Want inspiration from the darkly humorous Lester Burnham or calculating Congressman Frank Underwood? Award-winning actor Kevin Spacey, well-known for his roles in American Beauty and the Netflix series “House of Cards,” is this year’s guest at UVA’s President’s Speaker Series for the Arts. Drawing on decades of experience on stage and screen, Spacey speaks on the importance of […]
Curator Tosha Grantham’s biggest single show to date took over 10 years to develop. Featuring 112 objects by 18 artists occupying 4,500 square feet, “Darkroom” was a collection of photography and new media from South Africa’s period of apartheid. But it wasn’t size and scope that gave Grantham satisfaction. “I was talking to someone outside […]
You know you’re in for something when every actor in a movie’s press release gets an individual citation for the role that got them either an Academy Award or a nomination—Robert Downey, Jr. (Chaplin, Tropic Thunder), Robert Duvall (Tender Mercies), Vera Farmiga (Up in the Air)—while the director must suffer the indignity of admitting to […]
Guitar slinging country crooner Eric Church has traded Jimmy Buffett covers in the back of dingy dive bars for 15,000-seat arenas where he belts out original, cheeky Southern anthems to packed houses. Currently touring in support of his second No. 1 album, The Outsiders, he continues on the themes of cold beers, hot women, good […]
So what if we didn’t grow up with a Southern grandma? We still know a good fried chicken biscuit when we taste one—like, say, the Ace Biscuit & Barbecue sandwich on this week’s cover. Southern cuisine may be having a moment in the national spotlight, but ’round these parts we’ve had an embarrassment of fried […]
With the recent release of Put Your Needle Down, produced by T Bone Burnett, The Secret Sisters prove they’ve come a long way from their Alabama youth. The sweet-voiced siblings have managed to retain their innocence and charm following projects with big shots like She & Him, Ray Lamontagne, Paul Simon, and Elvis Costello, as […]
The only things that move quickly in the world of acoustic music are fingers over strings. When the folks behind the reincarnation of Charlottesville’s beloved Prism Coffeehouse announced they were raising money for a comeback last November, no one thought it would be nearly a year before the first show hit the stage. “We had […]
Jedi warriors, dust off your lightsabers, and don your robes, for the annual Star Wars Reads Day is coming. It’s time once again to travel to a galaxy far, far away for an afternoon of force-inspired activities. Prove your prowess by pinning a saber on Yoda, or demonstrate your might in the Wookie yell contest. […]
Take a moment to remember what you were like at age 16—whether it was learning to drive, passing a chemistry test, or finding a date to the prom, you probably felt like you had your hands full with the basic American rites of passage. Well, 24 high school juniors and seniors are about to make you […]
Last year, UVA creative writing department director Chris Tilghman was trying to convince a prospective MFA graduate student to enter his program when he dropped a quiet bomb. “I said we were hoping to welcome James Salter as a writer-in-residence,” Tilghman recalled. “There was this long pause on the phone, and then there was this […]