Not long before the July round of First Friday exhibitions, I was in Lee Park and saw Russell Richards stroll by in a sleeveless t-shirt, arms looking positively buffed. On closer inspection, the longtime McGuffey Art Center artist hadn’t bulked up like The Hulk; instead, both arms were thickly wrapped in bandages.
An e-mail from Richards explained that a fall from his mountain bike left him with two broken arms, which leaves him temporarily in a Def Leppard-ish state of limited physical capabilities. To keep himself in good financial shape until his arms heal, Richards announced on Facebook that he is "having a sale of my considerable back inventory of work…[for] essentially the rest of the summer." So if you’ve ever been tempted to nab an inaccurate map of Belmont, one of Richards’ gorgeous China marker drawings or his book, now’s the time.
Rob Jones of Migration named Richards "Artist of the Month" in his ArtPark blog; in Richards’ case, there couldn’t be a better month for such an accolade. Richards designed C-VILLE’s Independence Day cover in 2007, a real "I Spy" treat loaded with references to The Ramones, MC5 and "Zippy the Pinhead," not to mention a certain local reverence for the fireworks at McIntire Park. We’ve got Richards to thank for the fireworks he’s provided the visual arts scene for years; shop around his website for a bit.
