A bowl of soup is a comfort. Whether you are seeking relief from a head cold or cold weather, or want to pour your soul into cooking a meal shared with friends, soup is the answer. In 2013, Victoria Williams, Maureen Brondyke and Brooke Ray infused those ideas of sustenance and community into Charlottesville SOUP—a […]
For local photographer and illustrator Guillermo Ubilla, making art feels natural. He thinks it sounds cheesy, but he says it’s what he was meant to do. “My art is a combination of skills and experiences I’ve had,” says Ubilla. “It’s a way of expressing myself. I’m privileged to do art, so I want to do […]
At a recent house show in Albemarle County, an audience member joined Bob Vasile and his friends, who were performing onstage. “He was 6’1″, 80 years old and looked like he could split wood all day,” Vasile says. “He got up and sang this song I’d never heard before, this cutesy Irish ballad.” Not long […]
On Charlie Shea’s first day of middle school two years ago, she received some words of wisdom from her father, Danny Shea. “My dad told me, ‘It’s going to suck. I’m just going to brief you,’” Shea remembers. In the past two years, she says she experienced “enough bad days to go around,” as well […]
Before she received a Stage 3 breast cancer diagnosis at 39 years old, UVA writing professor Charlotte Matthews lived on a cattle farm. Whenever the farmer found a dead cow in the pasture, he bulldozed a grave and buried the animal. Matthews remembers the farmer whistling to himself in these moments. “He was so authentic […]
When Scott DeVeaux was growing up in New York in the 1950s, he encountered “a lot” of Civil War specters. Several relatives were named after Confederate generals, displayed Confederate figurines throughout their homes and celebrated memorabilia like trading cards commemorating the centennial of the War Between the States. Though he didn’t know what to make […]
Ten years ago, Caitlin Lennon received a job offer from a “small startup.” Emily Hartka and Sara Clayborne, co-founders of what would become the Charlottesville Ballet, asked Lennon to join them as a company dancer. Lennon was training on full scholarship with the Richmond Ballet, had never visited Charlottesville, wasn’t sure about her salary and […]
What do cowboys, farmers and love triangles have in common with the United States of today? To Michelle Krisel, artistic director of Charlottesville Opera, the answer is a lot. That’s much of the reason why Krisel and Charlottesville Opera (formerly Ash Lawn Opera), chose Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Oklahoma! to close the company’s 40th summer season. […]
Photographer Clay Bolt is drawn to species he calls the oddballs and little guys. Working internationally with organizations such as National Geographic and BBC Wildlife, Bolt is a natural history and conservation photographer. “What sets me apart from a ‘nature photographer’ is that a lot of my work records life cycles and tells stories of […]
On December 24, 1906, Reginald Fessenden transmitted the first wireless public radio broadcast. It included Christmas songs, stories and, in Fessenden’s words, his own “not very good singing.” Today’s listeners have many—usually very good—derivatives of Fessenden’s holiday work, and here in Charlottesville the programming at local FM radio stations is no exception. “Our perspective is […]