Monticello garden director Peter Hatch talks shop

It’s hard to believe, but Peter Hatch didn’t have gardening in his blood. Now 32 years into his work restoring the gardens at Monticello, a task that his former boss says makes him “known to every historical gardener in America,” Hatch’s early aspiration was to be a poet. And in a sense—a living, dirt-under-your-nails, sticky-stuff-on-your-forearms […]

Ticking away

What is a clockmaker to do, Ace? In this age of atomic timekeeping and all-in-one cellular gadgets, it seems like everyone’s turned a blind eye to our noble craft. I have this terrific idea for an escapement-driven pendulum, but everyone keeps telling me that it’s “so 17th-century.” I don’t suppose there’s anyone in Charlottesville who […]

"What Will Last Beyond Today: John W. Kluge's Collection of Australian Aboriginal Art"; Kluge-Ruhe Aboriginal Art Collection; Through December 20

John Kluge’s donation of an extensive collection of Australian aboriginal artworks, presented to the University of Virginia in 1997, was extraordinary. So it makes sense for the Kluge-Ruhe Aboriginal Art Collection, born from that gift, to pay tribute to the man on the occasion of his 95th birthday. What’s successful about this celebratory exhibition is […]

Joe on Joe

These are strange days, Ace. I hear whispered rumors of a mysterious figure, a “grocery messiah,” coming in from the west, his hour come round at last, slouching towards Charlottesville to do business. Some call him Trader Joe. I’ve browsed every prophetic text I can find, but none mention him. Who is he? And should […]

State of Old Ivy Road bridge is concern to residents

Ten years ago, when Petronella Oostingh and her husband moved into a house on Harvest Drive, the nearby railway bridge over Old Ivy Road didn’t concern them much at first. Back then, she says, the concrete abutments that supported the rail overpass seemed sturdy enough to accommodate the frequent passage of load-bearing freight trains. Then […]

Sierra Club surveys City Council candidates on green space

After a somewhat dormant summer, candidates for City Council are gearing up for the last two months of campaigning before the November 3 elections. As is customary with each local and statewide election, the Piedmont Sierra Club—whose city membership nears 400—handed each of the four City Council candidates a survey on the city’s well-being.   […]