vol. 288 / Art of PlaceExploring and celebrating the place we all love to call home.
VOL. 288 / Art of Place
Meet this week’s guest editor, S. Ross Browne, a celebrated Richmond artist whose work has enriched the River City with depth and color for decades. Born in Mount Vernon, New York, Ross studied Communication Art and Design at VCU and The Corcoran School of Art. His paintings have been featured in more than 75 exhibitions across the U.S. and abroad, with works in the permanent collections of the VMFA, the Valentine Museum, the Black History Museum of Virginia, Virginia Commonwealth University, the Duke Ellington School of the Arts, and The JXN Project.
Ross has received honors from the VMFA, the Black History Museum of Virginia, the Virginia Commission for the Arts, CultureWorks, and the Gottlieb Foundation, among others. You can spot murals by Ross across Virginia—from the Children’s Hospital at VCU Health to Virginia State University and beyond. He was also an inaugural artist in the acclaimed Mending Walls Mural Project.
As an educator, Ross has shared his passion through therapeutic art programs at VCU Health and through youth initiatives such as Art 180 and the Fresh Air Fund.
This week, Ross joins us for a special issue of Here Weekly with his tips for exploring and celebrating this place we all love to call home. Take it away, Ross...
Richmond’s Arboreal Treasures
Compared to many of the cities I have visited around the world and those I have lived in across the U.S., Richmond is wonderfully walkable, with many urban neighborhoods just a short sojourn away from the almost bucolic. I think the proximity to nature that living in Manchester provides is truly a moment of zen amid what can be the miasma of city living. I love to raft, fish, and take long hikes and bike rides along the many wooded paths while identifying flora and fauna with friends. It always amazes me how quickly the sounds of the city melt away. One of my favorite shorter walks is along the floodwall to the west of Manchester, under the Manchester Bridge, across the Potterfield Bridge, and onto Brown’s Island—past the amphitheater at Tredegar, under the Lee Bridge, where the suspended footbridge provides breathtaking panoramas of the river (especially at sunset)—then onto Belle Isle, where the many trails can lead to sylvan tranquility, sparsely interrupted by fellow hikers and bikers and the distant, muted trumpeting of a lumbering locomotive.
A gem-blue robin’s egg nestled in a brown dry thatch is the Visual Arts Center of Richmond. I often find myself depleted from the day-after-day hard hustle of being a working artist. It is one of the few jobs that requires grueling manual labor, mental perspicacity, and unflinching vulnerability as a prerequisite. So it would almost seem anathema to logic that when I teach two painting classes in a row for three hours each, such an endeavor is energizing and soul freshening.
My students come from all backgrounds and age groups with one overarching thing in common. They want to paint. They want to create. They want to be artists. The obvious caveat emptor aside, our shared enthusiasm for the craft is energizing in an unfathomable way. I forget all of my troubles and aches and pains and try my best to ignite a spark of inspiration in my students. They often return session after session for years so we come to understand one another and the complex mathematics of art.
Now this is just my introduction to intermediate/advanced acrylic painting classes. VisArts has so many art, design, writing, woodworking, jewelry making, pottery, and photography classes I couldn’t possibly name them all without continuing to violate the guest editor word count. It’s a wonderful place with supportive and kind staff and opportunities for professional artists. Treat yourself. Go there.
The continuing exhibition Bodies of Labor, Hands That Built a Nation at the Black History Museum and Cultural Center of Virginia is a must-experience. It is a group show featuring Virginia artists’ interpretations of what labor means to them and African Americans’ contributions to that effort. The BHM is a thought-provoking, whirlwind tour of cultural enrichment and enlightenment on any day. This particular exhibition, however, is a tour de force of self-reflection, skillful creative elasticity, and cultural introspection.
In this political climate, we are often regaled with the greatness of American ingenuity and industry without giving due credit to all of the American peoples who helped lay the foundation and were co-architects of the edifice shaping its history. As an artist who is featured in this exhibition, I can truly say—without bias or hubris—that the work in this show is, as my brother Kent would say, outstanding.
Curated by Mary Lauderdale, Director of Curatorial Services, it would probably behoove anyone to ask her for a tour of the exhibition, although with her busy schedule that’s probably a long shot. Shameless plug: the painting I have in this museum exhibition is In Defiance of Caste, 2024, 60” x 60”, oil on linen.
Catch the latest mural by Ross, recently completed on the corner of 10th and Hull Streets as part of a new series of enhancements to the Manchester neighborhood. The project, made possible through a partnership with Venture Richmond, Manchester Alliance, and the Hull Street Merchants Association, is part of a community effort to celebrate creativity and spark momentum in one of Richmond’s most historic corridors. Ross says his mural, measuring 20’ x 30’, is his ode to Afrofuturism.
vol. 286 / ConnectionExploring and celebrating the place we all love to call home.
VOL. 286 / Connection
Meet this week’s guest editor, Hamilton Glass. Before he became one of Richmond’s most recognized public artists, Hamilton spent years shaping spaces through architecture and design. That experience still informs his work today, as he continues to create art that connects people, stories, and community.
One of the things Hamilton enjoys most is creating projects that lift up and reflect the voices of Richmond. In 2020, he founded Mending Walls RVA, a project born out of the civil unrest and pandemic that were gripping the country. It became a way for him to process current events and create a platform that encourages empathy and connection through collaborative public artwork. His goal has always been to use art as a healing tool that connects, uplifts, and inspires the people around him.
Over the past year, Hamilton has taken an important step in his artistic journey by building a new studio space dedicated to personal and exploratory work. While public art remains an important part of his practice, Hamilton is now creating space to explore new directions and experiment with different mediums that reflect his personal interests and creative vision. His new studio serves as both a place of focus and discovery, where he can push boundaries, take risks, and create art that feels true to his identity as an artist.
This week, Hamilton joins us as guest editor to share his tips for exploring, celebrating, and connecting with this creative place we all love to call home.
Check out more from Dr. Gibson in her new podcast series, The Six Lessons of From The Wiz to Wakanda: Afrofuturism in Pop Culture. In this series, Dr. Gibson traces the history of the movement and introduces listeners to the writers, artists, and creators who revisit the past as they build new visions for the future. From the work of pioneering Black writers like W. E. B. Du Bois to the blockbuster Black Panther films and beyond, Afrofuturism emerges as an ongoing cultural project that grows stronger and more multifaceted with each new generation of creators.
Vitals:
The Art of Storytelling: Afrofuturism and Pop Culture / Thursday, October 9, 2025, 6:00 – 7:00 p.m. / Richmond Public Library (Main Branch), Gellman Room, 101 E. Franklin Street
Manchester Murals
In early 2025, the Manchester Alliance and Hull Street Merchants, with funding from the service district administered by Venture Richmond, launched a mural project for Hull Street. The goal was to enhance the vibrant public art scene in Manchester while also addressing blight and graffiti and uplifting local businesses.
As part of this effort, I had the opportunity to collaborate with Matt Lively on one of three new murals taking shape along Hull Street this year at 927, 1211, and 1437. The other murals are being created by S. Ross Brown, and by Ross Trimmer of SureHand Signs with Mickael Broth, also known as Nightowl. These pieces join other great works by Silly Genius and Art City Art Club that have appeared on Hull Street in recent months.
It’s inspiring to see so much creative energy coming together on Hull Street this year. Each new piece adds to the story of a neighborhood that continues to grow, connect, and celebrate its community through art.
Vitals:
Hull Street (Manchester), murals located at 927, 1211, and 1437 Hull Street / Follow along here for updates
Trust Building/s Empatica
Trust Building/s is a collaborative community mural project by Alfonso Perez Acosta and Noah Scalin, created in partnership with Mending Walls and One Small Step (a StoryCorps project). Inspired by their collaboration on the 2020 Mending Walls mural project, artists Acosta and Scalin have reconnected to explore the power of interdependence and intersectionality. Together, they are continuing this conversation with the community by producing a series of four new murals, each based on one of the meaningful pillars of trust building: Consistency, Reliability, Honesty, and Empathy.
To create each mural, the artists are working directly with teams of participants from the One Small Step project. One Small Step brings together strangers with different political views for facilitated conversations — not to debate politics, but to better understand one another as people. This partnership allows past conversation participants another opportunity for dialogue and connection, aligning with the goals of the artists and the mission of Mending Walls.
The first of the four mural projects was completed in May of this year at 1118 Main Street. Trust Building/s is now at work on its second installation, Empatica, located at 211 N. 18th Street.
Vitals:
Murals at 1118 Main Street and 211 N. 18th Street / Mending Walls RVA
More about Hamilton:
As Hamilton continues to evolve as an artist, his focus has turned toward creating more personal and introspective work that reflects his individual vision and growth. His new studio has become a place of exploration, a space where he can experiment freely, and test new ideas.
While public art remains an important part of his practice, this chapter represents a return to the studio, where process and reflection guide the work. Along the way, he's inviting others into this next stage. Hamilton is actively seeking to connect with collectors and collaborators who value meaning, connection, and bold personal expression in contemporary art. Whether through his studio explorations or through custom commissions, he’s excited to build relationships that continue his lifelong pursuit of art that brings people together.
vol. 283 / TraskExploring and celebrating the place we all love to call home.
VOL. 283 / Trask
This week we welcome back artist, musician, and community leader Ed Trask as guest editor. A Richmonder requiring no introduction, Ed sums himself up like this: “Painter, drummer. A scattered mess trying to push stories, color, composition, rhythm, love, and light on to the masses.” That restless energy has defined Ed's work and his place in the River City for more than three decades.
A graduate of VCU with a BFA in Painting & Printmaking, Ed made Richmond itself his canvas, transforming forgotten buildings with murals that gave walls new life. After graduating in 1992, he kept painting wherever he went, sometimes illegally and sometimes while on tour with punk rock bands, always in search of rhythm and story.
Back home in Richmond, he has been a driving force in using public art as a catalyst for community. He co-founded the RVA Street Art Festival, served as a commissioner for the city’s Public Art Commission, and worked with nonprofits to bring inclusive, collaborative murals to neighborhoods across the region. He has also shared his perspective in classrooms, boardrooms and community spaces, reminding people that art is most powerful when it belongs to everyone.
Today Ed’s paintings and murals can be found in collections around the world, including the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts’ Modern & Contemporary Art Collection, but his roots remain firmly planted in Richmond, where he lives with his wife and two children. On the horizon for Ed is Universal, a gallery space created by Artists for Hope to incubate new creative endeavors that give back. Artists exhibiting at this nonprofit gallery will donate a percentage of their proceeds to the charity of their choice.
Take it away, Ed ...
Camera to Canvas Fundraiser
On September 12, I’ll join fellow Richmond artists for Camera to Canvas, an annual event that blends photography and painting to benefit the Friends of the James River Park System. For more than five decades, the James River Park has been Richmond’s beating heart. It's a place that has shaped my art, my music, and my life. I’ve biked its trails and paddled its rapids. I've cast a line into its waters and found endless inspiration for the stories that end up on canvas.
This year, I’ve donated my painting Train Songs, a piece that echoes the rhythm of steel, water, and movement along the mighty James. Few places capture Richmond’s creative pulse like the James River Park, and Train Songs is my way of honoring that soundtrack.
At Camera to Canvas, you’ll be able to bid on this painting, as well as photographs by Richmond photographer Bill Draper, plus original works from other artists. Attend the show, or bid on artwork online, or just spread the word. Every dollar raised helps protect and expand the park that we all love to call home.
Vitals:
Camera to Canvas / Friday, Sep 12, 2025 / 6:00 PM - 9:00 PM / 6228 Forest Hill Ave.
Walk the Dams Under the Manchester Bridge
This is my favorite spot to breathe, fish, and decompress. It is the perfect blend of nature and the energy of rushing water pounding rocks for millions of years, with trains in three-quarter time carrying goods, coal, and people slicing between osprey and herons looking to roost. The water drowns out the sound of the Manchester Bridge, which has its own rhythm of passing trucks and car horns. Together they create an orchestra that is peaceful, layered, and at times a little discordant, touching every sense. Yet just half a mile away, a completely different rhythm and song rises from the heart of a city that is changing rapidly. And here you can also walk the dam to the now-closed Pipeline Trail, a beloved spot for so many who seek solace and connection to a river that carries both a difficult history and the promise of unity. I encourage everyone to support the “Save the Pipeline” efforts led by groups such as RVA Paddlesports and the James River Outdoor Coalition, who are working to restore public access to this special place.
Vitals:
Under the Manchester Bridge, near the end of 12th & Byrd Street in downtown Richmond
Health Arts in Healthcare
I just wrapped up a collaboration with VCU Health Arts in Healthcare and the Children’s Hospital of Richmond at VCU, bringing a little extra color and energy to the Virginia Treatment Center for Children’s Northside campus. This mural is meant to welcome kids and their families with warmth and imagination, but most importantly with hope. While I was painting, it struck me that there are so many ways we Richmonders can support CHoR beyond large financial gifts. The Child Life Department keeps Amazon and Walmart wish lists for toys, books, and art supplies. And the Virginia Treatment Center for Children has its own wish list to support recreation therapy and mental health services.
You can also join events like Extra Life, which unites gamers from across the globe to play games to change kids' health to change the future. Donations stay local to fund critical treatments and healthcare services, pediatric medical equipment and charitable care at Children's Hospital of Richmond at VCU. Or start your own project, from a neighborhood art show to a “Shop for a Cause” event at a local business. Supporting CHoR doesn’t always mean writing a big check. Sometimes it’s as simple as sharing your time, creativity, or even a box of crayons.
Do yourself a favor and revisit Kuba Kuba today. Here you can stand on the tiles worn down by nearly three decades of footsteps and lean against this well-worn neighborhood bar, its edges smoothed by years of elbows, while you wait for a plate of Cuban pork. Out front there's a mural I painted years ago, still bright with color. Inside, if I listen closely enough, I can still hear Papi reminding me that Rana's house hot sauce, not sriracha, is the sauce you want. Here you'll find sunlight drifting through the front door, cutting across the chorizo smoke. Regulars laughing over what is probably their fourth espresso of the day. The walls are lined with photos, chalkboards and well-loved artifacts that retell decades of neighborhood stories. Even the dogs know to pause at the door for milk bones. For me, Kuba Kuba has always been a home and a family, and Richmond is lucky to have it. If it has been a while, stop by. Order the pork, sip an espresso, and remember why we rally around the places that feel like home. Cheers, y’all.
This is not your normal podcast. It takes place on an island in the James River in downtown Richmond. For more than 200 years, Richmonders have built on this narrow sliver of land, only to watch the river reclaim it. Still, people keep returning, keep building, and keep trying to find their footing. That spirit is at the heart of Richmond’s newest podcast. Check out the recent episode featuring Ed Trask, recorded with feet in the sand and the city skyline in view, as guests talk about what it means to keep pushing the place we love to call home forward. Richmond Grid and Here Weekly are proud partners of the Sharp's Island podcast.
Go
