Arts

Local author Emma Rathbone stays focused with Losing It

Writing a novel isn’t easy by most measures, but it’s said that your second novel is where the anxiety really kicks in. Pressure builds to craft a book that’s readable and critically embraced, without being too similar to its predecessor. Of course, this is even more true if your first was met with popular success. […]

Sarah Lawson | July 19, 2016

Arts

Chris Keup launches music publishing company Salinger Songs

It’s no secret that Chris Keup’s White Star Sound studio has a knack for producing stellar tracks for local as well as nationally known musicians. Now Keup is working to expand his purview with a new venture in music publishing: Salinger Songs. Related Links: White Star Sound offers musicians a full-service lift-off A musician and […]

Sarah Lawson | July 6, 2016

Arts

Matthew Gatto’s Parlor of Horrors seeks new home

When was the last time you fell asleep thinking about monsters in the other room? For most of us, that thought fades after childhood. But Matthew Gatto knows there are monsters just 10 feet away from where he sleeps. They reside in his living room or, as it’s more commonly known, the Parlor of Horrors. […]

Sarah Lawson | June 22, 2016

Arts

Festival of the Photograph offers new slate of free events

“I began asking local residents if they’d heard of LOOK3. The vast majority said, ‘Oh, you mean the pictures in the trees!,’” says Mary Virginia Swanson, LOOK3 Festival of the Photograph executive director. “I knew then that we needed to reach out with community-based programs that would be free and open to all.” Indeed, as a […]

Sarah Lawson | June 7, 2016

Arts

From UVA grad to Silicon Valley game developer

For some of the graduating UVA students who will walk the Lawn this weekend, it might be difficult to see any direct connections between a major and a future career. Many will receive a degree that provides an obvious path; others have chosen English or other courses of study that are, let’s say, a bit […]

Sarah Lawson | May 17, 2016

Arts

Traditions continue at Virginia Folklife Apprenticeship Showcase

“I see apprenticeships as a crucial part of keeping folk traditions alive,” says Jack Dunlap, a mandolin player who is part of the Virginia Folklife Apprenticeship Showcase. In the program’s most recent class, Dunlap worked with master musician Danny Knicely. Together, they composed and recorded a bluegrass album titled Chop Shred and Split: A Mandolin Player’s […]

Sarah Lawson | May 10, 2016

Arts

A new boost for the Charlottesville Mural Project

If you walk or drive past the Corner in the next few weeks, you may be surprised to see people suspended from the top floor of the Graduate hotel. These aren’t aerialists or stunt doubles for a local action movie; they’re muralists painting the latest installation of the Charlottesville Mural Project. Using a swing stage, […]

Sarah Lawson | April 26, 2016

Arts

Pinball league ramps up for second season

When Dan Purdy walks into his bank, the tellers know to pull out a couple stacks of rolled quarters. No nickels needed, and there’s certainly no cause for pennies. Purdy can tell the good rolls (government issued) from the bad (locally rolled, riddled with other coins), but he’ll make use of a change machine if […]

Sarah Lawson | April 12, 2016

Arts

Seeing things: Illustrator Christophe Vorlet puts the elephant in perspective

Christophe Vorlet painted his mailbox pink, but purely for functional reasons: It makes it easier to give directions to people. That the mailbox also serves as roadside art didn’t factor into the decision, he says. Much of Vorlet’s approach to visual art is filtered through a similar matter-of-factness. As an illustrator and graphic designer who […]

Sarah Lawson | March 29, 2016