The Niche at UVA points media in a new direction

The flat screen is unassuming—a 60″ monitor mounted to the wall in UVA’s Fiske Kimball Fine Arts Library. Surrounded by chairs and headphones, The Niche currently plays a loop of video from the stop-motion animation program “Stop & Go: Made from Scratch.” Sounds benign, but associate professor of new media Lydia Moyer sees it as […]

ARTS Pick: Shakey Graves with Wild Child

The simple, yet soulful sound of Shakey Graves proves that less is more. Sticking to a minimalist philosophy, the group removes all white noise to allow beautiful melodies and cutting lyrics to resonate throughout its music, following in the storytelling footsteps of the folk genre. The group pairs well with Austin’s latest homegrown rock sensation, […]

Young filmmaker Sam Gorman returns to Light House as mentor

It’s going to be an exciting summer at Light House Studio. The local youth filmmaking nonprofit’s website redesign is up and running, and they have a new location for their summer workshops while the City Center for Contemporary Arts—also home to Live Arts and Second Street Gallery—undergoes renovations. Inside the studio, a group of Light […]

ARTS Pick: An Evening with Groucho

You know you have a calling when the son of a legendary American humorist hand-selects you to play his famous father. Such is the case for Frank Ferrante, who’s crafted a 30-year career around Arthur Marx’s play Groucho: A Life in Revue. Ferrante has rekindled the defining role in An Evening with Groucho, a new […]

Album reviews: Wetwood Smokes, Jason Burke, The Falling Birds

Wetwood Smokes Earth Tones & Red/Self-released This Southern California-based rock trio has released a gem of a debut. Mixing rock and pop together with the precision and skill of a veteran act, Wetwood Smokes makes quite a statement with this release. The swelling piano pop of “I Am the One” is college radio perfect, while […]

ARTS Pick: The Lady Pills

Call out a suggestion and watch epic comedy unfold when Big Blue Door’s improv comedy team The Lady Pills tackle the Harold. Developed by actors Del Close and Charna Halpern in the ’80s, this longform improv game forces comedians to create and weave narratives on the fly, rapid-firing scenes and new story lines before tying […]

LOOKbetween and “TREES” fill in for photo fest downtime

It’s that time of year again when dazzling photographs of exotic wildlife hang from the willow oaks running along the Downtown Mall. Dubbed “TREES,” the exhibition of large, double-sided images is the most visible and popular aspect of LOOK3, the nonprofit organization that celebrates the vision of extraordinary photographers, ignites critical conversations about the subjects […]

Edge of Tomorrow succeeds on teamwork and smarts

It’s not unreasonable to imagine that Tom Cruise, perhaps the last of the old school movie stars, had lost it. He hasn’t had a bona fide hit since 2011 with Mission: Impossible—Ghost Protocol, and as good as some of that movie is, it certainly coasts on the strength of being part of a big franchise. […]

ARTS Pick: Second Hand Fauna

Part anthropologist, part pirate, Jesse Fiest hunts for treasure among knickknacks and leftovers. Using found and second hand materials, she creates whimsical sculptures in “Second Hand Fauna,” described as vegan taxidermy–which makes it pretty clear that no animals were harmed in the creation of this artwork. Friday 6/13. Free, 5pm. Telegraph Gallery, 110 Fourth St., […]