I’m one of those people who cleans compulsively. I snap into straighten up mode when I feel overwhelmed by the number of notebooks on the sideboard, of unattended flip-flops by the door, of projects on my inexhaustible to-do list. In my world, order reigns as a reflex—a knee-jerk to save me from drowning in chaos. […]
Most of us are born with a seedling of art in our hearts—the desire to create our dreams on paper, in space or on the stage. But we’re taught early on that the path of an artist is hard, one that requires dogged determination and gumption, the kind of commitment to take-no-prisoners passion that stalls […]
Ever notice how many artists call attention to negative space? The white of the canvas unobscured by paint. The breath on all sides of a published poem, each word a drop in the frame of the page. What goes unsaid. What goes unseen. The elevation of objects flying under the radar to the forefront of […]
Every summer, Charlottesville’s Downtown Mall floods with a subtle siege: opera singers, orchestra members and technical crew members from all over the country. Unlike participants in traveling productions, they arrive to co-create a few gem-like original performances, shows that debut at The Paramount Theater under the direction (and extended logistical planning) of Ash Lawn Opera. […]
It’s a theme of mystery, of unfolding intrigue and wonder, that defines Live Arts theater’s 25th anniversary season, and for writer, director and actor Kisha Jarrett, that same sensibility fuels the non-profit’s quarter-century celebration. “When I think about Live Arts, how it [was] started in this teeny tiny space on a wing and prayer by […]
As the newest artist-in-residence at Shenandoah National Park, documentary filmmaker Stace Carter sums up his outdoorsy side in one word: “Meh.” A former Boy Scout, Eagle Scout and decades-long Albemarle resident, Carter says he has “a great appreciation for comfort,” and his interest in this artistic residency comes not with the chance to shoehorn backcountry […]
Once upon a time, Charlottesville-based playwright Caruso Brown was a terribly shy, introverted student at Virginia State College (now University). He grew up writing poems. That may have been the end of it, if a drama director at the school hadn’t read one of Brown’s poems and insisted that he perform it during the school’s […]
When Toronto-based photographer Zun Lee received his first camera, he had “zero passion or desire to do the photography stuff.” “I was stressed and traveling all the time for work, so a coworker encouraged me to take up photography as a hobby,” Lee said in a recent interview with C-VILLE. “He sent me a camera, […]
The vibrant color hits you first—long swaths of it—before your brain can synthesize the spectrum as quilts, bright fabrics cut and pieced together in geometric patterns and draped against high walls and room dividers. Then you notice the buzz—the palpable warmth of the gallery’s attendees. Three of the exhibited artists, young men in suit jackets […]
When I think of my father, I think of clipping down the Brooklyn Promenade, trying to match my 10-year-old legs to his 6’4″ New York stride. I think of running a wind-up toy race car down the swoop of particle board framing his Ikea armchair. I think of his proud smile at my high school […]