Art Around the Clock
The Visual Arts Center of Richmond revels in the art of every day with ART:24, a decidedly un-stuffy celebration of hands, community, crafts, food and laughter that begins with a Friday-night party and ends with a Saturday-evening cakewalk. Special guest Natalie Chanin, international design star and sustainable fashion guru, will offer two workshops. This 24-hour whirl […]
The Visual Arts Center of Richmond revels in the art of every day with ART:24, a decidedly un-stuffy celebration of hands, community, crafts, food and laughter that begins with a Friday-night party and ends with a Saturday-evening cakewalk.
Special guest Natalie Chanin, international design star and sustainable fashion guru, will offer two workshops. This 24-hour whirl of fun, funky, fabulous activities that celebrate the art of everyday with workshops, silent auctions, process displays, pottery sale and an array of “green” craft vendors.
“For centuries our ancestors created beautiful and delicious things as part of daily life,” noted Jo Kennedy, the Center’s president and CEO. “ART:24 skips the busy, store-bought approach we’ve come to know and revisits tradition and sustainable living in the 21st century.”
Kennedy noted that the Center is excited to bring celebrated designer Natalie Chanin to Richmond. In addition to a trunk show and book sale featuring her clothing and project kits and her book, Alabama Studio Style, available for purchase throughout the course of ART:24, Chanin offers a three-hour afternoon workshop on May 15 for $75. A full-day studio workshop (including all materials and a catered lunch) for $450 takes place May 16 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Participants must pre-register by calling the Center at 353-0094.
Chanin first appeared in national media such as Women’s Wear Daily and Vogue with her Project Alabama couture line, which drew on the use of disappearing Depression-era stitching techniques from her native Alabama to turn old T-shirts into gorgeous garments. She still creates couture pieces, but has re-imagined her company as Alabama Chanin, with a renewed emphasis on sustainability and green and ethical practices as a way to recapture and share traditional ways of creating beauty from everyday things. She has added ready-to-wear clothing, books, housewares and kits to her line, and shares her techniques around the country in her extremely popular workshops.
ART:24 kicks off at 8 PM Friday with a party featuring live music by Fight the Big Bull and the High Street Lowlifes, cash bar, light snacks, a 24-item silent auction and displays highlighting collaborative wearable art and beautiful handmade pieces. The party runs until 11 p.m. and tickets are $24 for the public and $8 for students with a valid ID. Overnight, art-making will continue through kinetic drawing stations involving wind and gravity. These finished pieces will be used in workshops the following day.
Saturday’s festivities begin at 9 a.m. with a breakfast, free for Friday’s ticket holders and $3 for the rest of the public. An assortment of light-hearted, hands-on workshops are then offered throughout Saturday, including opportunities to embellish T-shirts and repurpose paper. These workshops cost $10 each per person. Kids can attend a young person’s workshop for free.
Handmade beads created in the Center’s ceramics studio will be available for purchase, as will a variety of other finished clay items; prices range from $5 to $25. And a dozen independent craft artisans whose work features recycled and repurposed materials will offer their wares as part of ART:24, including several members of the Richmond Craft Mafia.
ART:24 comes to a close on Saturday evening with a traditional cakewalk at 5 p.m. Buy a piece of cake to sample for $2 or try to win a cake for $10 by participating in the cakewalk. A cake-decorating demonstration augments the competition for baked goods. Throughout ART:24, custom-designed T-shirts printed with the event logo will be sold, many of them made from recycled shirts that have been donated.
Located at 1812 W. Main St. in Richmond’s Fan District, the Visual Arts Center of Richmond engages the community in the creative process through the visual arts. Gallery hours are Monday-Friday 9 a.m.-7 p.m.; Saturday 10 a.m.-4 p.m.; Sunday 1 p.m.-4 p.m.
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– The information above was provided by Maggi Tinsley at the Visual Arts Center
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