Pick: Little Pharma

Healing words: Doctor and medical ethicist Laura Kolbe’s debut poetry collection Little Pharma is an intimate journey through the cold and impersonal side of medicine, but one that ultimately crescendos to a celebration of ongoing life, human connection, and the body. During a release party and audience Q&A, Kolbe will read from her book, in […]

Pick: Bass and Beethoven

Ace of bass: Feeling strung out? Relax with some strings: This weekend, you can bask in the mellow, sultry, resonant reverberations of the double bass with soloist Peter Spaar and the Charlottesville Symphony in Bass and Beethoven. The performance features Grammy-nominated composer Missy Mazzoli’s twisting and timeless Dark with Excessive Bright, George Gershwin’s bluesy and […]

If cats could laugh

Liz Miele, author of the book Why Cats Are Assholes, describes herself as a “cat comedian.” That’s why her favorite Charlottesville place to visit was The Cat House, the Downtown Mall’s most reliable home decor source for a self-professed crazy cat lady. “I just feel like someday, someone will discover my body, because, you know, […]

Galleries: November

November Shows Artisans Studio Tour Various locations in central Virginia. Local artisans are opening their studios for two days of self-guided tours. Featuring ceramic, fiber, jewelry, wood, glass, and metal artisans. November 13 and 14.  The Barn Swallow Artisan Gallery 796 Gillum’s Ridge Rd. “Movement Color Light” brings together a collection of large-scale works by […]

Small bites: Provisions, pumpkins, and Peruvian

Proven Peruvian After receiving rave reviews from patrons at two Inka Grill locations in Roanoke, chef Percy Rojas and his partners-in-lime are bringing their famous ceviche and traditional Peruvian dishes to a new location on the UVA Corner. We are especially excited to try the fried-rice chaufa, chef-selected seafood soups, and tuna tartare. Reservations are […]

Jeremy O. Harris comes home

Playwright Jeremy O. Harris made history this year when his provocative Slave Play garnered the most Tony nominations ever for a single work (12, including Best Play). He began writing Slave Play while attending the Yale School of Drama, where he earned an MFA in playwriting, but his inspiration was intrinsic, stemming from his experiences […]

Dealing with dope

Since 2012, Roanoke-based writer Beth Macy has been at the forefront of reporting on the opioid epidemic, covering the toll that the drugs have taken on people and communities in the Appalachian region. In that time, she’s tracked the story of one drug in particular: the painkiller OxyContin. Macy works in western Virginia, but the […]

Art for heart’s sake

Richmond-based artist Hamilton Glass wasn’t just upset about the George Floyd killing by police in Minneapolis on May 25, 2020. He was upset about the nation’s reaction to it. “I was getting really frustrated about why so many people were now seeing this…as different,” Glass says in the 2020 documentary Mending Walls. “It’s been carnage […]

Queer country

If there was one guiding light throughout director Bo McGuire’s near-zero-budget filming of Socks on Fire, his tale of family division over his beloved Nanny’s house, it would be Dolly Parton know-how. From the country icon, McGuire learned to “work with what you have.” He was at NYU, and had the equipment to make a […]

Developing stories

Since the 1940s, documentary photographer and filmmaker Gordon Parks has remained relevant as both a visual chronicler of injustice and an example to aspiring artists everywhere. “He could turn an ordinary life into something extraordinary,” says John Maggio, the director of A Choice of Weapons: Inspired by Gordon Parks, which takes its name from Parks’ […]