September’s First Fridays event has been cancelled
Because of recent unruly attendance and a fear of continued brash behavior, organizers and participants of the Art Walk have decided to forgo next month’s event in the hopes of continued discussion about the event’s concerns as well as possible solutions.
UPDATED: Christina Newton, director of Curated Culture, has released an official statement. See it below.
RVANews has learned that the September First Fridays event that was scheduled to take place during the upcoming Labor Day holiday weekend has been cancelled. Curated Culture members, consisting of business and gallery owners, as well as Downtown residents, voted that the recent rowdiness of crowd attendees, many of them juveniles, as well as safety concerns, influenced the board to discontinue the next event while further discussion can take place to remedy the issues. Future First Fridays events, however, have not been discontinued. Although Newton maintained a goal of continuing the programs, she also recognized the possibility that canceling the monthly event indefinitely may be a solution for Downtown businesses. First Fridays is in its 10th year.
Christina Newton, the principal organizer of Curated Culture, said in a telephone interview that community support has been a “morale booster during a very unique and difficult time.”
Another meeting has been tentatively scheduled for August 22, at which suggestions will be taken to foster improvement of the event overall. One member of the voting board, and owner of a business along the Art Walk, said that reader-submitted recommendations on our recent RVANews forum have underscored the need for continual discussion.
“The situation is really complicated,” said Newton. “There is no easy fix.”
Official statement from Curated Culture’s director Christina Newton
Organizers and participating venues of Richmond’s First Fridays Art Walk decided today (August 12, 2011) to postpone the September 2 Art Walk since the next event will fall on Labor Day Weekend.
As in years past, we’ve decided to take September 2nd off since the next event will fall on a holiday weekend. Slower summer months offer the businesses and organizations time to take much deserved vacations and tend to the necessary annual building repair work that the galleries require. A break also seemed practical in light of the fact that we have seen an increase in crime in the area during and after First Fridays hours.
The outpouring of community support for our program has been overwhelming and appreciated. We encourage the public to show their support of Downtown every day of the week, not just once a month. First Fridays is a unique way to take in all that Downtown has to offer, but our many diverse businesses, galleries, shops, cultural venues, restaurants, and accommodations are open daily, and need our support daily.
Organizational planning for the forthcoming 11th season of First Fridays Art Walk will continue as planned over the remainder of August and September. Assisting Curated Culture in this effort are representatives from the participating venues, sponsors, and city officials. Details of the coming season will be announced when determined.
Christina Newton, Director
Curated Culture, Inc. (coordinating nonprofit)
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Notice: Comments that are not conducive to an interesting and thoughtful conversation may be removed at the editor’s discretion.
so we just give up?
good call there….
@Matthew *Hopefully not.* Hopefully between now and October the whole community can figure this out and get things back on track.
Frankly the September event was always problematic (it’s a holiday, low attendance generrally) but the thought of ending First Friday as a community event is very sad.
It is the only real opportunity to get people downtown who buy art. It’s a time to walk and view each gallery and what is offered – sometimes patrons return and purchase pieces. It’s the ONLY time I, for one, am able to get around and see what is offered. Ths imple fact is, I am very unlikely to see each gallery of I have to figure out the hours and who’s showing what. Everyone loses without First Friday.
I look forward to it’s revival in October.
shann palmer
This can’t be the permanent solution. First Fridays is an institution. All it takes is a mob of bored kids to shut it down? Weaksauce.
What does “cancelling” the event entail? Will all galleries be closed? Will the streets be blocked off by armed guards? Can the city force galleries to shut their doors that evening?
I propose a drinking game where we all take shots every time someone says, “This is why we can’t have nice things.”
@Ross I don’t know how we’re going to figure out reversing fears of gentrification. Spending most of my time in that part of downtown (Pawn District represent!), that certainly seems to be the feel on the street, if not articulated as such.
This is not giving up. This is a common sense move that may defuse a tense situation. In my mind it should have been done last month too as it was predictable there would be another troubled night. Neither downtown, nor First Friday need the bad publicity. Time heals a lot of things and could be helpful here.
Galleries are independent businesses and set their own hours. keep and eye on the Greater Jackson Ward News for individual gallery events and openings. I’ll pass the information along as I receive it.
I think we all need a breather. Nobody would benefit from a repeat of the last three months.
I say F*CK Curated (read: Appropriated) Culture. We don’t need them to tell us how to have an art scene here or encourage the exclusion of young people. CC Making a big deal about cancelling the event is only a detriment to the art scene here. How much will performers, artists, indie venues, restaurant workers, vendors and galleries lose because CC says art is “cancelled” this month. it is way more that money, it is exposure, opportunity, networking, and more.
Artists need to take back the RVA art scene from petty bourgeois and corporations that are just trying to turn a buck on the backs of talent and trends.
What on earth could a bunch of bored teenagers do so wrong and on so big a scale that first friday is being even temporarily cancelled? ALSO you should ask these bored kids what could be done to keep them from doing that. we shouldn’t be trying to figure out a way to exclude young people from an event like this. We should be encouraging them to participate in a more constructive way. ALSO REALLY? are kids skateboarding and being assholes enough to even cancel one event? If that were true all high schools ever would be cancelled.
It seems simple to me, shut down part of Broad St. Have the police do somethings useful instead of antagonizing a bunch of people because of a couple tussles, and shut down a few blocks of Broad St. I was there in August and a WHOLE lot of the trouble seemed to be mostly sparked by cops attempting to get people to move onto the sidewalk, when there was obviously not enough room for everyone. Teens will be teens and gather with all their friends and their friend’s friends. It only really becomes a problem when they get pepper spray canisters pointed at their faces….So just give them some damn room!
Ok it’s not like FF has been shut forever. And sept 2 occurs on a holiday weekend. Every year there is a FF on a holiday be it NYE or the 4th of July and it’s not a big deal to cancel. Dear Frida Curated Culture is not corporate but a small organization of artists businesses and cultural organizations that want a better community. Being negative on hurts our community.
BTW there was an event for the teens planned to give them a place to be creative, gather and enjoy themselves. Only a few went to the event on Broad, instead they would rather start fights at NY Fried Chicken and be mean. FF is better than that. We are a great community of creative people and this makes us realize how important it is to have FF.
This represents a system-wide failure on the parts of those who are tasked with organizing events and keeping the peace in Richmond. Anyone who was around last Friday when the police arrived could tell you that it was not the teenagers who escalated the situation, but rather the sudden and overwhelming (and in many cases, antagonistic) police presence at closing time that turned a peaceful evening into a “situation.”
Nobody here needs “a breather”; there are at least four weeks between each event wherein anyone who needs to can catch their breath. This event is being canceled because of a fear of change and an unwillingness to acknowledge that everyone who peacefully attends such public events should be made welcome, art lover or not. What we need is an event that evolves to welcome and make space for everyone, and a police force that realizes that their job is to protect and serve every citizen, not just the gallery attendees who are made uncomfortable by the presence of unfamiliar faces.
Official Statement regarding First Fridays Art Walk
Organizers and participating venues of Richmond’s First Fridays Art Walk decided today (August 12, 2011) to postpone the September 2 Art Walk since the next event will fall on Labor Day Weekend.
As in years past, we’ve decided to take September 2nd off since the next event will fall on a holiday weekend. Slower summer months offer the businesses and organizations time to take much deserved vacations and tend to the necessary annual building repair work that the galleries require. A break also seemed practical in light of the fact that we have seen an increase in crime in the area during and after First Fridays hours.
The outpouring of community support for our program has been overwhelming and appreciated. We encourage the public to show their support of Downtown every day of the week, not just once a month. First Fridays is a unique way to take in all that Downtown has to offer, but our many diverse businesses, galleries, shops, cultural venues, restaurants, and accommodations are open daily, and need our support daily.
Organizational planning for the forthcoming 11th season of First Fridays Art Walk will continue as planned over the remainder of August and September. Assisting Curated Culture in this effort are representatives from the participating venues, sponsors, and city officials. Details of the coming season will be announced when determined.
Christina Newton, Director
Curated Culture, Inc. (coordinating nonprofit)
For Matthew, Mark & Phil- – I would recommend a remedial reading course, as each of you have responded as if you failed to comprehend what you read and you have assumed things not stated. How confused your lives must be.
To the sadly misinformed Frida K- my god, what a fool you are. Curated Culture is a member organization and the galleries and businesses you seem to think curated culture if screwing over are actually the very ones who voted to cancel the event in September, precisely because of the losses their businesses have already suffered as a direct result of thousands of unsupervised and unruly kids descending on the event and driving away those interested in supporting participating venues with their dollars. Without those dollars, the participating sites will cease to exist and Downtown can return to the blighted landscape that existed pre-first fridays. But you don’t want to know anything about that.
When you ask ” What on earth could a bunch of bored teenagers do so wrong and on so big a scale that first friday is being even temporarily cancelled?” you demonstrate that you weren’t even there and actually don’t have any idea what happened.
Nevermind. Down With The Man!
Frida, get a grip and a clue. Don’t waste our time with your ignorant rants. First Friday is run on a half shoestring budget and is anything but “corporate”.
It’s incredibly unfortunate that FF has been cancelled. While it may fall on a holiday weekend, art is not something that can really be postponed. When I arrived at around 8:45 PM, there were a few police stationed, mostly to help with traffic and pedestrians gathering in masses on the sidewalks from what I witnessed. It wasn’t until later while I was sitting in Lift that a herd of teenagers (like myself), ran screaming and thrashing against the shop’s doors. My friends and I were pretty bewildered by what was going on, but too afraid of getting trampled to go outside, until we saw from the window a group of 7 or 8 men in the MIDDLE of Broad Street, surrounding two guys beating the crap out of each other. That was when I saw police intervene, pull them apart, and even add more cops to the mix as one guy was clearly resisting arrest. As soon as he was handcuffed, the crowd that had beat themselves against Lift swarmed to watch the scene while a guy pressed up against the window of the shop, a foot front where I was sitting, pulled a handgun from the waist of his shorts.
Finally, after the masses of people had moved aware enough for my group to leave, all around us we heard these teenagers screaming and shouting and complaining. I’m sorry, but if you’re going to cause trouble at a highly populated ART event, do you really expect to be treated like you’re welcome? While I was walking, without doing a single thing but accidentally stepping in front of a girl, I was met with a horrendous attitude, despite having already apologized. That kind of disrespect and obnoxious attitude will drive people away from FF just as much as the fighting, and while the art community may feel this is best, what hope is there for reigniting culture in the community if we let people who have no regard for it crush the hard work of the artists, the gallery owners, and the rest of the community who has fought to keep the best aspects of this city alive and well?
Um, you DO realize that the herds of teenagers (and adults, and children) who were running, screaming, and thrashing was the result of police causing stampedes of people by brandishing pepper spray canisters and nearly trampling people with their horses, right?
Sounds like a good idea…..take the needed “breather”…..talk it over and come back with a better focus on ART!!! Even prior to the chaos I was losing my interest in the event…… It’s time to get back to a true Art Walk and not a free-for-all street festival with neanderthals on microphones and random loudspeakers blaring out doo doo….
Go ART!!
I’d like to point out that only Richmond can fuck up a FFAW. A few ignorant fools are ruining a public event. Pack your pistols Richmond.
@Ramey, Obviously. But when you’ve got a group of men beating each other up in the middle of Broad Street, what else are the police SUPPOSED to do? As for the horses, the Mounted Police weren’t trampling anyone around. They were stationed at Broad and N. Adams, unmoving.
Let’s quit beating around the bush here, there are a few main issues that everyone is apparently afraid or too PC to bring out into the open.
1)Middle aged white people from the suburbs buy more pieces from these galleries than any other demographic.
2)There are not multiple street performers making a scene that people are complaining about, its one store that is capitalising on increased foot traffic and blasting rap on a PA out into the street.
3)Loud rap music attracts teenagers black or white, the event takes place on the edge of multiple historically black neighbourhoods so these are the teenagers that show up.
4)The only thing middle aged white people fear more than their own teenagers are teenagers of a different race and/or music they aren’t familiar with.
5)Black kids + rap=White folks from the burbs think they will be robbed on site and fear carrying wads of cash downtown to buy art. Hence, FF crisis.
I’ve been to every FF for the past 3 years and I’ve never felt unsafe. Overzealous RPD and kids with groupthink bad decision making screw everything up that they attend (not just FF). Galleries and RPD will figure out a way to handle things, this event will be back and better than ever, don’t pee your pants bloggers.
So let me get this straight. The police were the problem. Sounds like the same argument for the VCU riot after the final four loss. When will people get it through their heads that the police probably have better things to do then to play mom and dad to children who are unsupervised out on Broad Street. I’m pretty sure that the cops can’t just spray people for no reason. Having a pepper spray canister out is enough to cause a riot?
Is anyone else discusted that an art event should even have police at all. I remember last year, the only police I saw were directing traffic. So if police intimidation did not start fights and riots then, what changed? Oh yeah, 1000 teens who were clearly there for no reason other than to start trouble. But hey I’m sure one way or the other its the cop’s fault.
I look forward to the next FF’s live performance:
Lil Whiny Feat. Young Potty Mouth.
Curated culture is crap. You can’t pretend like you’re the good guys or that you “made” the art scene here. You invented a “non-profit” for yourselves to work for so you can make money off other people’s creativity and work. You just did the necessary back scratching or palm greasing it took to get the uncultured hyenas at city hall to agree with you.
Otherwise everyone on the board would be volunteering, no one would be forced to pay dues to you in order to be included in the press releases and website and decisions would be made democratically. you pretend to care about the art scene but it is clear that you don’t since you have cancelled an event because it will take you more that 4 weeks to figure out how to get cops to treat people like people and keep black kids WHO LIVE IN THAT NEIGHBORHOOD from being present at an event in that neighborhood.
cc: “Hey plebs! we wanna bring commerce and culture to your part of town because we think you have none…. but we don’t want you to participate if it scares the white people”
Maybe instead of trying to gentrify a black, working class neighborhood, you should just faux finish some walls at the club house in Woodlake to look like weathered bricks and scrawl them with some crap toy graffiti to look more “urban.” Then you can have your cake and eat it too, you wussy, ignorant fair-weather city dwellers!”
M. Lillywhite, you don’t know what you’re talking about.
@ M. Lillywhite:
Curated Culture is not crap. On the other hand, every single thing you have to say on the subject certainly is. Let’s address a small portion of your ignorance:
>If City Hall “agrees” with Curated Culture, they have a funny way of showing it. First Fridays is not a City program, and the city has never been involved in it, not even as a legitimate sponsor. The sum total of cash the city has contributed to more than a decade of First Fridays events is $4000, or approximately $30 per event.
>First Fridays is a membership organization and decisions are made democratically, including the decision to take the month of September off. That decision was made by the gallery and business owners. If you don’t like it, take it up with them.
>Those membership dues that offend you so amount to $8.33 per month, and in return the businesses receive professionally produced promotion in the form of brochures, a regularly updated website and press releases the value of which vastly exceeds the token member dues.
>Curated Culture has always run on a shoestring budget and makes absolutely no money from “other people’s creativity and work.” Curated Culture’s Director receives a very small salary which comes from money donated by the program’s sponsors. Further, all non-profit board members are volunteers, including Curated Culture’s. There’s no such thing as a non-profit with a paid board.
A smart person refrains from making a lot of foul noise about things they know nothing about, but, hey, that’s not you.
how much does the director make?
If u guys want to look at a corporate downtown arts entity, I suggest looking at Center Stage. And if u want to know some Richmond history, check out SaveRichmond.com