Sonya Clark marks slavery history at Second Street Gallery

Sonya Clark’s “Bitter, Sweet and Tender,” currently on view at Second Street Gallery, features sculpture, textiles and photography Clark has created, found or had fabricated. These objects limn a potent narrative encompassing Clark’s personal history and the troubled history of the U.S. and Caribbean centered on the use of people as commodities, examined through the […]

ARTS Pick: Mary Chapin Carpenter

Mary Chapin Carpenter’s genuine approach to songwriting allows the multiple Grammy winner to transcend the boundaries of category. Moving easily between classic country and modern Americana, she recently expanded her musicianship with an album of orchestral music and her new record, The Things That We Are Made Of, was produced by hot hand Dave Cobb (producer of […]

Local bassist joins re-formed Guided By Voices

Just like thousands of small-town music nerds before and after him, Mark Shue spent much of his adolescence in his bedroom in Staunton, cranking Guided By Voices songs on the stereo. He not only listened along, but fantasized about breaking through and earning a devoted following of fans, just like those beloved underground indie rockers […]

ARTS Pick: CIRCIX

Feast your eyes on some of Charlottesville’s most spectacular performance art when CIRCIX comes to town. There will be carnival games, face painting, balloon animals, food and beverages, plus a freak show and performances from fire breathers, jugglers, clowns and Moonlight Circus’ aerialists and acrobats. The fearless Opal Lechmanski will swallow swords and perform the […]

Artist Rosamond Casey explores how technology has touched our lives

The impetus for Rosamond Casey’s latest exhibition, “Tablet and Cloud: Pilgrims in Cyberspace,” was a sight that has become so familiar to us that we often overlook it: the tangle of wires beneath our desks. “The way I usually start is I get fixated on a thing, a material or a form so pervasive in […]

First Fridays: October 7

First Fridays October 7 “I have immense passion for nature and the well-being of our planet, from the tiniest of creatures and flora to the oceans and forest,” says Scottsville artist Sherrie Hunt. “The beauty and mystery of nature feeds my soul and awakens my creative spirit endlessly. On a daily basis, I’m reminded of […]

ARTS Pick: Latin Ballet of Virginia

It may take two to tango, but this time around, the Latin Ballet of Virginia dance company puts classical forms, flamenco and tango to the writings of Edgar Allan Poe, Alfonsina Storni, Pablo Neruda and Federico García Lorca. Poemas melds words with a showcase of contemporary and traditional Latin American and Spanish dance to give […]

Not-to-miss Festy Experience collaborations

The Festy Experience returns this weekend for the seventh straight year, taking place Friday through Sunday at its new home, the Nelson County Preserve in Arrington. Once again, the festival will feature an impressive mix of national acts and local bands—focusing on some of the best in bluegrass, Americana and roots rock. Especially intriguing this […]

Deepwater Horizon is a gripping take on true disaster

The ensuing oil spill following the explosion and sinking of semi-submersible Mobile Offshore Drilling Unit Deepwater Horizon in 2011 devastated states along the Gulf Coast for years to come. It was the worst natural disaster—and largest corporate settlement—in United States history. But before the constant media coverage, before the horrendously painful hearings in which BP […]

The Ante Room bets on local hip-hop with new showcase

Go to a hip-hop show in Charlottesville and you’ll see a rapper spitting lines to a crowd full of people giving him their full attention. They’ll be standing there, hipsters and hip-hop heads alike, stroking their chins, heads nodding to the beat. “They’re listening to every single word,” and when the rapper “says something dope, […]