Just a year ago, Johnny Hugel and Josh Epperson could barely be defined as acquaintances: that person out there in the city whom you know of, and have perhaps have even talked to, yet fail to realize just how much the two of you have in common.

But each had a style and reputation indicative of Richmond’s emerging and youthful creative brand. And each was brainstorming ways to bring the creative community together through some sort of shared downtown space.

So call it divine hipstervention that brought the two minds together on Ipanema’s porch last March. While Epperson was talking to a friend about finding a way to meld the city’s more unique thinkers and doers, a seemingly ever-present Hugel overheard him.

“I told him I had no idea what exactly he was talking about, but whatever he was saying sounded good,” Hugel recalls with a laugh.

They didn’t know it then, but in less than a year, the two would raise hundreds of dollars for local artists and entrepreneurs and would do so by feeding people great local food. They’d call the program Feast RVA.

When Talking Turns to Doing

Originally, Hugel and Epperson began chewing on a plan to develop a co-working and creative space for like-minds to meet and brainstorm. But such a location requires money, a solid business plan, and hip furnishings, and has a gauntlet of obstacles to jump.

Then in May, Epperson visited New York and stumbled across a program in Brooklyn called Feast. It’s actually an acronym – Funding Emerging Art with Sustainable Tactics – but it was the concept that drove Epperson. It works like this: Collect project ideas from local creators, host a dinner paid for with nominal donations, listen to a few pitches and vote on the projects. The winning project takes home the proceeds.

A freelance writer, Epperson was thrilled by the idea of bringing creatives together and having a direct action – monetary funding – come out of it. Hugel wasn’t totally sold at first, his mind still on a creative space. But when it became apparent that the original idea wouldn’t materialize – at least for now – Hugel went all in.

Feast went from seed to table in five months flat. Over the summer, the website went up on Tumblr. Calls for entries went out. A deal was made with The Cellar Door to cater the event at cost; another was landed with art gallery Quirk for the dinner location. And in October, 60 people came to the first Feast, paying $25 to eat and listen to three pitches. Two walked away winners, splitting about $500.

Thank social media for bringing people together in ways never seen before. Thank groups like RVA Creates or i.e. or the Shockoe Design District that are connecting the creative community. Thank a distressed economy for forcing people to take charge of their own futures. 2011 will go down as the year when talking turned to doing. The new climate is empowering people to bring their ideas to life.

Says 28-year-old Epperson, “People are starting to think, ‘Maybe now when I have this idea I’ll actually be able to move forward because I’m in this environment.’” Feast was born from this sort of simple idea, and by April it will have given more than $1,500 to a handful of individuals with ideas of their own.

Given, the money raised for a project may not even be enough for a single month’s rent or a laptop computer. But that’s not the point.

“This is not VC money. You don’t need $2 million to do a project. You can get something started for 500 bucks,” Epperson says.

Or less.

Take Nicole Lang at Dollop Desserts, a Richmond transplant from New York and one of the two winners at that inaugural Feast in October. She used her $268 to get state commercial certification for her kitchen, using the leftover cash to buy baking supplies to make her cakes, cookies, and Whoopie pies.

“I left NYC because the vibe here in Richmond was, to me, one of a city on the verge,” Lang says. “I have accomplished so much here, achieved more goals – both personal and professional – in under two years in Richmond than in almost 20 in New York. Not only did (Feast) help with funds, it helped with getting the word out to the community that would support me. That’s invaluable.”

Rebecca Johnson, who produces a podcast that one might confuse with a segment from “This American Life,” bought a premium audio recorder with her October winnings. And Mattie Hinkley received around $600 in January and will use the funds to build support for her new getup, Richmond Defensive Cycling.

“The money is helpful, you know, but Feast is succeeding in being a great showcase for the talents of Richmond,” says Hugel, who is 32. “You may come out (of a Feast event) having met someone who inspired you to do something else.”

It’s interesting to note, too, that while the original idea of a co-working space would have required thousands of dollars, the founders of Feast, while they have made no money from it, have also not invested any money into it.

“We want people to understand that they can do anything,” Epperson says. “Feast cost us maybe a little bit of gas money and a little bit of coffee and time, but all it really takes is a little confidence, a little resilience. We hope that Feast is a vehicle to get things started.”