Posts Tagged ‘Richmond.com’
‘Paint Outside the Box’ at First Fridays Aug 6th
Posted by Christina in Special Events at First Fridays on August 5th, 2010
*This article first appeared on Richmond.com ~ Our fantastic Online Sponsor!
http://www2.richmond.com/content/2010/aug/05/party-street-first-fridays-art-walk/
August can traditionally be one of the slower months of “First Fridays” due to summer vacations, competition with outdoor events, or gallery owners closing and devoting time to sprucing up their spaces. (Visitors may not realize it, but by the end of an exhibition season art gallery walls have endured dozens of nail holes and multiple coats of Spackle and paint and are in serious need of a really good repair.)
But as we near the end of the 9th Season of our First Fridays Art Walk program, we see just as much energy as any other month devoted to bringing lively activities to the Art Walk. In fact, the August 6 Art Walk will feature a major creative effort thanks to a new partnership between Richmond CenterStage Foundation, ART 180, Boys & Girls Clubs of Metro Richmond, and Ace Recycling.
Young artists of ART 180
Paint Outside the Box is going to bring a huge creative party to East Broad Street, between 6th and 7th Streets behind the CenterStage facility, as almost 100 young artists from five Boys & Girls Clubs beautify construction debris recycling containers donated by Ace Recycling. These young artists will be working with local artists and seasoned ART 180 program leaders: Sukenya Best, Rick Cassidy, Robert Cataldo, Hamilton Glass, and Jaffray Witherow in the creation of these brightly colored “mobile murals”, which will eventually grace work sites around the state. Paint Outside the Box is a powerful collaborative effort to promote public art, the importance of recycling, as well as ART 180’s important mission to enrich the lives of young people through the arts.
When asked about their involvement in this unique project, Jay Smith, spokesman for Richmond CenterStage said, “Paint Outside the Box is a perfect fit with our mission of promoting the arts in the region. Bringing kids from around the Greater Richmond area to partner with local artists is exactly what we had in mind when we developed our arts education program. ART 180 is to be commended for bringing this project to life; and tying it to First Fridays with live entertainment by the No BS! Brass Band will be the perfect cap to a great day,”
The public is invited to witness the containers’ creative transformation into mobile works of art on Friday, August 6, 2010 anytime between 9:30am to 5:00pm, and to help celebrate the project’s completion between 5:00pm to 7:00pm. Free refreshments and live entertainment by Richmond’s wildly popular jazz brass ensemble No BS! Brass Band will jump-start the August 6 First Fridays.
And to make heading Downtown ever so easy, visitors can enjoy complimentary valet parking at the nearby Hilton Garden Inn, located between 5th and 6th Streets, just by mentioning “ART 180”!
Learn more at:
First Fridays Art Walk Tonight!
Posted by Christina in Uncategorized on May 7th, 2010
There’s honestly not enough time and space to list all the great exhibitions and events taking place tonight May 7, 2010 and extending throughout the month of May. At least not here, but you can check out our website for a complete list of what the participating venues are presenting:
http://www.firstfridaysrichmond.com
And while you’re at our site, check out the brand new, updated First Fridays Map that’s downloadable so you can easily print out a copy and take it along as you make your way Downtown to the almost 40 participating venues. Parking and landmarks are included for convenience.
Many Thanks to METRORMEDIA for helping keep us looking good! 
I’ll also point you in the direction of Richmond.com and their awesome First Fridays Online Guide, my recent article about the May 7th Art Walk, and Richmond.com’s selection of must-sees! for tips on what to take in. Or you can read and download our recent Summer Guide presented by Style Weekly! Our new print guide is available on our website as well as at the participating venues, so pick up your copy today if you don’t already have one from the April 28th issue of Style Weekly. And by the way, be sure to support these two great media outlets as they help keep First Fridays thriving!
Our website is always the best source for details since you can access each participating venues, hit the link and find out exactly what’s on view this month or taking place during First Fridays, from exhibitions to dining specials.
Have fun and be sure to continue to shop local! Our partners need your support to keep going and keep RVA the amazing city is it.
I hope to see you at First Fridays, as it’s going to be a fabulous night!
Cheers! Christina
First Fridays is hot IN the press this month!
Posted by Christina in Uncategorized on April 1st, 2010
We love getting good press. Sure, I know, who doesn’t? But when it’s from these great publications, it’s very special. Check out these links for great reads on the upcoming First Fridays Art Walk on April 2!
Richmond.com – First Fridays Guide includes three pieces related to First Fridays Art Walk
http://www2.richmond.com/events/first-fridays-art-walk/
RVANews.com - RVAJazz covers jazz programming at Richmond CenterStage & UR Downtown
http://rvanews.com/entertainment/jazz/first-fridays-art-walk-looks-eastward/26854
Richmond Grid Magazine – reprint of Richmond.com article “highlights” article
http://richmondgrid.com/index.asp?ID=361
Richmond Times-Dispatch – reviews “First Fridays East” spring project
Yikes! I’m making a dive into real online writing and not sure what to think about the first effort
Posted by Christina in Uncategorized on January 6th, 2010
If anyone is reading this, you’ve likely heard or seen enough of me already. But I’ve got to tell you about another place you can glean some insight into the local arts scene. Through our new online sponsor relationship with the awesome people at www.Richmond.com, I’ll be writing a monthly “must see” type of article of the forthcoming exhibitions or events at First Fridays.
The first entry went up today and it’s ok. Not bad, not great. The shows are much better than the piece. That’s what I get for being insanely busy and overwhelmed with end of year work, company in town, husband getting ready for big new years eve gig (musician), not to mention moving our office (which is taking FOREVER thanks to what appears to be bad realtor) and then there was this whole “Richmonders of the Year” thing this week. (ha!) I know I was putting sweat on the brow of the Richmond.com editors but they cheerfully said ‘no problem!’ They’re nice that way. I know my writing is better than this first piece and I hope to not jump the gun and send off a Tweet to tell everyone to check out my worldly insights next time until the links and photos are up. Ugh. (Sorry Karri and Colleen!)
Anyway, check out what I’m looking forward to in January at some of the participating First Fridays galleries:
http://www2.richmond.com/content/2010/jan/06/january-2010-art-top-picks-first-fridays/
Starting the New Year off with Richmond.com!
Posted by Christina in Uncategorized on December 20th, 2009
Sorry I’ve been away from the blog for a while, but SO MUCH has been going on with work, especially trying to get some deadlines accomplished before the holidays. Then it snowed Friday. Well, that last one actually has let me get back to blogging where I have time to tell you of some damn good news.
We’re excited to start the New Year off with our New Online Sponsor - Richmond.com – the Region’s number one online source for all things Richmond!
This was a hard decision. There are so many great online resources in RVA, with some being lead by friends. But the content that Richmond.com will offer can not be beat and we think we’ve made a great decision since this will allow visitors to find information easy and the participating sites will receive ample marketing!
This new online guide will launch at the end of December in time to remind you that the January First Fridays Art Walk will be held on Friday, January 8, 2010 – a move necessitated by the New Years Holiday. The guide will soon be found under the ARTS drop-down menu on Richmond.com, and will feature monthly articles and information making experiencing Richmond’s most popular arts and cultural event even easier, such as:
. Articles on featured venues and performers
. Interactive map of First Fridays Art Walk area
. List of nearby restaurants
. Video and photos from Art Walk events
. Updated weather forecast
. Designated Twitter hashtag feed (#rvaff)
Developing an online guide for First Fridays on such a prestigious site as Richmond.com was a perfect match to our program’s growth. We hope to help augment this useful and powerful site by bringing everything you always wanted to know about First Fridays to a much larger online audience. From helping to promote the diverse creative venues, to showcasing “must see” exhibitions and events and helping to guide visitors “off the beaten path”, the new “Richmond.com First Fridays Guide” will be a powerhouse of cool images, video and information. No other program or event has this type of coverage, so collaborating with Richmond.com as our Official Online Sponsor of First Fridays Art Walk 9th Season was a partnership we couldn’t pass up!
Rick Thornton, Chief Connector at Richmond.com, says that, “First Fridays is one of those events that makes you proud to be a Richmonder. We’re very pleased to play a larger role in helping grow First Fridays. We’ll engage our audience with useful and entertaining information about First Fridays. We want to better connect our viewers with the region’s arts scene, and this partnership helps us do that.”
Since 2000, First Firdays Art Walk has put Richmond, Virginia on the national radar as an arts and cultural town, and over the last six years, Curated Culture (that’s us!) has been the nonprofit working behind-the-scenes making First Fridays happen.
Through our mission to inspire community and economic development in the Richmond Region by expanding awareness of and appreciation for arts and culture, Curated Culture has forged many important relationships to expand on these goals in support of Downtown’s creative community and its over 30 diverse businesses and organizations that participate in First Fridays.
We couldn’t do anything though without the generous support of our Presenting Sponsor – UNIVERSITY OF RICHMOND!
And the additional support of:
Venture Richmond
Style Weekly – our Print Media Sponsor
Community Idea Stations – Broadcast Media Sponsor
CenterStage
MetroRMedia – the folks that make us look great online!