With culinary delicacies stretched across white linen in the comfortable outdoor space at Belmont’s Southern Crescent restaurant, giddy gastronomes arriving to the first dinner hosted by Taste of Home in 2018 may not have realized the spread was organized by college undergrads. One of the University of Virginia’s more than 1,000 student clubs and organizations, […]
Restaurateur and locally renowned musician Jay Pun is 100 percent Thai. But he still thinks a lot about authenticity. In 2016, Pun traveled to his ancestral home and visited an open-air market in northern Thailand. He was on the hunt for a native lute known as a phin. He’d owned one years before, but it […]
Tucked away in a quaint little storefront in Gordonsville is Folkling, an oasis of vintage clothing, heritage textiles, and American-made goods. Folkling is a sustainable venture dedicated to finding old things new homes, creating quality goods with makers, and taking life slow. The mastermind behind it all is Leney Breeden. Breeden grew up in the […]
For the last five years, Charlottesville artist Tim O’Kane has been designing new seed packets for the flowers, herbs, and vegetables that have been preserved and propagated by the Thomas Jefferson Center for Historic Plants at Monticello. Recently, he spoke with us about the project and his work. Made in C-VILLE: How did this project […]
Ralph Dammann and Ray Varona make instruments you’ve probably never heard of. Their specialty is the mandocello, a bigger, baritone version of the mandolin. But while mandocellos traditionally have four courses of paired strings, their version has five, spanning an even wider range than a guitar (from a low C, a third below the lowest […]
L ifelong thespian Ti Ames was never comfortable with their casting. First, as an African American, Ames was long frustrated never to be cast in Black roles. There just weren’t all that many to cast, Ames says, and “unless you are told otherwise, you are playing a white character.” Second, as a young person still […]
Every day on fast-paced Route 250 between the towns of Ivy and Crozet, countless drivers may pass The Barn Swallow without even noticing. Only a small sign points it out. Shielded by a line of thick bamboo and tucked into a barn by a trickling creek, the boutique artisan gallery is an oasis from hurry […]
Artists have been creating and decorating miniature models for hundreds—if not thousands—of years. But miniatures have exploded in the past half decade with the growing availability of 3-D printers and virtual gathering spaces for enthusiasts. For example, Warhammer, one of the world’s largest tabletop gaming franchises, has drawn an Instagram community of miniature enthusiasts and […]
Kori Price is one of those rare creatures with full control over both sides of her brain. By day, she is an electrical engineer educated at Virginia Tech. In her off hours, she is a writer and mixed-media artist. In January 2022, she put on her first solo exhibition, “You can’t compromise my joy,” at […]
Leather goods designer Daniel Foytik has had his share of adversity. Raised in a remote town in Siberia, Russia, he was diagnosed in 2004 with ankylosing spondylitis, an inflammatory disease causing spinal fusion. About a year and a half ago, COVID-19 caused him to close his Charlottesville leather goods storefront on Second Street. Now, he’s […]
So you wanna be able to say, “I made that!”? These four spots are helping you craft something brag-worthy, from floral arrangements to beaded earrings. Be Just407 Monticello Rd.bejustcville.com What do pizza, pillows, and flowers have in common? They’re all workshops held by this Belmont home goods shop. The thoughtfully curated class list focuses on […]