Ramona Martinez began writing songs when she was 15 years old. Then, she stopped. Now, 15 years later, she’s back to penning tunes—this time in cavalcades. She’s written more than 20 songs in less than a year. And she’s unapologetic about her mission: “Country music stardom is my goal,” she says. Martinez, a former NPR […]
Gwen Cassady speaks like she works: In many directions, all at once. She’s built her a professional life around countless nonprofit and for-profit projects, and she’s overcome much to get there. Abused and trafficked by her mother and others as a child, and later driven into homelessness multiple times, Cassady spoke with C-VILLE in early […]
Alex Bryant is not even 30 years old, and being named Ix Art Park Foundation executive director in January was only the latest milestone along his ascent to local leadership. Bryant joined the Charlottesville community in 2011, enrolling at UVA as an engineering student. He switched to music when an advisor told him to do […]
The tiny house craze may have tempered a touch, but in the right application, downscale domiciles can still bring it big time. Crozet-based John and Lori O’Connor contracted with Charlottesville Area Builders to construct a new farmhouse several years ago. They didn’t plan to add a guest house but came to the idea as an […]
For an artist moving to Charlottesville from the West Coast, dashed urban hopes led to a near-downtown dream renovation. The homeowner quickly learned the loft-style living and working space she wanted wasn’t currently available, but she says she got lucky. She found a single-family home on Lexington Avenue that had already undergone a modern renovation […]
L ifelong thespian Ti Ames was never comfortable with their casting. First, as an African American, Ames was long frustrated never to be cast in Black roles. There just weren’t all that many to cast, Ames says, and “unless you are told otherwise, you are playing a white character.” Second, as a young person still […]
Artists have been creating and decorating miniature models for hundreds—if not thousands—of years. But miniatures have exploded in the past half decade with the growing availability of 3-D printers and virtual gathering spaces for enthusiasts. For example, Warhammer, one of the world’s largest tabletop gaming franchises, has drawn an Instagram community of miniature enthusiasts and […]
Leather goods designer Daniel Foytik has had his share of adversity. Raised in a remote town in Siberia, Russia, he was diagnosed in 2004 with ankylosing spondylitis, an inflammatory disease causing spinal fusion. About a year and a half ago, COVID-19 caused him to close his Charlottesville leather goods storefront on Second Street. Now, he’s […]
Want to host your wedding reception at a city-based venue that makes you feel like you’re in the mountains? That’s the jam at Level 10, an event space perched above downtown Charlottesville, and offering unobstructed views of the Blue Ridge. “We’re the highest venue in Charlottesville, and that is pretty fun,” venue director Mary Blanton […]
David Sickmen and The Hackensaw Boys have been a lot of things to a lot of people over their two-decade run. But they’ve never forgotten where they’re from. “When we go out in the world, I still say the band is from Charlottesville,” Sickmen says. “Charlottesville was a magical place in the mid-’90s and into […]