Architect: 3North (renovation)
Date: 2007 (renovation)
Address: 1812 West Main Street
Founded in 1963 as the Hand Workshop by Elisabeth Scott Bocock, the Visual Arts Center of Richmond’s first location was in Church Hill. The original mission promoted showcasing and instructing crafts of both established artists and the city’s youth. It moved into its current location, the old Virginia Dairy Building, in 1985. A renovation in 2007 by local firm 3North reinvigorated and helped rebrand the institution; it stands as a beautiful example of modernism housed in a historic Richmond exterior.
Large, ornate double doors, the work of Richmond designer Maurice Beane, signal the building’s art identity clearly from the sidewalk and are swung open to welcome the occupant into the structure, down a clear axis that extends to a mid-block parking lot in the back. Unfortunately the Visual Arts Center also uses a small parking lot on the corner of Allen Avenue, which could be expanded into in the future, but the Main Street edge is held strongly by a handsome façade of brick and large windows.
The interior maintains a warehouse aesthetic, with exposed pipes and other services overhead painted white to blend into the cleanliness of the space. An interior street of concrete and stone tile spills through gathering and exhibition rooms, with glass walls providing views into studios. Immaculate detailing blends the history of the space with its pared down contemporary aesthetic. A generous stair leads to a second floor walkway, extending over the main entry and to several other studios, offices and workshop spaces local artists can rent.
The Visual Arts Center of Richmond is known widely throughout the Fan neighborhood and the arts community in general for its long history and the broad range of ages its programs serve, but it also deserves recognition for its building, equally as artful as the work taught and promoted there. The total experience is one of an elegant, functional space that comfortably accommodates a variety of uses. It maintains a neatness and finesse in an all-purpose art facility while avoiding the intimidating, austere feeling modernism occasionally causes the general public.
M.F.A
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