What I've Been Up To Lately

In which I am both eternally grateful and filled with melancholy in the course of a single post.

It's been awhile, guys.  Over the past month and a half, I got divorced (I mean, pretty much.  I'm just waiting for official decree or whatever.), spent two weeks on the other side of the country for my best friend's wedding, fulfilled a lifelong dream, worked my booty off preparing for a craft show that was an unmitigated disaster, and then spent three days feeling sorry for myself and watching movies.

RVA Street Art: Richmond Mural Project 2015

RVA Street Art: Miscellaneous

In which I share street art I've stumbled upon that does not fit into the categories I chose at the beginning of this series.

When I first decided to personally document the street art in Richmond until I couldn't stand it anymore, I was woefully uninformed about who was doing what and how much they were doing.  There was a lot of information online about the Richmond Mural Project and the RVA Street Art Festivals, and it took me awhile to sort through all of it.  A couple of weeks ago, Art Whino had the fourth annual installment of the RMP, and once I've taken pictures of all the new murals, I'll be all caught up with those two groups. (I'll be making that trip soon!)

RVA Street Art: Mickael Broth and Welcoming Walls

Throughout my mural documentation, I've come across a handful of names more often than others -  I can easily identify the work of Hamilton Glass or Chris Milk Hulburt and I'm now Facebook friends with Ed Trask - but one local artist holds a particularly special place in my heart.  Not only do I absolutely adore Mickael Broth's murals (they've consistently been my favorites, even before I knew they were his), but I've inadvertently been following his work for over a decade.

RVA Street Art: Richmond Mural Project 2014

In 2014, the fervor for street art seems to have cooled a little.  There was no RVA Street Art Festival, the Richmond Mural project produced fewer pieces than it had in the previous years, and online coverage was slack.  Art Whino didn't even bother to record their own 2014 murals as they had for 2012 and 2013. I'm not sure what caused the decreased enthusiasm, as it seems to be back this year.  Announcements have already been made concerning the plans for both the Richmond Mural Project and RVA Street Art Festival for this year.

RVA Street Art: Richmond Mural Project 2013

 In 2013, Art Whino returned to Richmond for the second installation of it's Richmond Mural Project, with the aim of producing 100 murals within its first five years.

RVA Street Art: The GRTC Bus Depot (Part III) and The Light of Human Kindness

Today, I'll be sharing the last batch of photos from my visit to the bus depot and talking about the site since the GRTC relocated.  Plus, The Light of Human Kindness!

RVA Street Art: The GRTC Bus Depot (Part II)

Last week, as a kind of introduction to the brilliant street art oasis at the bus depot, I talked about my own experiences with the site.  Today, I'll be sharing a little bit of the property's history.

RVA Street Art: The GRTC Bus Depot (Part I)

I saw the bus depot in all of its street art splendor last year when I moved back from Kentucky and discovered that an artistic renaissance was happening in my home town.  The site had already been locked up for a little over eight months at that point and I was bummed about missing out on the opportunity to go inside.  I took two different trips downtown and walked all the way around the property, taking photos through the chain link fence, gazing longingly inside, and sighing dramatically.

Sketchbook Round-Up: Volume 6

RVA Street Art: G40 Art Summit (Part II)

Last week, I posted the first batch of photos of the murals that were painted as part of Art Whino's G40 Art Summit in 2012.  Today, I'm sharing the rest.

RVA Street Art: G40 Art Summit (Part I)

In 2012, while Ed Trask and Company were premiering the first RVA Street Art Festival, the Washington DC-based gallery Art Whino was bringing twelve incredible muralists from all over the world to Richmond for its annual G40 Art Summit.  The aim of these Summits is to explore and promote Low Brow art by bringing together artists in an annual themed exhibit accompanied by activities and events that last throughout the month.

The loosely defined Low Brow art movement emerged in the 1970s as part of the hot rod culture in southern California with characters like Rat Fink.  It's heavily influenced by pop culture - specifically punk rock, comic books, and cartoons.  With heavy kitsch and retro references often combined with cute and/or creepy subject matter, it's safe to say that I'm a fan.

RVA Street Art: The Power Plant at Haxall Point

You might not know this about me, but I'm a big fan of history and am especially fascinated by abandoned buildings.  I also get pretty excited about street art.  In both cases, the bigger, the better.  In 2012, more than a dozen artists took part in The RVA Street Art Festival, where they painted huge murals on the exposed walls of the massive abandoned power plant.  If you ever want to lure me into a trap, the scenario presented in the previous sentence is probably a good start.