RVANews

Third RVA Street Art Festival to bring color, culture to Manchester this weekend

Trevor Dickerson — Fri, 22 Apr 2016 10:43:32 +0000

Photo by Arshan Yazdan.

Original -- March 30, 2016

The gritty, industrial Manchester area will soon be awash in color thanks to the efforts of more than 25 artists and sculptors. The neighborhood, framed by the iconic Southern States grain silos, will serve as the canvas for the third RVA Street Art Festival, to be held April 21st through 24th.

This year's event, entitled "Bridging the River," will take place at the southern foot of the Mayo Bridge, where muralists--most of whom are local-will revitalize the buildings surrounding the silos and the little-known Floodwall Park. A number of sculptors will also create pieces to stand in an adjacent dog park, some permanent and others temporary, dealing with conservation of the James River, including its wildlife and river pollution. Organizers are still deciding whether or not to paint the actual silos themselves, weighing whether their historic character would be compromised by doing so.

The event, which first took place at the city's flood wall in 2012, was spearheaded by local artist Ed Trask and Richmond City Councilman Jon Baliles. Its purpose is threefold-to support youth art education, spotlight local artists, and breathe new life into the city's neighborhoods.

"Richmond really loves this festival. It's a great way to get people out to celebrate all forms of creativity in our town."

The festival landed in Manchester after the two approached the owner of the buildings to be transformed, according to Ashley Hawkins, a festival co-organizer and co-owner of Studio Two Three in Scott's Addition. "The owner was thrilled about it," Hawkins said in a phone interview with RVANews. "They were really excited to have people jumping in and bringing some color to the site." She says conversations began over a year ago. The original plan was to host the event last fall, but there was no RVA Street Art Festival in 2014 or 2015.

"Richmond really loves this festival," Hawkins said. "It's a great way to get people out to celebrate all forms of creativity in our town." The last event took place in 2013 at the former GRTC bus depot and drew a crowd of over 16,000.

The Manchester iteration of the festival is expected to be larger than ever, thanks in part to cross-promotion with Style Weekly's Earth Day Festival, which will take place adjacent to the Street Art Festival on April 23rd.

Along with the arts and crafts market featuring local vendors, food trucks, and the craft beer truck of events past, the 2016 festival will feature an interpretive exhibit along the Slave Trail in front of the silos, a steamroller that will create maps of the city, a stage with live music, and an exhibit featuring the powerful images of celebrated Richmond photographer LeRoy Henderson.

Organizers say the festival is more than 85% funded thanks to sponsorships from Fountainhead Properties, Altria, and Dominion, but the group has set up a crowdfunding campaign on Indiegogo to raise the remaining $20,000 needed to pay artists for their work and expenses, purchase paint, and secure insurance for the event. "There's a lot of logistics going into this, and it's all volunteer-based," Hawkins said. "We try to help get [the artists] here and pay their expenses [and/or] give them a stipend."

Perks for donations range from Koozies and T-shirts to the chance to steamroll your own Richmond map print and a VIP reception with festival artists. Volunteers are also needed to ensure the festival runs smoothly.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VdgUIAmFe94

Photo: RVA Street Art Festival

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2015 RVA Street Art Festival location announced

Nathan Cushing — Wed, 12 Nov 2014 14:53:34 +0000

Organizers of the third annual RVA Street Art Festival announced today that the 2015 event will occur in Manchester at the Southern States silo complex along the James River and floodwall September 10th - 13th. In addition, a year-long initiative will improve the look and feel of Manchester as a city arts district.

"This festival will be bigger than anything we've done in the past," said Ed Trask, one of the founders and organizers of the event. "Our goal is to keep creating large community-driven experiences like last year's event at the GRTC bus depot."

Beginning Spring 2015, a partnership between festival organizers, the Manchester Civic Association, and other local groups will start bringing "art, color, and creativity to the neighborhood" throughout the year to help cement Manchester as a vibrant arts district, said the press release. Details about the community-driven project will be announced in the spring.

For the September event, the 57-year-old Southern States silos, large water tank, warehouse, and several nearby buildings will serve as canvases for artists and muralists still yet to be announced.

Festival organizers have tapped local group Release the Hounds to showcase the site. "We're working on several ideas to transform the silos from an industrial relic into a modern beacon for RVA, all while preserving the character of structure," said John Mills, founder and principal of the group. "We are assembling an amazing creative team of graphic designers, artists, technologists and producers here in Richmond to bring the project to life."

Next year's festival takes place one week before global eyes fall on Richmond as the city hosts the 2015 UCI Road World Championships. Festival co-founder and organizer Councilman Jon Baliles (District 1) believes the large-scale event will leverage local and international attention.

"This is an incredible opportunity to showcase the creativity of RVA, not only to residents and thousands of people daily on I-95, but also to the world just before the 2015 UCI World Championships kick off to hundreds of millions of viewers," Baliles said. "They will all see the creative spirit of Richmond."

The 2015 RVA Street Art Festival runs Thursday, September 10th - Sunday, September 13th. The Southern States silos location will be open daily 11:00 AM - 6:00 PM.

Photo by Jim

Release the Hounds unleashes pack creativity

Nathan Cushing — Tue, 15 Apr 2014 10:00:44 +0000

John Mills wasn't living The Dream. He was living a nightmare.

"I was literally unemployed. I was making no money. I was dirt broke," Mills said about a sliver of time in the late 1990s when he lived in New York City.

But during his professional nadir, Mills took a call from a producer at The Keenan Ivory Wayans Show.

Months before, Mills had signed with comedy talent management company Barry Katz Entertainment,¹ wherein he submitted material that comedy shows could pick and choose à la carte.

The Keenan Ivory Wayans Show producer had liked Mills's work so much that he phoned Mills to offer him a job. "I'm so excited," Mills recalled. "I got super drunk."

"Then the next morning, in the haze of my hangover, [the producer] called back and said, 'Uh, yeah. Sorry. They cancelled the show.'"

Mills's previous comedy writing visited him while later working as a copywriter. One day he watched an episode of Late Night with Conan O'Brien,² and the show used one of the skits he'd submitted to the management company without notice, let alone credit. "You basically sign your life away when you do that," Mills said about submitting material. "[Shows] can take anything."

That skit wouldn't be the last time Mills's work shined in the spotlight while he was on the sidelines. He's since designed a local business to offer a fresh approach to creativity and marketing while deliberately avoiding the limelight.

Going through the back door

Having grown up in Richmond and attended Hampden-Sydney College, Mills left Virginia for New York in the 1990s. While there, he managed music acts for a record label owned by Atlantic with talent the likes of Hall & Oates and Carly Simon. Mills discovered and signed new bands that'd go on to have various degrees of success with major labels. But Mills and his cohorts remained on the sidelines while the labels relished their good fortune in the spotlight. "We realized the company was making a lot of money, but we weren't making much," he said. It was time for something different.

"I was also trying to do comedy writing in my spare time." His work with Barry Katz Entertainment provided him his infamous one-day employment with Keenan Ivory Wayans, as well as work on The Magic Hour, the talk show hosted by Magic Johnson.

While scraping for work, a friend co-opted Mill's talent for a copywriter position at the now defunct Mezzina/Brown. "I never set out to just be a copywriter," he said. "I basically back doored my way into marketing."

While copywriting in New York, "I became really invested in the strategic part of [client work]," he said. "I became really interested in the why part" of what he was doing all day.

Unfortunately, Mills had no chance of learning the strategic side of things as a mere "creative." He said the way it was back then (and the way it largely remains) is that agencies segment their workers. Creatives go over there, accounting over there, and planners over there. "I think that's one of the problems of the current advertising model is you're told to be either a creative or a planner or an account person," he said.

In 2003, he returned to Richmond, switching gears by taking on strategic duties and client management, diversifying his industry experience. "I feel like I've worn a bunch of different hats," he said. But Mills wanted something fresh: he wanted to work someplace that really collaborated, didn't segment its workers, and did, you know, cool stuff.

He wanted his own agency.

"What is that?"

An agency that did things differently needed a different name. "I wanted to have a name that didn't sound like a marketing agency, that didn't have my name in it--because I didn't want it to be about me--and something that made people ask: What is that?"

He chose Release the Hounds, which opened for business out of Mills's garage in 2009 during a full-blown recession. "No one has any money. No one is spending any money. Why would you do this?" he said, recounting the early criticism. "My feeling was that it was actually the best time. If I could make it work when it was just hell out there, when things turned around in a couple years I would know better how to run a business because I would have the experience, and I also wouldn't be the new guy."

Release the Hounds has two main tenets in its manifesto. The first deals with collaboration. "There's lots of talk of collaboration. It's a very trendy sort of thing to say. But I think few people truly work in collaborative environments," Mills said.

Release the Hounds revolves around four full-time people. Each has their own specialty, of course, but the group approaches each client, each project, and each idea with a "pack" mentality. Everyone is equal. Everyone contributes. Someone handling accounts can pitch a creative idea. A copywriter can lob a business suggestion.

"It's more fun that way. You build great relationships. You build trust. You see things in people you've never seen," Mills said. "The client benefits because you're getting great ideas that you maybe wouldn't have gotten" had everyone worked separately while tucked away in their own office corner.

The other tenet of Release the Hounds: the company doesn't only advertise other people's stuff. They make their own products. "It teaches us how to really understand how to build a brand," Mills said.

One of its products is Crunch Dynasty, a crunchy hot topping that's sprinkled on food. "It's a recipe that was created by my mother-in-law who's a Chinese chef," Mills said. Release the Hounds began developing the product and brand in early 2013. It'll soon be sold in Whole Foods stores.

But before Whole Foods came calling, Release the Hounds spent hours brainstorming and developing the brand for a product that they weren't 100 percent sure would exist. Why not use that time to work with paying clients? "I didn't set the business up to chase money," Mills said. "I wanted it to be something that was fulfilling for my life."

Mills also gets fulfillment by having Release the Hounds work with organizers of TEDxRVA and the 2013 RVA Street Art Festival, with the latter benefitting Art 180. "Getting involved in the community, especially in the arts, is just something that I feel is kind of our responsibility to do," Mills said. "Because I think you should always do what you can do to lift up the community."

The big regret Mills has about Release the Hounds is that he didn't have the confidence to do it sooner. "There's nothing like running your own business. The highs are much higher, and the lows are much lower," he said. "But it's yours."

Even when you're not in the spotlight.

photo courtesy of Release the Hounds

Which managed Tracy Morgan, Dave Chappelle, and others. ↩
It was about a fake toy product called Manger Rangers. "It was action figures for Christians," Mills said. ↩

5 Things for Families

Valerie Catrow — Wed, 11 Sep 2013 11:29:15 +0000

(Editor's note: Don't worry, guys. Kelly is just taking this week off. She'll be back next Wednesday to keep you and your little ankle-biters in the RVA events loop.)

1. RVA Street Art Festival

Who would've thought the old GRTC bus depot would become a Richmond hot spot for art and culture? Come on down to the 2500 block of W. Cary Street and watch dozens of nationally and internationally acclaimed artists (including our own Ed Trask and Hamilton Glass) revitalize 5.5 acres of walls and buildings with murals, sculptures, and more. While the kids will probably love just getting to watch these artists do their respective "thangs," the festival will also include arts education activities where they'll get the chance to create great works of their own.

Wednesday, September 11th through Sunday, September 15th • see website for details (show up at 8:00 PM tonight to see the illumination of the much-talked-about Lights of Human Kindess wall)
The old GRTC Bus Depot, 2501 W. Cary Street
Free (food and drink will be available for purchase)

2. Howl-O-Scream

Starting this Friday (the 13th, DUN DUN DUN), every weekend night at 6:00 PM sharp, Busch Gardens will transform from a place of cutesy Halloween fun to the scary stomping grounds of ghosts, vampires, and other nefarious creatures intent on scaring the pants off of you and your teens (the little ones should probably stay home). In addition to the regular haunted houses and spooky shows, Howl-O-Scream has something new in the works for 2013: "Terror-tories." Four sections of the park--England, France, Germany, and Italy--are now haunted villages where visitors don't have to wait in line to take part in the Halloween fun; it's waiting for them around the next corner. MU HA HA HA.

Begins Friday, September 13th and runs every weekend through Sunday, October 27th • 6:00 PM through closing
Bush Gardens Williamsburg, 1 Bush Gardens Boulevard in Williamsburg
Prices vary with single day, multi-day, and annual passes available; see website for details

3. J.E.B. Stuart Back-to-School Extravaganza

All are welcome to join the students, parents, and teachers of J.E.B. Stuart Elementary for its first ever Back-to-School Extravaganza! Each grade level will have a table where they will sell hot dogs, baked good, drinks, and yard sale items to raise money for their classrooms. Even if you don't have a kid at J.E.B. Stuart, this a great chance to offer Richmond City Public Schools your support.

Saturday, September 14th • 10:00 AM - 2:00 PM
J.E.B. Stuart Elementary, 3101 Fendall Avenue
Free admission (but bring cash to buy some goodies)

4. Symphony Sneak Peek

Looking for a way to introduce your children to the wonderful world of classical music? What better place to do it than Pocahontas State Park where their whining (or squeals of joy, whatevs) will just drift off with the breeze instead of disturbing your fellow audience members? Also: hello, it's free (other than the minimal parking costs). If symphony tickets aren't in the budget this year, here's your chance to soak up a lot of culture at almost no expense.

Saturday, September 14th • 6:00 - 7:15 PM (gates open at 5:00 PM)
Heritage Amphitheater at Pocahontas State Park, 10301 State Park Road in Chesterfield
Free admission, $5 for parking

5. diggityFest

I know. It's a kids' music fest in a shopping center. But this is just what parents have to do sometimes. Plus, all proceeds will benefit Connor's Heroes--how can you say no to that?

Sunday, September 15th • 12:00 - 5:00 PM
Westchester Commons, intersection of Midlothian Turnpike and route 288
Free admission, $5 to get into something called the "Kid Zone" which I'm sure involves moon bouncing or comparable activities.

Photo by: lemonjenny

Get down to the RVA Street Art Festival Pre-party!

Fan of the Fan — Wed, 21 Aug 2013 22:09:36 +0000

The pre-party for the RVA Street Art Festival is underway now at the old GRTC trolley barns on Cary Street until 7:30 with live painting, beer, food trucks, and a booming system.

Meet me at the murals: El Kamino calls the wild

Ted Elmore — Tue, 05 Jun 2012 10:00:57 +0000

Editor’s note: this article is part of an ongoing series about the incredible artists who participated in the RVA Street Art Fest. Get caught up here!

— ∮∮∮ —

Wildstyle is one of the oldest graffiti types. Graffiti writer El Kamino spends a lot of time in the wild--only for him, that means communing with wildlife. Below is a photo of the artist with one of the many catfish he has pulled from the James River, in this instance from an unsuspecting school below Hollywood Cemetery in downtown Richmond.

Although graffiti is an urban art, El Kamino's love of the great outdoors is apparent in his paintings. Translating loosely to "the road" and connoting a seeker or wanderer, El Kamino's ethos echoes the tapestry of places he has been and experiences he has had.

"My life and my work are one in the same. I paint the things I see and I pay tribute to the things that are important to me."

His tribute to RVA is a rich one. Although he no longer lives in Richmond, you can tell this place is important to him. At the RVA Street Art Fest (RVASAF) in April, El Kamino graciously redid a “Richmond" piece because the original in the City's historic Carver neighborhood recently fell with the demolition of the building connected to it. El Kamino jumped at the opportunity to paint another one.

Most noticeable are the mural's allusions to the James River behind it, including gorgeous expressions of the river's ospreys, the great blue heron rookery, and the giant catfish the artist enjoys pulling from the river bed--with gear pulled from the bed of his Chevy. In an incredible moment after the street art festival, as the sun began to set over the James and El Kamino sat atop his lift, up walked a local gentleman named Deerslayer from his fishing hole around the corner with a 30 pound catfish in hand to, as all good fishermen do, compare fish sizes and grab a photo opp.

The wildlife in the mural is a reminder to Richmonders that a wealth of stunning scenes exist a river rock's throw from the mural site. Walk east along the James away from the power plant's murals and you’ll find a rough path and metal ladder to the pipeline walk, which welcomes you into the mystical home of dozens of great blue herons and other water birds, views of ferocious Class III and IV rapids contesting their courageous paddlers, and several fisherman hoping to snag a giant blue catfish like the ones El Kamino pulls from the spot. He tells us he has spent countless hours on the pipeline, long before it was so easily accessible.

"There is a certain energy that place holds and you can't help but be affected by it."

While the artist prefers to stow his public persona in the shadows, with brush strokes his soulful spirit shines brightly. A true outdoorsman, his work depicts wildlife as both beautiful and base, capturing nature's innate essence on concrete walls. Converse recently commissioned him for a sky high mural on the side of its Rubber Tracks recording studio in the heart of Williamsburg, Brooklyn.

Our regal herons have especially spoken to him. You will see them in many of his "interior" paintings, in the Converse mural, in the RVASAF mural, and in the signs he painted in the spring of 2011 at First and Broad Street as part of a downtown revitalization project sponsored by Altria.

"The heron has become my symbol for all things river. From the wildlife to the scenery, to the history, these majestic birds embody every aspect of what I enjoy about the outdoors, and the James River in particular. I like to think that Richmonders of the long past looked upon them with the same sense of awe and respect as we do."

Raised in the suburbs of Richmond, El Kamino started wall painting/graffiti as a teenager, before landing in art school at VCU. However his draw to street art, before street art was cool, pushed him back out onto his own after two years as a Ram. The raw creativity in his background combined with the fine art training shows in his stew of breathtaking detail alongside the harder edges and traditional graffiti piecing lines.

El Kamino's RVASAF piece, of course, spells out “Richmond.” Like all great graffiti artists, his lettering style is uniquely his own. The mural's “M” lets us see the artist processing some recently lost loved ones in a meaningful manner that would amaze local artist Noah Scalin, and the “O” seems a proper drippy, trippy homage to the outlandish neighboring artists to his left, each of which are close friends.

"Graffiti is rooted in a desire to be recognized. To get your name out there and let people know who you are...To let the world know that you exist."

Urban kids began tagging, bombing, piecing, and scheming in force in the late 1960s and early 1970s to speak out and climb out of a place where they felt forgotten.
That effort in art progressed from the tag, which is a quick spray paint scribble of one's name on a train, to the more colorful, detailed, often elaborate masterpieces, or "pieces" young artists used to express their identity. Train painting eventually evolved to walls. The craft was invented and mastered by very young men in a significant period for art history. El Kamino spent years as a youth painting his name in numerous cities and towns but as he grew older began to realize that "something was missing from the equation."

By, instead, painting the name of a city or neighborhood where he is working, he effectively flips the message from "look at me!" into "look at us!" His expression is no longer look how cool El Kamino is, but look how cool Richmond, Seattle, Oklahoma are. The inclusion of adored symbols of the area speak to that purpose.

"My intent is to give the folks who live in that particular area something that celebrates or honors where they are from. By just painting my name, it only has to do with me. But by painting the name of the city or the name of the neighborhood, it is something that the locals can have a connection with and look on with pride."

He accomplished that goal with aplomb at the power plant on the Canal Walk and also in the RVA Arts District where a year previous he painted vintage signs as part of a "Beautify Broad Street" project. These signs, too, highlight our town. One appears as an advertisement for The Mighty James River--noting that it has been "Serving Richmonders Since 1607." Another is a representation of the Commonwealth's flag, only with El Kamino's heron at the center straddling a catfish, reflecting a likely scene at a number of hot spots on the James. Alongside the flag, he points us to some of those haunts with old timey signs advertising popular river spots: Buzzard's Island, The Nickel Bridge, The Pipeline, Reedy Creek, Texas Beach, Belle Isle, Ancarrow's Landing, and 42nd Street.

"I would hope that by using the natural world in my pieces, folks think about how great our river is. By seeing the state flag, they walk away with a sense of pride."

As far as the signs, El Kamino tells me:

"They are all spots along the river where I have spent time. I figured folks would know most of them, and I was hoping it might make them curious to ask about the places that they don't know about."

El Kamino thus also alludes to the lively conversation that street art sparks. Everyone can look at the Richmond piece on the power plant and the signs on Broad Street and feel a sense of community.

"Richmond has such an amazing amount of history, both righteous and shameful, and I would like to think that my work helps to keep it as a topic of conversation. Being proud of where you are from, knowing your history, and cherishing the things that make our city unique."

In getting to know these diverse artists, this word "conversation" keeps coming up. Go look at the art and, more importantly, have a conversation. Alongside a lot of conflict among us is even more commonality. Foremost of which is adoration of our rich city and the river that runs through it. El Kamino reveals a lot of sincere love for RVA in our conversations. But it is his painting that speaks a thousand words.

— ∮∮∮ —

Books, Bikes and Beyond thrift store at 7 W. Broad Street will be hosting an installation of El Kamino's work beginning on July's First Friday (July 6th). Check out the installation, then go see the James River signs a block away and plan your next Saturday.

Meet me at the murals: Chair apparent

Ted Elmore — Fri, 01 Jun 2012 10:34:31 +0000

Editor’s note: this article is part of an ongoing series about the incredible artists who participated in the RVA Street Art Fest. Get caught up here!

— ∮∮∮ —

The temporary outdoor sculpture is the most fleeting of art installations, so the first art up at the power plant, site of the recent RVA Street Art Fest, will be the first down.

"I have to go check on it every few days. When it starts to deteriorate, I will take it down."

If you have any interest in RVA fine food and design, you most likely have seen and soaked in Tom Brickman’s slick handiwork--he could even be your favorite interior designer and furniture maker. How's this partial list of projects: Balliceaux, Comfort, Kuba Kuba, Lulu's, Parkside Cafe, Pasture, Secco, World of Mirth?

A 1987 graduate of VCU’s sculpture program, Brickman once designed sets for TheatreVirginia and constructed exhibits for the Science Museum of Virginia. He eventually whittled down his loves to repurposed artistic furniture, playing music, and inserting a unique and attractive aesthetic into the community. He often employs repurposed, reimagined materials in his work, calling on the components' history for enhanced patina, purpose, and power.

His latest project also calls on the community to consider its place in space. Sitting at the entrance of the power plant gallery on the Canal Walk and assembled during RVA Street Art Fest is a towering sculpture made of approximately 20 wooden classroom chairs, bound together into the shape of, well, a chair.

Social Experiment asks passersby to contemplate the idea of the many melding to form a commonality. The sculpture is about systems: government, religion, education, social activism. When we, or others, work together is something bigger and better achieved? Are those systems of influence in our community culling our resources in a way that aggrandizes the whole? Do we take that sitting down?

Turns out the sophomoric humor in a chair of chairs fails to scratch the surface. However, you won’t hear Brickman sit on high and insist on an interpretation or message in this melange of wood, braces, dowels, and screws.

"The reason to make something is to make people think."

He does point out that chairs fit together to form a chair is not the only irony. Several sightlines near the sculpture, and especially the view from its perch atop the power plant, stare suspiciously at a skyscape of power towers--many with the names of banks and investment firms emblazoned across their highest point.

Brickman tells us the sculpture ascended the wall, above an eventual Art 180 mural, prior to the festival in order to isolate "elements of danger I didn't want to involve the public in...Yeah, we were a little outside of our comfort zone."

Brickman sectioned the sculpture into pieces before asking (not enough of) his friends to help him hurtle those structures from a ladder to the rooftop. There he assembled the final elements of the giant experiment.

If you’ve been to Pasture, you recognize the chairs. The fact that the materials, which originated in a classroom, travelled to a community meeting place before settling into a crow's nest overseeing contemporary artwork adds to the richness of the sculpture they compose. Whether about education or some other system, elements that have a history raise his art's voice.

Adding to the intrigue are the enigmatic white surgical gloves hanging from the piece. I was down at the power plant with muralist Ham a couple weeks ago and we were both enjoying Social Experiment. Earlier, Ham had asked Brickman during fabrication what was up with the gloves. Brickman reportedly shouted down, "You'll see."

Neither of us were sure we did. Or were supposed to. Brickman does ask that you realize the water filling the gloves will soon evaporate, causing the gloves to shrivel up. He also admitted that the gloves provide scale. "And ridiculousness."

As sculptor Susann Whittier's sophisticated shirt collars on the power plant's windows begin to transform into the look of a prom gone wrong, Social Experiment too will not last long. However, it's provocative message will long massage the minds of those fortunate enough to take it in.

— ∮∮∮ —

Tomorrow, June 2nd, Tom will again share the stage with artists at the top of their game. Top chefs from around the country will create performances on a plate during OFF Broad Appétit at Pasture and keep an eager audience on the edge of Brickman's chairs.

Meet me at the murals: Ham? is up

Ted Elmore — Wed, 30 May 2012 10:00:07 +0000

Editor’s note: this article is part of an ongoing series about the incredible artists who participated in the RVA Street Art Fest. Get caught up here!

— ∮∮∮ —

After being laid off from his architecture firm in 2009, Hamilton Glass's wife encouraged him to seize the sudden opportunity to exercise his thirst for art, but this time away from the drafting table. Soon after, Glass, aka Ham, erected this arresting image that sneered over the popular Crossroads Coffee Shop in the Fan:

His expression of the recession, the startling image evoked the ire of some sensitive neighbors and sparked a local debate as to what should be done about it. The inscription "Ham?" fueled the fire as folks struggled to figure out who did it, how he did it, and what the heck it meant.

Instead of engaging the verbal assault, Ham prepared his response in paint. Days after completing the Recession 2009 mural, he reacted to the wishes of many by painting over the piece...with a bigger mural. The next day, the neighborhood awoke to Censorship Expressed, his comeback to the controversy. This second mural still sits on the back of ALB Tech and oversees Crossroads, providing a jolt of justice with your morning joe.

Like all great artists, Ham seeks to deliver a message or evoke a reaction with his work. "Art is a conversation. If people are talking about a mural, then I have accomplished my goal."

After his recent participation in the RVA Street Art Fest (RVASAF), Ham has people talking again. His beguiling portrait of latex and spray paint immediately asks for attention. A tender, colorless, coquettish character sits atop and contrasts with the stark and brightly colored line work that has become his signature. Wrapped around the femme fatale, like a serpent, is a sash with an inscription that adds to the intrigue: "James, Is That You I Smell?"

While the allure of Virginia is unmistakable, the message has again confounded many passersby. The concept came to Ham once he decided to highlight the James River as the central figure in our collective attraction to RVA. Like lovers separated by time, the painting's protagonist longs for the allure of the river. The river's scent is as soothing as the perfume of a long lost mate.

"The purpose of the mural is to highlight the James River as a figure we all love."

Ham was good enough to share with us the original sketch for the mural.

The process of transforming a rough sketch into a thirty-foot mural is where his true artistry shines. Ham tells us the sketch is just an idea and does not dictate the piece that emerges on a wall.

"Sketches are only the foundation for my murals. Once the idea is complete, it is time to paint. Then the mural speaks to how I am feeling at the time, the energy of my environment, the direction of my inspiration."

The charming central character in the story appears inspired by the iconic Gibson Girl. Illustrator Charles Dana Gibson penned this fictional character as the feminine ideal of beauty, and her image appeared in magazines and merchandise in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. The strong, independent figure asserted her place in society and often left men daring enough to cross her path happy but hapless. Like Ham's star, her aloofness adds to her allure.

Ham explains that as he began to sketch for an Altria-sponsored mural on Broad Street, he reviewed many portraits and was drawn to the Gibson Girl. The influence of that artistic process is obvious in his illustrations of female characters, including the one in Virginia.

While Ham is scaling and painting blighted buildings on the weekends, Hamilton Glass designs bold new buildings on the weekdays. Working on hospitality projects just steps away from the power plant for 115-year-old architecture stalwart, Baskervill, Hamilton exhibits his verve for precise architecture design and drafting in his art. In addition to his unique understanding of scale (try free handing a thirty foot portrait without the appearance of a disproportionately giant head or hand), Ham's beautiful flowing figures often melt into sheer, measured lines and shapes.

The lines near the bottom of Virginia and his other murals around town reveal both his graffiti past and hotel designing present. They engage the left side of his brain and create a peaceful platform for his creative illustrations. The line work also explodes on the walls in ways not expected from the original sketches.

"Drawing the lines eases my mind and creates focus and structure for the portrait."

The line work also attaches a splash of color--one of which is always pink...because ham is pink.

Ham recently put up a portrait of a bartender on the side of new restaurant, S@mple, in the Fan. The new mural is right across the street from his original work next to Crossroads. The owner of those businesses has been an ardent supporter of Ham's and a positive force in the neighborhood. The lines on that portrait are more intricate and extensive than ever and scamper madly up the side of the wall, exhibiting how his murals have developed. Line work clearly excites the artist, revealing his most animated side.

While a lightning rod for controversy, Ham is an extremely active servant of his community. The talented architect appeared at our Wednesday meeting as a starving artist--with pants covered in paint and t-shirt on wrong side out. He had spent the afternoon working on a map with the kids at Art 180 that charts the locations of their dream places.

He has been weaving dreams for disadvantaged youth at Art 180 and Binford Middle School for three years. He recently served as a facilitator for a discussion at Binford that brought together educators, administrators, and interested citizens to discuss ways to revolutionize Richmond's schools and curriculum with creativity. He downplays his service to others but not what he gains from our young people:

"Working with those kids keeps me creative and improves my work."

Although he would never say this either, RVA's future artists must also be inspired by his boldness. While his architecture training has given him some sense of size and design, Ham began with no formal training in painting and no preparation for the demanding physical test of covering a larger than life canvas.

"Murals are just something I convinced myself I could do."

Likely most amazing about Ham's art career is that it literally just started. Climbing the side of ALB Tech was the maiden voyage of his life as a muralist. The RVA Street Art Fest will likely further accelerate his rapid ascension in the street art world. Look for great things out of this local artist.

"The event was probably the highlight of my art career! It was such a great experience getting to talk to so many experienced artists. I almost wish I could have sat and watched them paint all weekend. Being with these guys definitely turned on a light bulb in my head. I'm looking forward to my own work and evolution. Hopefully I get a chance to paint next to them again."

In addition to the S@mple mural, since the festival, Ham has also live painted for the new RVA Grooves series and dropped his familiar lines on the wall of West Coast Kix. That project launched with an opening reception on Memorial Day Friday and jammed the Carytown store with eager fans and excited collectors from as far away as Brooklyn. And then, thanks largely to revered RVASAF organizer Ed Trask, Ham and the S@ample mural hurdled over no small set of competition to win the “Best Exterior Development at Local Restaurants” category in Style Weekly’s recent “Best of Richmond” awards.

Ham is just as quick, though, to point out of what he is most proud.

"I don't know where I would be without my wife, man. I owe her everything." He shared a heartwarming story about how his precocious new daughter (only 19 months) will walk by one of his murals, point without prompting, and say "Daddy!" The tale seems a microcosm of the things closest to the artist's heart: his family, the limitless minds of children, and the upward trajectory of his art career. It may be just a matter of time before more and more passersby point to their favorite murals and instantly identify, "Ham."

It should be a fun ride for Ham and those of us watching and cheering on his work. The development has been rapid. He tells us that each of his works is shaped by the previous one like a springboard, pushing each new piece into a different direction. Eventually, like life, the story of one's art can veer into all kinds of directions, a transformation that energizes Ham.

"Recession could have been up for two hours, two weeks or two years."

When the conversation changed, the wall evolved with it. Ham suggests we stay tuned as some developing social discourse may one day ask that wall to shout a new message.

The West Coast Kix show continues through June 28th and features original paintings and drawings by Ham, together with photographs of his murals by Shannon Santiago.

— ∮∮∮ —

Meet me at the murals

Ted Elmore — Fri, 25 May 2012 11:06:29 +0000

Editor’s note: this article is part of an ongoing series about the incredible artists who participated in the RVA Street Art Fest. Get caught up here!

— ∮∮∮ —

Street art has gone all-city in the City of Richmond--I hope you noticed. The G40 murals, all 23 of them, are scattered around town and feature slam-into-parked-cars detail and magnetism. The energy and artwork on display at the recent RVA Street Art Fest electrified the whole city. If you attended the G40 First Fridays or the RVA Street Art Fest (RVASAF), you saw it, you felt it, and you were probably moved by it. The best part? It’s all still there. Head downtown and take it in again or for the first time.

Ham?, one of the artists who participated in RVASAF, loves the energy the RVA art infusion has brought to the region.

"Richmond is blooming right now. Because of G40 and the RVA Street Art Festival a ridiculous amount of murals have gone up in April alone. I hope RVA will continue to have mural fever."

So while the art festing has finished (for now), a one of a kind, world-class art collection remains. When a sun drenched day keeps you out of the VMFA, and if you lack the patience for VCU to blow your mind with the Institute for Contemporary Art, remember that stunning thirty-foot paintings hang out in the sun, admission-free.

To assist with your journey, the generous folks at Art Whino who handed us the G40 graffiti gift also provide us a handy photo guide to each G40 mural, alongside detailed information on the diverse slate of international artists. They come from all corners of the world. ROA’s work on Bellytimber Tavern and Have a Nice Day Cafe represents his familiar style that recently graced the entrance of the seminal Art in the Streets exhibit at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles. The 2011 edition of this exhibit highlighted the ascendancy of street art by moving matters inside and featured ROA alongside the two most notorious street artists: the mysterious Banksy, and Obama poster creator, Shepard Fairey.

At the same time, the outdoor museum assembled during RVA Street Art Fest boasts eye popping larger than life art by amazing artists. While the G40 murals are scattered throughout the city, the RVASAF targeted the Shockoe Floodwall and James River Power Plant, a one-time notorious graffiti spot. Here the inimitable Ed Trask and local leader Jon Baliles, with a little help from their friends, gathered another highly credentialed slate of artists to transform this lifeless canvas. Many of these artists are world renown and a number of them have strong ties to the River City. Their works also hang inside--in galleries and museums around the world. Their creativity attaches to your favorite brands, decorates frequent destinations, and increasingly, culls our cultural conscience.

Jarrod Fergeson, owner of contemporary art gallery, J Fergeson Gallery, which ran a pop-up gallery in Shockoe Slip during RVASAF, was honored to participate in the festival, especially given that he is a bit of a street art enthusiast himself.

"The caliber of artists that Ed and Jon were able to bring to Richmond was amazing. I love seeing some of our hometown heroes' work hanging next to those of internationally acclaimed artists. Despite the fame some of these guys enjoy, you can tell that the focus of curating this exhibit is on quality."

A lot of capital style has collected at the power plant and sites of the other murals--street art is on the walls of our city and on the backs of our citizenry. Ham? commented on the diverse crowd that regularly gathers at the power plant:

"I love seeing everyone, young and old, enjoy the murals. It just goes to show that street art, no matter the medium, is something that everyone can enjoy."

The works at the power plant combines much of what we love: art, design, history, nature, sunshine, and community. There you will find all kinds of people on a visit or on their new daily route. We have noted runners, bike commuters, downtown workers walking to lunch, mountain bikers returning from Buttermilk Trail, Segway tours, families touring the canal walk, couples on post-dinner strolls in the moonlight, out of town guests hitting the new RVA must-see, artists returning to the scene of the crime, in-laws, outlaws, and big-eyed babies--almost all of whom are amateur photographers. Maybe not the babies.

Mickael Broth, another of the RVASAF muralists, has checked out the scene himself:

"I'm happy more people are enjoying and exploring along the river and canal. The murals help bring people to an area they may not normally consider worth checking out, but I'm sure that once they do they'll fall in love with the mix of history, industry, and nature. Not many places have what Richmond has in the James River. We're extremely lucky."

Co-chairman of the festival Jon Baliles tells us he expects cool things to come out of RVASAF, including a stop motion film of the festival and painting process and periodic events featuring invited guests and new artists. We encourage you to keep your eyes out for these exciting possibilities.

However, we also implore you to remember that, by definition, street art is temporary.

— ∮∮∮ —

If the massive murals downtown just aren't enough for you, a couple of the artists who participated in the RVASAF have shows featuring some of their other work. Ham? will be showing some of his work and hanging out at West Coast Kix in Carytown tonight (May 25th) at 6:30pm. Also, you've got one more week to check out an installation of photos and paintings by Mickael Broth and Greg Bethman at Pibby's Bicycle and Skate on Broad.

— ∮∮∮ —

Drunk vandal destroys ‘human dart’ at RVA Street Art Festival site

Nathan Cushing — Fri, 04 May 2012 15:57:54 +0000

According to the RVA Street Art Festival Facebook page, one of the “human darts” on display at their canal site was destroyed “by one of the drunk, human dolts from a nearby club last weekend…”

Street Art

Matthew McDonald — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 12:00:45 +0000

Artist at Work

Matthew McDonald — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 10:00:18 +0000

76 photos from the RVA Street Art Festival

Fionnuala Bradley — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 13:47:51 +0000

If you missed this weekend's RVA Street Art Festival, here's an incredibly comprehensive look at the art and activity.

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PHOTOS: RVA Street Art Festival

Fionnuala Bradley — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 13:47:02 +0000

This past weekend was the RVA Street Art Festival. National and local artists used the Floodwall as their canvas, painting unique visuals while interacting with the public. Here are a few photos from last weekend's event. For the full collection, visit our new Notebook section.

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Rich…

Matthew McDonald — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 10:23:04 +0000

RVA Street Art Festival now happening

Nathan Cushing — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 19:28:59 +0000

Last night there was an artist discussion at the VMFA featuring the muralists in town, and now those muralists are stepping things up at the flood wall. Twitter user @KSiddall just posted this:

Here's our article about the RVA Street Art Festival to bring you up to speed.

Check the Rhyme: Culture Wars vs. Style Wars

Marc Cheatham — Fri, 06 Apr 2012 11:44:20 +0000

It became real for me last Tuesday. I was standing in knee-high grass on the corner on 12th and Hull taking photos of Pixel Pancho’s second mural, a massive piece of art that depicts a two-headed robotic dragon wrestling with nature, and standing beside me was Martha Cooper. That name may not mean very much to the casual reader, but Cooper’s presence in Richmond means that something groundbreaking was taking place. The legendary photographer has made her career by documenting special places during special times in history. This dates back to her time as a staff photographer for The New York Post in the 1970s and ‘80s. Cooper made her mark on history by documenting the major elements of hip hop culture--graffiti writing, break dancing, MCing, and DJing--in New York City at a time when it was completely underground.

Cooper was in town this week documenting Richmond’s first G40 Art Summit. I hope that you have noticed but just in case you haven’t, RVA is currently being transformed into a hub for art and creative culture. The G40 Art Summit, Art 180’s What Do you Stand For display, and later this month the RVA Street Art Festival, are all a part of what I’m calling RVA’s Style Wars Summer.

As I traveled around the city this week, I noticed crowds of Richmonders viewing, photographing, and discussing the new art on display. I heard those conversations pivot from artist and murals to conversations about music, hobbies, and neighborhoods. I believe that the vibe surrounding the sudden growth of public art in Richmond has some parallels to those early days of hip hop culture in New York City. Of course, these aforementioned art projects aren’t as rebellious, but the early days of hip hop weren’t about breaking the law, they were about expression and finding an identity. It was about creativity and pride in where one comes from.¹

I have lived in Richmond all my life. I take great pride in the city and the progress that it has made, particularly in the last 15 years, with the reduction in violent crime and a growing city population. I am truly excited about the renaissance of art and culture that is starting to take place this summer. Richmond has a real opportunity to rebrand itself as a hotspot for art, music, and culture. But the fact remains that Richmond’s history still cast a huge shadow over progressive progress, and forging any type of new identity will be met with old-time opposition.

I believe the latest controversy on Monument Avenue is a strong example of the challenges that face RVA moving forward. In my opinion, City Hall has done well to embrace the expansion of arts and culture this summer, playing a significant role assisting the aforementioned art projects. They even originally provided a permit for Art 180’s What Do You Stand For display to be shown on Richmond’s most famous avenue until early May. I call this a good-faith effort by the city to support arts and creative culture. But what has disappointed me is what appears to be City Hall’s knee-jerk reactions to situations that could be resolved with comprise and a little more due diligence.

City Official should work with citizens, businesses, and non-profits on issues like the overflow of children at the First Friday’s Art Walk, the makeshift skate park in Fonticello Park, and the removal of art on Monument Avenue. Working together is the only way that RVA will be successful in creating a new identity that respects our history but doesn’t choke our growth towards becoming the great city that most Richmonders think we can be.

Last week, while walking down Broad Street photographing G40 murals, I met a very accomplished photographer from the United Kingdom named Vanessa Winship. Vanessa was in town as a part of her year-long project to photograph all 50 states. In our brief conversation, she instantly reflected on being in the south and particularly in Virginia. She remarked how there is a real tension in the history here. She said, “It’s a tension that you truly can feel--it wears thick--even to a visitor from out of town.” I believe the only way to dissipate the tension she refers to is by real collaboration and compromise. It sounds simple, but I believe City Hall could significantly benefit by taking a public lead in facilitating positive debate and resolutions to some of these issues.

I may be optimistic, but I don't think it's inappropriate to deem this summer RVA’s Style Wars summer. It is my hope that the public art that is created and displayed will spark a growing appreciation and interest throughout the city. These art projects can help forge an identity for RVA as a Mid-Atlantic bright spot for arts, culture, and creativity.

I hope that 30 years from now America will be seeing a different set of photographs from the legendary Martha Cooper, one that marks this summer as the tipping point for something special in RVA.

— ∮∮∮ —

Footnotes

If you are unfamiliar with the birth of hip hop culture, I highly recommend the documentary film, Style Wars. ↩

RVA Street Art Festival set to begin next week

Nathan Cushing — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 10:00:04 +0000

Who: Over a dozen local and national artists, along with food and drink vendors.
What: Artists will paint custom murals and designs
When: Thursday, April 12 - Sunday, April 15th
Where: Shockoe Flood Wall Power Plant
Why: To create a street art "gallery" along the city's James River Power Plant Building and Floodwall.

— ∮∮∮ —

The origin of the upcoming RVA Street Art Festival might surprise you. “It started when I was in Venice in 2009,” said Jon Baliles, one of the principal organizers of the event.

Baliles happened to visit Venice at the same time Shepard Fairey, a modern artist most famous for designing then-Senator Obama’s “HOPE” poster, painted amid the Venetian public. “I stood there and watched him work,” said Baliles. Over two days he watched the famed artist paint to raise money to restore Venetian buildings. “It was a great way to get a well-known artist to create public art.” Baliles thought about Richmond attempting something similar and let the idea simmer.

It wasn’t until April 2011, Baliles, who works at the city’s Department of Planning and Development Review, approached local artist Ed Trask about the idea. Well-known around town for his commissioned murals, the two had met during last year’s national Keep America Beautiful: The Great American Clean Up event. For that event, Trask painted a 100-foot mural below the I-95 overpass on Boulevard. Baliles said it was “just natural” to approach Trask about collaborating on a project for the city similar to what Baliles saw back in Venice.

Participating artists

“It was an amazing prospect,” said Trask, reflecting on his response to Baliles. “Anything that brought more public art out is a win for me.” Baliles and Trask began their search for a location.

After exploring and considering several sites, a roughly 250-foot stretch of wall—the city’s flood wall—caught the attention of both men. Baliles said that the stretch of bare wall leading from downtown to a former power plant on Brown’s Island can “turn into a huge art gallery.”

While some may see the mural art as encouraging others to deliberately blight property around the city, Trask believes the opposite. “You’re taking the illegality out of it,” he said about the event. He even sees it becoming a “graffiti deterrent.” Jon Baliles also thinks the murals will be nothing like the various graffiti eyesores scrawled across numerous parts of the city. “When people see the art,” said Baliles, “it’s the farthest thing from graffiti.”

The nearly 250-foot-long wall will allow ample room for muralists to paint. One of the artists invited to participate will be Richmond’s Mickael Broth. “Ed [Trask] and I work together occasionally,” said Broth, who said it’s always good to be involved in public art projects. “Beyond enjoying painting large scale works, it's great to create work that engages the community and adds to the visual landscape of the city. Whether people realize it or not, public art is an incredibly important part of a vibrant community.”

While he doesn’t have a specific plan for his mural yet, Broth said that it will reference the old power plant building and the James River. He is also hopeful that the event will inspire the public to further embrace the arts. “Strong public art is vital to establishing a reputation as a creative hub. Hopefully this will encourage VCU and the city's government and large corporations to show their support of more projects like this in the future.”

http://vimeo.com/39797184

Baliles said that the US Army Corps of Engineers, which built and owns the flood wall, and the Department of Public Utilities, which manages it, have all “been great” in working with organizers to make the event happen.¹ Cordish Company in Baltimore, which owns the Power Plant Building, has also been a very enthusiatic supporter of the project. Baliles thinks this support is indicative of the changing mindset of Richmond in how it embraces art. “The city has come a long way in the last three years,” said Baliles. “It’s a huge change.” “The sense of revitalization in a project like this is really exciting,” said Trask. “It’s crazy what public art will do.”

Both Baliles and Trask believe that the event will serve as a “catalyst” for other public art movements in the city and will inspire others to take on novel and unconventional projects. Not only for the sake of art, but to further distinguish Richmond from the rest of the country.

The RVA Street Art Festival will run April 13th - April 15th and will also feature local breweries, food, and music. There will be an artist Q/A at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts on Thursday, April 12th. A list of participating artists can be viewed here.

This event, while unrelated, nicely complements the G40 Summit currently underway across the city.

— ∮∮∮ —

Footnotes

Venture Richmond, Altria, HandsOn Greater Richmond, Troutman Sanders, Rutherfoord, and Art 180 are the principal backers and financiers of the event. ↩

— ∮∮∮ —

RVANews

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2015 RVA Street Art Festival location announced

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4. Symphony Sneak Peek

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Get down to the RVA Street Art Festival Pre-party!

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RVA Street Art Festival set to begin next week

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