Artful implements

Former restaurateur Vu Nguyen has a new culinary endeavor: creating handmade tools for home cooks, inspired by the pros. Tell me briefly about your background and how it led you to start The Dustworks. I’ve either worked in the food industry or a design-focused company. My foray into food started at Bizou in my last […]

Pump, pump, pass

How do we feed our babies? It’s a question Kelly Cox has been fielding from new parents for over a decade. Cox, a licensed clinical social worker, registered prenatal yoga teacher, and birth doula, has hands-on experience helping moms through every stage of pregnancy. After six years of working as a therapist with mainly domestic […]

Ten years in

his year, the Jefferson School African American Heritage Center marks its 10th anniversary. Since 2013, it has provided educational programs, cultural events, and commemorations for Charlottesville’s Black community—and revived the role of the original Jefferson School. “From its founding, the Jefferson School held the cultural practices—the gatherings, performances, the festivals—of the African American Community,” says […]

Clay day

Derek Brown’s sculpture is all about fun.  The Palmyra resident started making quirky clay figures because he wasn’t having fun at his day job. He wants people to see his pieces and think, “That’s fun.” And if he stops having fun making the tchotchkes, he’ll give it up. “Basically, I hated my job so much—being […]

Now hear this

Podcasts are the fastest-growing audio entertainment platform in the country, according to the Radio Agency—more than one-third of Americans listen to them regularly. Charlottesville is home to some of the most engaging, from lighthearted chats to compelling true crime investigations. Give these five a stream.—Laura Drummond “Bold Dominion” “Bold Dominion” covers all things Virginia state […]

Page-turners

With the Virginia Festival of the Book already on our calendar (March 23-26), we reached out to Kalela Williams—the Center for the Book’s new director—to tell us what she’s most looking forward to reading from this year’s lineup. See her picks below, and visit vabook.org for the full festival schedule.—CH Kaikeyi by Vaishnavi Patel I […]

Creativity in motion

Here’s one way to get the creative juices flowing: Rose’s Inspiration Station. The mobile arts and crafts studio comes right to you, infusing imagination into kids’ birthday parties, weddings, and even work events. Book online by selecting a predetermined theme—fantasy world, for example—or reach out with a one-of-a-kind idea of your own. On the day […]

The artist’s artist

Jen Deibert doesn’t care much for categories. “I would not call myself a potter,” she says, although her cozy cluttered studio is packed with ceramic pieces. (It actually looks like a vintage shoppe and a crystals booth got married in a kiln and had children.) Asked about her art, Deibert simply says, “I make things.” […]

Dream room

Sleep over at this 8-year-old’s house, and you get the coolest bed in the place: Not only are guests given the top bunk, but thanks to a clever design from DGP Architects’ Roger Birle, they utilize a slide—an actual slide!—to get down.  “Initially we were planning on simply a ladder, but once we saw the […]

Dueling designers

Zach Snider and Dan Zimmerman have been trading design ideas since the beginning. As co-owners of Alloy Workshop, they’ve been constant collaborators since they started out. But when the longtime colleagues launched their own home renovations last year, they took different approaches. Where Snider went the way Alloy sends its clients—fully designing the renovation before […]