Mary McNeil, a longtime stained glass instructor, will receive the 2017 Shelly Shepherd Master Teacher Award at the Visual Arts Center of Richmond’s Collectors’ Night gala on Saturday night. McNeil has been teaching stained glass classes at VisArts for over 20 years. She works primarily with middle school students who are part of the center’s […]
read moreFrankie Slaughter is a Richmond-based, mixed media artist and the Visual Arts Center of Richmond’s newest board member. This month, she’s unveiling a swath of new works, including one piece that’s up for auction at VisArts’ 32nd Annual Collectors’ Night gala on March 17. During the first weekend of March, Slaughter’s mixed media collage, “Puzzling […]
read moreFor two weeks in February, the Visual Arts Center of Richmond is the best place to appreciate the city’s pool of emerging artistic talent. As the Richmond regional affiliate of the 2018 Scholastic Art & Writing Awards, VisArts juried more than 3,200 submissions by area middle and high school students and curated an exhibition of winning […]
read moreGlass artist Sean Donlon is celebrating his third Valentine’s Day with girlfriend Kelley Galownia, whom he met at the Visual Arts Center of Richmond. Donlon is a full-time artist and the founder of Mule Barn Craft Studios, a collaborative art space in Richmond, which has a conceptual craft focus. He earned his Bachelor of Fine […]
read moreThe walls of Kathryn Gray’s studio at the Visual Arts Center of Richmond are lined with her oil paintings. The work is vibrant and bold and creates a lasting impression. But ask the people who have worked with Gray at VisArts, and they’ll argue that it’s her commitment to the 55-year-old community art center—first as a […]
read moreThe Visual Arts Center of Richmond’s summer camp program, ArtVenture, is expanding to cater to Richmond’s youngest artists. In a new class called Art Explorers, five- and six-year-old campers will create an eclectic variety of artwork using clay, wire, fabric, paint and more. Each class is led by two teachers, and campers benefit from extra […]
read moreHolly Zajur is a VisArts ceramics instructor who believes that it’s easier to center clay on a potter’s wheel if your mind is centered. Zajur is teaching a mindful approach to the craft in a brand new winter class called Mindfulness, Yoga + Wheel Throwing. She kicks off each session by guiding students through a 15 […]
read moreThis spring, the Visual Arts Center of Richmond is offering more photography classes than ever in a single session. There are 20 classes scheduled and many of them offer students the chance to explore historic photographic processes. VisArts teacher and photographer Emily White is looking forward to teaching Portrait Photography with Film. She’ll lead students in […]
read moreArtist Chris Danger hopes everyone who picks up the Visual Arts Center of Richmond’s’ spring catalog enjoys the cheeky humor he infused into the illustrations. Danger dreamed up the drawings in VisArts’ newest catalog and he’s also the center’s illustrator-in-residence for the spring. His take on the catalog features whimsical personifications of art supplies. “I’ve always […]
read moreGet to know Jeff Vick, Sophie Treppendahl and Tyler Stoll. They’re artists in their own right and also the Visual Arts Center of Richmond’s studio coordinators, responsible for maintaining the center’s 15 professional art studios. This month, they’re particularly busy preparing for the launch of VisArts’ new studio access program. This week, VisArts begins offering […]
read moreThe Visual Arts Center of Richmond’s newest exhibition explores how contemporary artists are reinterpreting traditional quilt making processes in their own practices. At the Friday, Dec. 1 opening reception, two of the 13 selected American artists in the show are unveiling brand new work. Aaron McIntosh is the only Richmond-based artist among the 13 exhibitors. […]
read moreOver 6,000 attendees shopped the work of over 130 artists at the Visual Arts Center of Richmond’s 53rd annual Craft + Design show. It was a landmark year for the show, which moved to Main Street Station’s newly renovated train shed. Some highlights from the weekend include: A special appearance by Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney […]
read moreNorth Carolina-based jewelry artist Tara Locklear has been to two craft shows this month, but she’s energized and ready to get back on the road and head to Richmond. Locklear is gearing up to leave her Raleigh-based studio to travel to Craft + Design, where she’ll headline the event as the show’s featured artist. Between […]
read moreDianne Nordt began making and selling her handwoven wool blankets more than a decade ago, after she and her husband, William, moved their three children to a sprawling farm in Charles City, Virginia. Today, Nordt has a sleek website and has seen her blankets lauded in national magazines such as Garden & Gun and Martha […]
read moreRichmond-based progressive bluegrass band South Hill Banks won top honors at FloydFest, one of Virginia’s biggest music festivals, and the five-man group will kick off Craft + Design when they play the Patrons’ Preview Party on Friday, November 17. The party runs from 6-9 p.m. Winning FloydFest’s “On the Rise” award in July has opened doors […]
read moreTen years after taking his first sewing class at the Visual Arts Center of Richmond, fiber artist Paul Hansbarger is returning to Richmond to showcase his growing canvas and leather bag business, Lineage. Hansbarger got his start making bags in Catherine Southall’s introductory sewing class. He’d graduated from VCUarts in 2004 with a painting and […]
read moreFor illustrator Amelia Langford, it’s all in the details. She’s the Visual Arts Center of Richmond’s newest illustrator-in-residence and the artist behind the winter 2018 catalog, which arrives in members’ mailboxes this week. Langford’s cover illustration depicts a cardinal on a wintry branch. Look closely and you’ll notice the bird is made up of paintbrushes, […]
read moreOn September 29, the Visual Arts Center of Richmond lost a longtime friend and teacher, Jim Valentine. Valentine was a former public school teacher who taught art for both Richmond Public Schools and Hanover County Public Schools. When he retired, he found he missed teaching, so he began to teach ceramics classes at VisArts. Nancy […]
read moreWhen CURRENT Art Fair opens on Thursday evening, visitors will get the chance to see how Grace Kubilius spent her summer. Kubilius is the third VCUArts craft/material studies graduate to spend a summer at Quirk Gallery and Hotel’s residency space, located in Richmond’s Downtown Broad Street Arts District. The Visual Arts Center of Richmond and […]
read moreRichmond-based illustrator Katie McBride is the Visual Arts Center of Richmond’s newest illustrator-in-residence, but illustrating the fall course catalog is far from her first contact with the 54-year-old community arts center. Almost a decade ago, when McBride was a new VCUarts grad trying to launch a career as an illustrator, she paid her bills teaching […]
read moreLast summer, Alicia Dietz’s Woodworking on Wheels class was one of the first ArtVenture Summer Camp classes to fill. Kids spent a week building go-carts in the Visual Arts Center of Richmond’s woodshop, and on the final day of class, Dietz let them race the finished products. This summer Dietz is back with two more […]
read moreElizabeth Graeber has a thing for patterns. “I taught myself how to make patterns,” says the Washington, D.C.-based illustrator. “I like fun imagery, faces or animals, and love the [patterns] where you can’t see the repeat.” Graeber is the Visual Arts Center of Richmond’s newest illustrator-in-residence. In addition to illustrating VisArts’ summer catalog, which features […]
read moreTommy Van Auken will receive the 2016 Shelly Shepherd Master Teacher Award at the Visual Arts Center of Richmond’s Collectors’ Night gala on Saturday night. Van Auken has been an instructor at the Visual Arts Center of Richmond since 2003. During most sessions, he teaches five classes—drawing fundamentals, introduction to oil painting, introduction to figure […]
read moreThe Visual Arts Center of Richmond will recognize Carter Reid with its Distinguished Service Award at Collectors’ Night on Saturday, March 18. The Distinguished Service Award honors a longtime friend of the Visual Arts Center of Richmond who has demonstrated a sustained and extraordinary commitment to the organization. Reid is the senior vice president, chief […]
read moreNatasha Bowdoin grew up in rural West Kennebunk, Maine, and when she wasn’t playing in the woods, she was out on the water. The year before she moved to Philadelphia to earn her MFA at the Tyler School of Art, she worked on her uncle’s lobster boat. Those early connections to nature have never left […]
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