Making a Place for Makers
By Max Heyworth It’s been said that people don’t come to Richmond for the restaurants. Notwithstanding the indignation of thousands of local foodies, this is true. The River City’s appeal to outside interests stems not from the fabulous and eclectic dining scene but from its fertile entrepreneurial landscape That’s right, one of RVA’s biggest […]
Making Community: A Beautiful Struggle
By Duron Chavis Defining community is easy. Building community is hard work. It can be a beautiful struggle. Greater Richmond is historical. Creative. And a river runs through it. As majestic as it is, however, there is still work to be done. And we’re doing it. On a recent Wednesday night, in the home […]
Make Something
By Noah Scalin One of the questions I get asked most frequently when I give talks about Skull-A-Day (www.SkullADay.com), the project in which I made a different piece of skull art every single day for a year is, “what happened when you ran out of ideas?” It’s an interesting question, since from an outside […]
Making a Community of Food Trucks
By Karen Atkinson “Look Mommy! It’s a food truck,” exclaimed a wide-eyed toddler at the South of the James Farmers Market last summer. I had to smile as I reflected on the fact that terms like “Farmers Markets” and “Art Walks” were the new buzz words when my, now seventeen year old, son was the […]
Live Bold
By Paul Spicer Instead of just writing about our favorite makers, we decided to become one. What better way to report on those making things in RVA than for Grid writers and publishers to roll up their sleeves and make something too. It’s time that we make good stuff – beer, coffee, ice cream, […]
Take A Minute Exercise: Make Stuff with Your Hands
By Ed Trask I turned the corner and there it was – a beautiful Camille Pissarro painting. I had never experienced anything quite like it. Layers and layers of paint blended roughly to capture the perfect essence of pure beauty and color. This was physical; I mean this in the sense that I could […]
Smile: Caught You Doing Something Good
By Rebecca D’Angelo The Art Deco Society of Virginia recently hosted its inaugural Jazz Age Preservation Ball, boasting an evening of music and dancing set to a Roaring ‘20s theme. Taking guests back to the days of Richmond’s famed Beaux Arts Ball, the event raised money for a local Jazz Age landmark, the Byrd Theatre. Built […]
Tell A Story
Tell A Story is a special section for this issue of Grid. Seventeen graphic design students at VCU were given the seemingly simple task of telling a story of Richmond through ten photos and an accompanying artist’s statement. The challenge turned out to be anything but easy and the results were varied. In the end, one winning student’s story was chosen to grace the pages of Grid, and we’re happy to publish it.
In Charge of the Tunes
Constantine Giavos grew up to a soundtrack meant to please a diverse crowd. As a child, the DJ and drummer absorbed the eclectic song library his parents compiled for their popular Fan restaurant, The Sidewalk Café, enjoying artists as varied as Aaliyah, Timbaland and Magoo, The Police, and Thin Lizzy.
Melena: Musical Journey Into Afro-Cuban Roots
When Afro-Cuban percussionist Melena took the stage at this year’s Richmond Folk Festival, she reached a personal and historical milestone. “It was a tremendous honor to have been the first female instrumentalist to be invited to perform with the Septeto Nacional de Ignacio Piñ eiro since 1927,” the musician says of her experience accompanying the renowned Afro-Cuban ensemble on congas.