In 1972, on a nondescript stretch of Midlothian Turnpike, drivers pulled over to gape at a newly reopened Best Products showroom. The store’s brick facade seemed to be peeling off. One passerby rushed in to tell the employees that the building wall was falling down, only to be informed the effect was intentional. The …
In the summer of 1958, Edwin Slipek was sitting with his elbows on the window sill, his face pressed close to the glass. From a room high up in the William Penn Hotel in Pittsburgh, he could see the teaming streets below and the belching smokestacks of steel mills in all directions. The sunrise was …
Everyday for the past 4 years, nearly 40 people have moved to Greater Richmond. They come from far and wide; a worker from Norfolk seeking a job, a high school graduate from Danville coming to the “big city” for college, a relative from out of state moving to be closer to family, or an immigrant …
“House to Highway: Reclaiming a Community History,” a new exhibition at the Library of Virginia, charts the transformation of Jackson Ward, among the most storied Black neighborhoods in the United States. The exhibit focuses on the Skipwith-Roper family, the first Black homeowners in the area, and how their house and neighborhood transformed from 1767 through …
Over his 30 year career, the multi-disciplinary artist Theaster Gates has explored the relationship of art, architecture, memory, and public life. From now until March 9th, Gates’ work is on view at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. The installation, combining ceramic and wooden objects in an architectonic metal frame, is on display in the …
The state of public transit in Richmond may not be strong, but we are more fortunate than many US cities of our size to be served by the Greater Richmond Transit Company, or GRTC. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, GRTC has outperformed many other systems, in part because of the “Zero Fare” policy instituted during …
Too few Richmonders know the name Amaza Lee Meredith (1895 – 1984). Thanks in part to an important and timely new show at the Institute of Contemporary Art at Virginia Commonwealth University, that may soon change. A pathbreaking architect and educator, Meredith is the first queer black woman known to practice as an architect in …
The Department of Architecture at Virginia Tech is amongst the most well known in the country, but it isn’t as well known in Richmond as one might expect. Over the past month, an exhibition at the Branch Museum has helped to change that. The latest in a series of ambitious shows staged by the museum, …
Images captions in order: Beckerdite Scholley House, Campbell Hall at the University of Virginia, Middleton Inn, W. G. Clark House, Croffead House floor plan, Croffead House Earlier this month, W.G. Clark, one of Virginia’s most accomplished architects, was honored with the 2023 Arnold W. Brunner Memorial Prize from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. …
Since January 2021, a fence has surrounded Lee Circle on Monument Avenue, blocking access to the once-vital center of public demonstrations sparked by the murder of George Floyd. Local and national media attention was lavished on the paint-covered base of the Lee Monument, which was rightly hailed as among the greatest works of protest art …