Scholar, maker, and cultural critic Lisa Woolfork has been making space and creating community in Charlottesville, centering her efforts on functional fiber arts. Woolfork hosts the award-winning podcast “Stitch Please,” a platform for conversations about sewing, quilting, fashion, labor, memory, and liberation featuring sewists, artists, designers, historians, and makers from across the African diaspora. The […]
Smyrna has been around for less than four years, but that’s long enough for chef and co-founder Tarik Sengul to get the attention of the prestigious James Beard Foundation: Sengul has been named a semifinalist for the Best Chef in the Mid-Atlantic category, which encompasses restaurants in Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, and Washington, […]
Anna Kovatcheva’s debut novel, She Made Herself a Monster, is a dark incantation of a story that explores themes of transgression and transmutation through traditional folklore tropes. Set in 19th-century Bulgaria, the novel revolves around Yana, a self-proclaimed vampire slayer, and Anka, an orphan whose fate is tied to that of her adoptive father figure, […]
A few classic Valentine’s tropes pop up in Lovers Welcome, a concert promising deep feelings alongside the potential of poetry and transcendence. Grab your date (or a sympathetic/single friend) and explore love, un-love, and amorous longing with indie darling folk troubadour Lizzie No, who shares new songs for yearners and old tales of heartbreak. Shenandoah […]
A commanding presence behind the upright double bass, Michael Hawkins brings a swinging pulse to contemporary jazz with his working group The Brotherhood. The charismatic musician has performed around the world with jazz legends, and currently resides in Richmond, leading a band of top beboppers in the Commonwealth. The Brotherhood includes pianist Weldon Hill, drummer […]
Valentine’s crafts at Second Street Gallery’s Family Studio Day. secondstreetgallery.org Crafts and snacks at Central Library’s Palentine’s Day Party for teens. jmrl.org Laugh it off at Love Fest! An Improv Comedy Show at Light House Studio: Vinegar Hill Theatre. goatrodeocomedy.com Something sultry? Immodest Opulence presents two Valentine’s Day Burlesque shows at The Southern Café & […]
It’s a scene out of a Stanley Kubrick film. You’re blindfolded and led into a room you’ve likely never seen before. A silent usher takes you to a seat where you’ll remain for the next hour with only your ears to guide you. Musicians take up their instruments and begin to play. There is no […]
The 2026 WTJU Folk Marathon continues this week with ’round-the-clock Americana and international sounds celebrating the genre. Set your dial—or online stream—to 91.1 FM for shows airing out old-time, honky-tonk, global sounds, roots music, and more, including artist-centric sets that cover the oeuvres of Brandi Carlile, John Prine, and others. The marathon also features eight […]
Tracing the evolution of musical expression through the life of a natural disaster survivor, Alexandra Déglise’s Havivra employs history and sound to explore culture. The jazz cabaret is based on the childhood and youth of Havivra Da Ifrile, one of two survivors of the 1902 Mount Pelée eruption on the Caribbean Island of Martinique. The […]
Charlottesville native Darnell Lamont Walker is a death doula whose debut book, Never Can Say Goodbye: The Life of a Death Doula and the Art of a Peaceful End, publishes on February 10. Equal parts memoir and death primer, the book shares stories from Walker’s work and offers guidance and perspective on topics from writing […]