Pick: How to Live on Earth

All that you can’t leave behind: What if you had to say goodbye to Earth forever? In UVA Drama’s How to Live on Earth, four contestants win the opportunity of a lifetime—a trip to Mars—with the condition that they stay there forever. Playwright MJ Kaufman drew inspiration from the Mars One project and reality TV […]

Pick: Charles Owens

Smooth sax: Tenor saxophonist Charles Owens has been performing, composing, and teaching music for over 25 years. Owens got his start in New York, where he attended The New School. He’s released nine albums and regularly performs at venues in Charlottesville and Richmond, bringing listeners peace and happiness through the rich, mellow sounds of his […]

Pick: Mdou Moctar

Shreddin’ it forward: Growing up in Agadez, a desert village in rural Niger, Mdou Moctar built himself a guitar after seeing YouTube videos of Eddie Van Halen performing. Moctar combined Van Halen’s six-string techniques with traditional Taureg melodies to create a modern Saharan-rock sound, full of rhythmic drums, epic guitar shreds, and plenty of noise. […]

What art can be

By Matt Dhillon Since The Fralin Museum of Art at UVA was built in 1935, it’s had to close its doors a few times—once during World War II and again in the ’60s when the space was requisitioned for classrooms. In 2020, the growing pandemic shut the museum down for a third time. “There’s certainly […]

Small bites

Arrivederci, stay tuned There’s little that disappoints us more than a well-loved, local restaurant that’s gone before its time. Mangione’s on Main, known for an inviting ambiance as well as the quality of its hearty Italian cuisine, closed its doors just shy of the restaurant’s third anniversary. “Our lease was ending, and we knew that […]

On location

Since 2019, local filmmaker Ty Cooper’ Indie Short Film Series has given aspiring Charlottesville filmmakers a valuable opportunity to showcase their work. “It’s a way for you to enter the business without having to spend a lot of money,” Cooper says. Shorts are traditionally novice directors’ best way of making a name for themselves, but […]

Pick: Walking Tour of Monticello’s Vanished Plantation

Tracing steps: In honor of Black History Month, archeologists are leading a Walking Tour of Monticello’s Vanished Plantation. The excursion focuses on the experiences of the enslaved people who lived and worked at Monticello, and examines how archeology informs our understanding of their lives. The walk makes stops at various hidden sites along the Fourth […]

Pick: Resilience, Recovery, and Rebirth

Local roots: Fluvanna music educator Horace Scruggs and his band, Odyssey of Soul, perform unique concert-lectures that cover topics such as the civil rights movement and African influences on American music. In 2020, Scruggs turned his attention to local history and released Resilience, Recovery, and Rebirth: Sustaining Hope in Trying Times, an emotional, humorous, and […]

Pick: Sun June

No regrets: Indie-pop band Sun June makes mesmerizing music with a hint of melancholy. The quintet formed in Austin, Texas, where lead vocalist Laura Colwell and songwriter/lyricist Stephen Salisbury met while working on director Terrence Malick’s Song to Song. After adding Sarah Schultz on drums, Michael Bain on lead guitar, and Justin Harris on bass, […]

A drink refresher

Do you find yourself stuck in a loop at cocktail hour? When it’s five o’clock somewhere and Miller time has arrived, many people reach for the same beverages again and again. Lucky for us central Virginians, it’s easy to find exciting, locally made products to vary our drink of choice.  Here are a few that […]