashir and The Betrayal. Both are documentaries detailing hardships the filmmakers experienced as youth. Ari Folman, director of Waltz with Bashir attempts to understand the horrific night in September 1982 when threethousand Palestinians were massacred by Christian Militia members.

Recounting memories of his pain and poverty as a refugee during the Vietnam War, director LIVE PERFORMANCES, INTERNATIONAL & INDEPENDENT FILM ARE SLATED WORDS BY DANIELLE DI SALVO Thavisouk Phrasavath combines Located in the center of Merchants Square at Colo- of which support good causes. interviews and archival footage to explore pernial Williamsburg, the Kimball Theatre bridges the At the Kimball, you can sit back and enjoy a sonal feelings of betrayal and global geopolipast with the present through live performances variety of concerts, lectures, films and plays. tics in the film The Betrayal. and films. The Kimball Theatre programming is af- Through your ticket purchase, you are supporting Other regular events at the Kimball Theater infiliated with the College of William and Mary, local community programs that provide resources for clude an 18th-century Grand Medley of Entertainorganizations, and Colonial Williamsburg. Together, adolescents with special needs and your purchase ments, the Peninsula’s Jewish Film Festival, and they offer an array of diverse performances—many contributes to the fight to stop hunger. jazz concerts by local ensembles. g

Spring Preview: Williamsburg’s Kimball Theater

Richmond’s 6th Italian Film and Food Festival CLASSIC PASSION & TRAGEDY, THIEVES AND INNOVATIVE FILMMAKING INSPIRE AUDIENCES

The 6th annual Italian Film and Food Festival held in January ended the festivities with the raucous dark comedy The Orange Thief. Co-director Vinnie Angel presented the film and discussed the original approach he and his brother had in making the awarding-winning indie fav. The film provided a perfect finale to a packed crowd all with plates filled with good eats, thanks to Richmond restaurant favorites Edo’s Squid, Mamma Zu and 8 1/2.

A love story of an irreverent and daring young Sicilian (Andrea Calabrese) and the land he covets, The Orange Thief is a dreamy and whimsical tale of his quest to acquire a piece of his beloved Sicily. He spends his days stealing oranges and living off the land of his countrymen, who quite resent his presence and more often than not beat him up or have him arrested.

The Orange Thief is a movie about visions.

The title character dreams of fertile land where he can grow his own oranges and stop the endless cycle of thievery. The prisoner dreams of his love left behind. Throughout the film, stories are

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told in the dreams of others.

More striking, however, the movie structurally is very much like a dream in texture and fragmented composition. The Orange Thief is often disconnected yet cohesive—as in a dream where one hops from one scene to the next without narrative continuity—relying instead on the imagery as its own associative logic.

The film offers a quirky display of beautiful, fleeting landscapes and the presence of outrageous characters doing absurd things: breaking into song, running at cartoon-like speeds.

What The Orange Thief also does exceptionally well is provide a dead-on soundtrack.

Traditional Sicilian folk songs and upbeat jazz beats add the perfect component to the fastpaced and erratic film.

Angel’s notes on the process of creating the film cite: “The Orange Thief did not begin with a script, only plot concepts and character sketches that the directors divided up, scripted and shot separately—sort of an ‘exquisite corpse’ method

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WORDS BY

KATHLEEN HEFTY

of filmmaking. Each director had a SONY HDV camera and shot his scenes completely independent of the other directors. Only after a scene was scripted, cast, shot and roughly edited was it presented to the other directors for comment and criticism. If it was agreed that the scene was successful the other two directors would incorporate the new character developments, new props, new locations, or new secondary characters into their follow-up shoots.”

Enrico Guazzoni’s 1913 Antony and Cleopatra, Luchino Visconti’s 1943 Ossessione and Maurizio Nichetti’s 1989 The Icicle Thief were also shown during the festival.

The Italian Film and Food Festival is a fundraising event for the all-volunteer nonprofit Richmond Moving Image Co-op, which promotes and supports independent media arts in Virginia and presents the annual James River Film Festival, Flicker, the new James River Filmmakers Forum and other independent film programs throughout the year. Profits from the event allow RMIC to bring filmmakers to Richmond. g KATHLEEN HEFTY STUDIED ART HISTORY AT THE UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN-MADISON AND IN BOLOGNA, ITALY.

The Auction

[Above] From Jane Joel Knox’s collection: Giraud, Eugene–Pierre-Francois (1806-1881) French “La czarda hongroise” [Detail} 1879; Oil on Canvas; 41 ½ x 77 ¼” Acquired April, 2006.

RICHMOND ART COLLECTOR JANE JOEL KNOX IS THE AUTHOR OF THE UPCOMING BOOK

Photo: Taylor Dabney

A CELEBRATION OF ART: NOTES FROM A COLLECTOR. Auctions are a passionate activity. The bidding sensation feels like gambling, except that you don’t lose anything you’ve paid for, and you don’t put up anything in advance. Dealers buy at auction and look at the same art you are looking at, putting you at the same buying level.

The difference is that they will mark up what they buy and resell it. They will also put it in the best condition and in the most appropriate frame, advertise it, and bring their clients to see it.

I was very nervous at my first auction.“I’m going to sit way up front,” I said. The auctioneers didn’t know me, and I didn’t want to be overlooked. I was only going to bid on one painting, and I wanted that one painting desperately. I’d seen it in the auction catalog and then I’d gone to New York to see it in person. It didn’t disappoint me. The auction estimate range was within what I could afford.

With my granddaughter at my side, I picked up my auction paddle and headed for the front seats. The telephone bank is to the side of the room and there are usually five or six associates taking calls from customers who have arranged in advance for a phone bid. The auctioneer and his spotters handle all of this activity. With my catalog in front of me, I followed the bidding until my painting arrived. With fluttering heart, when the bid opened I held my numbered paddle high.

Being up front I couldn’t see the opening flurry of raised paddles. The auctioneer was calling numbers within the range I’d allowed myself. Then came the higher amounts, and I could tell there was only one other bidder and me. Keeping my

SHE DISCUSSES THE SOMETIMES THRILLING PROCESS OF ART ACQUISITION.

A Celebration of Art: Notes from a Collector from Palari Publishing features works from a diverse survey of American and European painters including WilliamAdolphe Bouguereau, John Koch, William Lamb Picknell, and Henri-Jean-Guillaume Martina.

paddle raised, I took a deep breath. The bid came to me alternately for a few quick moments, and then it stopped. It was mine!

Exhausted, my heart beating wildly, I walked out to the lobby, A man approached me.

“I was the under-bidder,” he said. “Do you want to sell the painting?”

“No,” I said emphatically, thinking it was he who raised the bidding.

“Do you know much about the artist?” he asked.

“Only that I like what I’ve read about him and love this painting.”

“I have some material I’m going to give you,” he offered. And the next morning, he did. It was a gracious act on his part. The material was valuable to me.

Auctions are tricky. You need to see the paint-

ings prior to the sale—the earlier the better. You really don’t need to worry about alerting the auctioneer if you scratch your nose (that’s only in the movies). Most auctions furnish paddles with numbers on them to identify the bidder. You need to know that auction houses expect payment in full at the end of the auction. In fact, there is always someone to take your payment as soon as you have won the bid. You are responsible for removing your painting or for arranging for shipment.

The sale is almost always nonrefundable.

There are several ways of going about buying art. If you know an artist and like his work, can you select one of his pictures that you really love and want to live with a long time? Directly from the artist is the least expensive way to purchase art, since there is no gallery or auction fee. Try to learn as much as you can about the artist.

A gallery purchase is another way to go. Don’t go into the gallery if you don’t like what’s in their ads or in their windows. The same preliminary feeling, a sensory acceptance, follows for this type of purchase. A gallery should be able to tell you about the artist and the painting, and if you want to think it over, they may be able to give you a picture or transparency of the painting and a résumé of the artist’s history. If you have found that the work you’ve purchased was a mistake (for whatever reason) many galleries will exchange that painting for another work that they own in inventory.

The most important thing is to be moved emotionally by a piece of art. When this happens, I think about whether I will like and enjoy it for a long period of time. I then think about light, clarity, color and composition. If there’s anything that bothers me about it, I don’t buy it because what you didn’t like at first will not only continue to bother you…but it will get WORSE. g

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Book Reviews Family Drama with a Twist Based on the film of the same name, Mulligans (Palari Books, 2009) is a poignant family drama with a twist. College jock Tyler Davidson takes his best friend and roommate Chase to spend the summer with his family at their lake house. The Davidson family welcomes Chase with open arms, but as the summer progresses, so does an unexpected attraction between Chase and a member of the family. Stacey, Tyler's mom, tries to hold on to her family while Tyler's dad Nathan struggles with his long-suppressed feelings.

The author, Charlie David, is an accomplished writer and actor who has appeared in several movies and in television shows like Dante’s Cove and the travel show Bump! currently on the Logo channel. His debut novel Charlie David shows a deft ability to capture dialogue and portray honest human interaction in an entertaining way. Mulligans is a solid work in character study and emotional honesty.

Rufus Kirby

An Authentic Point of View Piper Leigh Cliff, the protagonist in Breaking Spirit Bridge (Spinsters Ink Books, 2008) is on a full scholarship to play collegiate basketball at UVA. Upon her return to her childhood home in Virginia to see her dying grandfather, she reconnects to a past she had purposely forgotten. Piper

Piper juggles her new life of athletics, academics, and lovers with the painful memories of an abusive and often unhappy childhood. juggles her new life of athletics, academics, and lovers with the painful memories of an abusive and often unhappy childhood. She even has difficulty keeping a grasp on reality as she and her dog visit places from her past.

In her third book, Ruth Perkinson provides a character-driven novel that is heavy with issues—bipolar disorder, abuse, family betrayal—but the author’s descriptions and attention to detail make the story resonate with an authentic, strong point of view. Sprinkled with well-constructed secondary characters and a deft sense of humor, Breaking Spirit Bridge establishes itself as an entertaining, emotional, and worthy read.

David Smitherman

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The Browser Implied Consent: A Novel

by Cody Fowler Davis

Anderson, a former actress and theater professor, was also one of the first women ordained into the Episcopal priesthood.

Renowned trial lawyer and awardwinning author Cody Fowler Davis follows up his debut novel Green 61 with a new legal suspense tale entitled Implied Consent that once again pits optimistic, good-natured attorney Anderson Parker against the ruthless Justin Cartwright III. This time around, Justin enlists the help of an attractive paralegal named Nicole to infiltrate Anderson's firm and wreak havoc on his personal and professional life.

ISBN: 9781928662136

We're Still Here by Sandra F. Waugaman & Danielle Moretti-Langholtz, Ph.D.

Both authors traveled across the state interviewing members of each tribe as well as Indians from tribes not indigenous to Virginia.

From members of the Monacan Nation in the western part of the state to the Nansemond tribe in the tidewater area, Indians shared their stories of tribal history and cultural traditions.

Surprising Moments & Places Reading Vienna Cobb Anderson's Holy Faces, Holy Places (Dementi Milestone Publishing, 2008) is a mystical experience. Anderson captures ordinary—and extraordinary—experiences, and makes them sublime.

From the Chinese beggerman with furrowed brows and scraggly goatee to polar bears in Greenland, Anderson has traveled the world capturing the holy. Holy Faces, Holy Places is a series of exquisitely written prose-poems accompanied by breathtaking photographs.

I laughed out loud at “Funny Things” and the accompanying picture—a pigeon drinking water from a public fountain in Siena, Italy. In “Funny Things,” Anderson explores how laughter—funny things—can ease depression and despair. I cried at “Growing Older.” The companion photograph reminded me of my own late grandfather, and how much I miss him.

I gasped at “Do You Ever Wonder?” because yes, I have tuned out God while sitting in church, and I’ve pondered the meaning of my life. And I was humbled by “Cancer,” in which Anderson explores her diagnosis with breast cancer by taking trips to Antarctica, the Arctic, and the Amazon.

“If it was to be a year of adventure with the "Big C,” I figured I’d also have a year of adventure visiting the ‘Big A’s,’” writes Anderson. Each photograph reminded me, in different ways, of moments when I’ve stood in the presence of beauty and felt connected to the divine. Anderson, a former actress and theater professor, was also one of the first women ordained into the Episcopal priesthood. In her retirement she makes jewelry, writes, paints, and travels. With Holy Faces, Holy Places, she has done more than create a beautiful coffee table book, she has created a gift. A gift for anyone who has known, at the core of their being, the experience of breathing in the presence of the sacred in the most surprising moments and places.

Julie McGuire

JULIE MCGUIRE IS A LITIGATION PARALEGAL. HER PERSONAL ESSAYS & POEMS HAVE APPEARED IN THE C HRIS TIAN SCIENCE MONITOR & SEVERAL SMALL PERIODICALS. SHE IS ALSO A FICTION EDITOR FOR THE INTERNET REVIEW OF B OOKS .

www.URg Eonline.com | SPRING 2009

ISBN: 1-928662-01-3

Entertaining and Informative-Also helps educators teach concepts required by the Virginia Standards of Learning.

The Switch Effect by Mike Gilbert The Switch Effect: A Real-Life Example of How to Become an Entrepreneur by Richmond author Mike Gilbert offers a revolutionary approach in revealing the nuances of how to take a dream and turn it into reality. This book provides a captivating, yet authentic working example of the entrepreneurial process by explaining how to generate an innovative idea and then how to marshal the resources to make it happen.

ISBN: 978-1928662105

Virginia Colleges 101 by Christina Couch The Ultimate Guide for Students of All Ages Business writer Christina Couch makes it easy for students to locate financial aid in this easy-to-use resource that also provides summaries of all colleges in Virginia. .

ISBN: 9781928662112 Visit Palaribooks.com for more information on these and other titles.

Authors and publishers, promote your title in the region’s premier arts quarterly. List your title, ISBN, 75 words of promotional copy with a thumbnail of your cover for $150 per quarter. Additional advertising space is available contact: Dave Smitherman at 866.570.6724 or email urge@urgeonline.com

COMING

TO

THE NATIONAL 708 EAST BROAD STREET, RICHMOND

Green 17 Tour

2009 Grammy Winners

Special Event

Special Event

The Wailers

Morrissey

The Aggrolites Dub Trio

Jaguares

with a Special Guest

Red Cortez

Featuring Al Anderson and Jr Marvin with a Special Guest

Monday March 9

Thursday March 12 Devil Wears Prada

Friday March 13 Black Kids and Mates of State

Sunday March 15 Tracy Morgan

Flogging Molly

QuiVa Productions Presents

Railroad Earth

Star of SNL and 30 Rock

Jackass Flats

A Day To Remember Sky Eats Airplane Emarosa

Saturday March 21

Saturday March 28

Thursday April 2

Saturday April 11

Silverstein

Killswitch Engage

Jacks Mannequin

Lamb of God

Saturday April 18

Sunday April 26

Tuesday May 5

Thursday May 14

Norma Jean Blessthefall Before Their Eyes

Lacuna Coil Chimaira

with a Special Guest

Erin McCarly A Special Guest

Municipal Waste God Forbid

US $23.95

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The Maverick Millionaire

Palari Publishing LLP Over a decade of quality publishing in Richmond.

Through our hardcover and trade paperback originals, Palari provides authoritative, well-written nonfiction that addresses topical consumer needs and fiction with an emphasis on intelligence and quality.

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