ARTS Pick: Arthur C. Greene Rising Star Awards

“Talent is an accident of genes—and a responsibility,” said the late actor Alan Rickman. For the past 20 years, the Piedmont Council for the Arts has identified more than 250 area high school students as bearers of that responsibility through its annual Arthur C. Greene Rising Star Awards. This year, teachers and nonprofit organizations have […]

First Fridays: March 3

First Fridays: March 3 In “Drawings, Old and New,” at the downtown Mudhouse through the month of March, Mae Read exhibits a series of nudes, mostly women, drawn either from life, or from photographs. When Read draws, she connects deeply to her subject and herself. “Spending that many hours staring at almost any person will create […]

The Front Porch celebrates inclusivity at new location

The Front Porch’s Emily Morrison wants artists of all backgrounds to find peace at the roots music school she founded in 2015. With help from friends, Morrison began the school in a back room in her home and soon moved into a space at Mountaintop Montessori. Last June the nonprofit moved into the old Michie […]

Kevin Everson looks to the night sky for comment on history

It’s a busy, blustery Tuesday on Grounds. Outside The Fralin Museum of Art, UVA students rush by in droves, pulling overcoats tight against the wind. Inside, I stand in darkness staring at craters on the moon. The air is hot and loud, filled by the whir and clank of unsteady projectors shining on gallery walls. […]

River Whyless patches world music influences into new album

‘‘We all deserve the light” members of River Whyless croon on “Baby Brother,” the captivating opener on their second full-length album. The lyric resurfaces in the record’s final stretch: It’s both the name and crux of the closing track, before it fades into reverie. The Asheville-based quartet even used the line to inform the album […]

Stories of how failures lead to successes

As consumers, we’re inundated by success. Hit records, blockbuster movies, the latest app. Creators, on the other hand, are surrounded by failures. They churn out ideas—some brilliant, some bad—and create until something sticks. How do they find the guts to fail their way to success? Three accomplished local artists are opening up in The Art […]

Movie review: Get Out digs deep with powerful message

Jordan Peele’s Get Out is a perfect movie in its own right, a masterful effort in raising then subverting audience expectations while delivering a powerful message on a subject that has gone tragically unaddressed in film. It is also a revelation for Peele himself, half of the beloved comedy team Key & Peele, whose feature […]

Ruth De Jong designs real life in Manchester by the Sea

While on a scouting excursion for Kenneth Lonergan’s film Manchester by the Sea, Ruth De Jong walked into a coastal Massachusetts shop selling GPS systems for boats. “I’ve been here for 45 years!” the shop owner exclaimed, showing De Jong his office. The room was packed from floor to ceiling with papers—stacks of receipts, notes, […]

ARTS Pick: Will Overman

Not only does Will Overman charm the crowd with his arsenal of lyrically enticing folk rockers, the lead singer can’t resist stepping off the stage and into the audience to groove among his fans. Following up on the album Will Overman Band, “a love letter to the Commonwealth of Virginia” that was released in June, the […]