Get out there this weekend and celebrate the city we love to call home, your favorite greenspaces, and local business owners. Here are this week's handful of must-do ideas with infinite potential ...
Illuminating
Legacies
The The JXN Project is celebrating Jackson Ward’s 150th Anniversary this weekend at the "Illuminating Legacies: Giles B. Jackson Day" event. While pre-registration is sold out for guided tours, you can still celebrate one of the most important Black neighborhoods in the country as it turns 150. Head to the city's sixth ward on Saturday to check out dozens of live projections that will reveal the neighborhood's origin story through restorative truth-telling and redemptive storytelling. Though the trolly tours are booked, you can enjoy the projections by foot or bike and support Black-owned businesses across Jackson Ward. The JXN Project will honor this important anniversary of Jackson Ward by elevating and educating participants on the hidden histories of Jackson Ward as the "Birthplace of Black Entrepreneurship,” an often under-told and overlooked story when discussing the local origins of Black excellence and enterprise in the national narrative. Make sure to follow The JXN Project, created by Enjoli Moon and Dr. Sesha Joi Moon, after this weekend's event too, as the JXN journey will continue as part of a year-long sesquicentennial celebration with more interactive activities and activations across the community.
Be a part of The Valentine’s newest exhibition, Breathing Places: Park & Recreation in Richmond, opening at the museum on May 5 by submitting images of yourself, your family, or your friends enjoying greenspaces this weekend. The debut of Breathing Places comes on the heels of the Valentine welcoming visitors back to the museum with new outdoor programming, spring and summer events and more. “As residents and visitors alike begin to return downtown to enjoy many of the greenspaces they’ve missed for over a year, now is the ideal time to open this exhibition,” says Valentine Director Bill Martin. “Breathing Places is not only an opportunity to fully explore the history of parks and recreation, but to inspire visitors to experience these spaces for themselves while considering how we can improve community access going forward.” Breathing Places will include a slideshow of rotating images featuring community-submitted photos. Richmonders (both individuals and organizations) can share favorite images of greenspace in the Richmond region. It could be at a park, yard, field, or any little patch of green that brings you joy. Makes sure to tell The Valentine a little about your image and they will include it in a slideshow in the Breathing Places exhibit.
RVA's newest weekly vendor market has launched at The Diamond. Hosted by River City Festivals in the expansive parking lot in front of The Diamond, the market is socially distanced and features an impressive list of rotating vendors, artisans, craftspeople, and other local business owners. Oh and there's beer, wine, and food trucks too! Check out the growing list of participating vendors including woodworking, art, clothing, jewelry, beauty supplies, gifts for your pet (bring your dog with you), locally grown produce, nonprofits, and more. Come out and support your local, small businesses.
Vitals:
PopUp at The Diamond / Every Saturday from 10 am - 4 pm / New vendors every week
Celebrating Swansboro
Richmond artists Silly Genius, PT Carroll, Auz Miles, and Nadd Harvin of All City Art Club are putting the finishing touches on a new mural on the Bainbridge underpass in Swansboro this week. “As with every mural we’ve painted in Southside, the love the people of the neighborhood reminds us we’re on the right path,” says Silly Genius. Take a drive down Bainbridge to check out Richmond's latest mural collaboration celebrating community.
Spring has finally arrived. We don't know about you, but it couldn't have come at a better time. We're celebrating with a special virtual event in honor of Holi, Easter brunch creations by Arley Cakes that support the RVA community, tunes by Kevin Zhu thanks to the Richmond Symphony's Masterworks series, and exploring the great outdoors with handmade masks by the Richmond Ballet's CostumeDirector. Read on to get in on the action ...
Happy Holi
Holi is upon us, one of India’s favorite annual celebrations. This year, Richmond’s own Prabir Mehta, a longtime Here Weekly partner and collaborator, will host a very special live Holi celebration with Crabtree Sessions. “Even Mom is a part of the show y’all,” says Prabir about the upcoming event that will be hosted virtually at 8 pm on Sunday. “We’ll be doing some tunes, chatting Holi, Mom’s gonna show ya how to cook some Indian food, and as always it’ll be a blast hanging with Michael from Crabtree Sessions.” Here Weekly and Grid will stream the Holi event live on Richmond Grid’s Facebook page for all to enjoy. "PS, you don't have to be Indian to celebrate Indian things," he adds. "I’ve been jammin’ to y’all’s xmas tunes for decades now. Come Holi it up with me on Sunday evening.”
From her Nana’s sewing machine, Emily Morgan is making it possible for Richmonders to continue to mask up in a fun, stylish, and active way. For years, you could find Emily traveling the world (pre-Covid) as a freelance Costume Designer working in dance, theatre, opera, and film. Here in Richmond, she has turned her talents to serving as the Costume Director for Richmond Ballet. Emily started making masks one year ago this month when it became clear that masks were (and are still) the best way to protect ourselves and each other. “I began with huge amounts of the pleated style masks for donation, trying to cover as much of the community as quickly as possible,” recalls Emily. “As the pandemic continued and we went back to work at Richmond Ballet we started to identify features and qualities that would maximize comfort and function for my performers. Then we all got into masks as statements or to convey a mood. I wore my Wonder Woman mask on Election Day, and I choose fabrics based upon what I know my clients will love to wear as accessories. We’ve gone well past function and into fashion. Ultimately that’s what good design is all about, the intersection of function and style.” Today, she offers a variety of mask options -- ranging from Mandalorian themes to pink leopard and everything in between.
Arley Arrington, the owner of RVA-based bakery Arley Cakes, bakes goods for people who want to make a difference. For people who care about Richmond - and who care about the world. Since 2015, Arley has created custom cakes for special occasions, a playful selection of cookies and small treats, brown butter sea salt blondies, beautifully latticed pies, the best jam tarts around, and ongoing fundraisers and bake sales as a way to give back to the community. Arley also creates advocacy cakes that are decorated with a call to action, such as “Gun Reform Now,” “Black Lives Matter,” “Justice for Breonna Taylor,” and “My Body My Choice.” For a hoppy Easter brunch, Arley is offering a cardamom spiced carrot cake (with a cream cheese buttercream and festive Robin’s egg blue frosting and a bird's nest on top), brown butter cinnamon rolls, a tangy sweet strawberry rhubarb pie, sweet potato biscuits spiced with honey butter, and more. Available for pickup in Bon Air, Richmond.
Just over 3 weeks until you can see Kevin Zhu perform at the next Masterworks concert by Richmond Symphony! Fun fact: Kevin won the Menuhin Competition, the world's leading international competition for young violinists, in 2012 at age 11. Exciting that Richmond has an opportunity to watch him perform again so close to the Menuhin Competition Richmond 2021. Join the Richmond Symphony for a safe, socially-distanced in-person concert.
Meet Nico Cathcart, this week’s guest editor! Nico is a painter and muralist hailing from Toronto and has lived in Richmond for the past 11 years. Nico strives to discuss intersectional feminism and climate change in her highly-colorful realistic works which often include local flora and fauna, as well as the female form. She is in the process of going deaf, relying on hearing aids and lip reading to communicate. She often includes birds in her work as a nod to her disability. A veteran of the past three RVA Street Art Festivals, and International Invitational Wall/Therapy, she has murals across the country. In 2020, Nico was honored as an Agent of Change for her use of activism in her art by the Virginia Museum of History and Culture, and was the recipient of the 1708 Gallery space grant. Recently, she released the print “Oceans Rise, Empires Fall” with House of Roulx. Nico is also a Mending Walls RVA artist in collab with Austin Miles and she just finished the Brown Ballerinas for Change mural with Monty Montgomery. Her upcoming projects include the Mending Walls documentary with VPM coming in June and a sustainable agricultural mural in New York.
Take it away, Nico!
RVA Community
Makers
This project was put together by my friend Hamilton Glass for the VMFA and its 3rd year is absolutely the BEST! 2021 Community Makers features portraits by some of the most talented Richmond painters celebrating musicians from different genres from the area. This year's series includes Nadd Harvin painting Z-Bey (pictured), Austin Miles painting Cora Armstrong, Mahari Chabwera painting J. Plunkey Branch, Justice Dwight painting Desiree Roots, and David Marion painting Jon Bibbs. Hamilton also created an engaging community panel for the exhibition. The paintings are amazing quality, and the project does great justice to the Black creative community. It’s really a DON'T MISS event. The exhibition has moved to the Black History Museum and will be on display through July 3.
Located at the Lakeside Farmers Market, the Safe Space Market is an awesome way to spend Friday night. Founded by Andy Waller, the goal of the Safe Space Market is to support, celebrate, affirm, and promote RVA’s Black, Queer, Trans, Indigenous, and marginalized communities through a weekly pop-up market. From BIPOC/LGBTQ+ owned jam (seriously my fav) to tea, to bath and body products, this is the perfect place to grab some local food and goodies for the week. They even have a gender affirming hairdresser on site! RVA Safe Space also gives back. As an example, Safe Space Market hosts a can food drive for RVA Community Fridges, a project aimed at providing free food to those who need it using a "take what you need, give what you need" model. The market is hosted every Friday from 4-7 pm at Lakeside Farmer's Market. Make sure to bring a mask and enjoy the nice weather ahead. Oh, and don't forget to try some local jam, Bloody Mary mix, or pickles while you are at it!
I have an enormous love of RVA’s food scene, and it's hard to just pick ONE place to talk about. But one of my absolute favorites is SB’s Lakeside Love Shack. It's definitely worth the trip out of the city for brunch. Women-owned, and full of unique character, it's the perfect place for a nice weekend late morning. They have a themed menu that ranges from timely to funny (last week it was the Ninja Turtles) including a special mega drink every week, from Bloody Marys to special mimosas (Ninja themed drinks included Donajello Shots and Rock Steady’s Latte). They have expanded outdoor seating too, giving you a chance to grab a coffee or a cocktail while you wait for a table. And trust me, it’s worth the wait every time. Check their Facebook page before you go to see what the theme is each week!
Founded in 1957, the Richmond Symphony performs, teaches, and champions music to inspire and unite our communities. Led by Music Director Valentina Peleggi, the Symphony incorporates classical, contemporary, and popular music, making symphonic music interesting and accessible to everyone. The League of American Orchestras recognized the Symphony as a leader of innovation in the orchestral field and awarded the Symphony the Catalyst Grant, to help implement effective practices to enhance diversity, equity and inclusion. In response to COVID-19, the Symphony now offers digital livestreamed or on-demand concerts and launched an online music school for learners of all ages.
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