Mayan Arts Program Gallery Opening
Friday, June 1, 4-8pm
AlterNatives, 3320 W. Cary St. in Carytown
Invest in art, inspire young artists to act for justice, empower Mayan youth to transform our world and have fun at the same time. Come to the Mayan Arts Program Gallery opening at AlterNatives this Friday evening from 4:00 to 8:00 p.m. Music by the Happy Lucky Combo. Cash bar. VCUarts students are donating work to develop funds for the Maya Arts Program. The goal is to raise enough money to pay the salary of a full-time art teacher for the villages served by the Highland Support Project. These students have participated in the Maya Arts Program by developing curriculum, painting murals, painting schools and teaching.

The mission of the Mayan Arts Program is to empower Mayan youth with the creative skills needed to transform their world. The primary goal of the Highland Support Project is to break cycles of dependency and marginalization by supporting local efforts to create viable alternatives. Through the Maya Arts Program, North American volunteers partners with parents and teachers to transform the conditions of education. This is realized through infrastructure improvements, providing school resources and increasing the training as well as incentives of teachers. If you're not able to stop by on Friday, have no fear. Items will be on display and for sale during June.

Posted by at 3:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Two graduates of the Department of Photography and Film, Todd Raviotta (MFA '04, now adjunct professor) and Joe Carabeo (BFA '05) screened their new films at the Byrd Theater last week. Read more about it here. Photo by Scott Elmquist/Style Weekly.

Posted by at 10:33 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

7pm at James River High School
3700 James River Road in Midlothian.
Admission is free.
The James River High School Jazz Band returns to the stage tonight at 7p for its spring concert, under the direction of VCU Jazz faculty member Bryan Hooten. The music includes "Blues in Hoss Flat" from the Basie book, Ellington's "I'm Just a Lucky So and So," the Latin standard "Besame Mucho," and the anthem of so many childhoods, the "Sesame Street Theme." VCU Jazz Director Antonio Garcia will guest-solo on one tune.

Posted by at 9:42 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Posted by at 3:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Creator/producer/director of ART or something like it!, Brian Bernhard, is a 1999 VCUarts BFA graduate.
Only on CUNY TV Cable Channel 75
Friday May 18th at 7:30AM, 1:30PM, and 10:30PM
Friday May 25th at 7:30AM, 1:30PM, and 10:30PM
Saturday May 26th at 2:30PM
Join us as Lloyd Kaufman, the CEO of Troma Entertainment and creator of the Toxic Avenger, spins an inspiring tale of independent cinema, toxic waste, cheese sandwiches and zombie chickens.

Follow Rafi Mercado as he takes us on a journey through his fantasyland H.O.M.E. and shows us how House of Mercado Entertainment can make our dreams come true. Then we will follow “Slappy the Art Dog” as he steps in as “A.O.S.L.I.”s on the scene reporter to introduce us to the blues, goth, metal, grindcore sound of one of New York City’s most vulgar rock bands “Vulgaras”. So sit up, sit down, sit all around and enjoy another dose of concentrated art in television form.

Posted by at 3:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

A giant sigh of relief wafts down the 3rd floor of the Pollak building. Last week was the opening of the 07 MFA Thesis Show for Design/Visual Communications students.

Posted by at 11:37 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

It's your last chance this semester to see works from MFA students in the departments of Painting and Printmaking, Sculpture and Extended Media, Craft /Material Studies and Photography and Film
Opening Reception May 11th, 5-7 pm
Location: Anderson Gallery 907 1/2 W. Franklin St. Runs through May 29th.

Posted by at 2:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

First-year Art Foundation students recently put on the Second Annual Heroes and Villains Pageant. Josh Bishop asked his students to design a superhero or supervillain costume and create a character around it. Click here to see the results.

Posted by at 2:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

In Concert, Thursday May 10
8pm W.E. Singleton Center for the Performing Arts
922 Park Avenue
Free. Open to the public

Where can you hear twenty-one students from twelve different high schools together in one ensemble playing tunes by or made famous by Count Basie, Sammy Nestico, Horace Silver, Dave Brubeck, Dizzy Gillespie, and Antonio Garcia? Where can you hear such standards as "In Your Own Sweet Way" and "April in Paris" alongside such jazz gems as "Opus de Funk" and "Kush"?

Only at VCU's Concert Hall on Thursday, May 10 at 8 p.m., when VCU's Greater Richmond High School Jazz Band performs its home concert of the season.

The concert will be directed by director Antonio Garcia and assistant director Taylor Barnett and is free and open to the public. This band has rehearsed since January, also performing on Antonio Garcia's faculty recital in February and at the Titan Jazz Festival in April. Here's the personnel list:

Suzi Fischer, alto sax/Massaponax
Jake Taylor, alto sax/Thomas Dale
Matt Zavitz, tenor sax/Patrick Henry
Brian Arrington, tenor sax/Midlothian
Fleetwood Haddock, baritone sax/Hanover

Lucas Fritz, trumpet/Clover Hill
Austin Kramer, trumpet/Patrick Henry
Aaron Plourde, trumpet/Atlee
David Simon, trumpet/Midlothian
Drew Kaerwer, trumpet/Thomas Dale

Joe Crenshaw, trombone/Atlee
Cameron Williams, trombone/Maggie Walker
Trevor Gould, trombone/Monocan
Maureen Wisniewski, trombone/Cosby
Dillard Watt, bass trombone/Freeman

John Bradberry, guitar/Atlee
Elliott Burris, vibraphone/Clover Hill
Gianni Hobbs, piano/Appomattox
Matthew Harris, bass/Atlee
Derek Cheatham, hand percussion/Appomattox
Ralph Mason, drums/Hanover

Posted by at 9:15 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

RE: SEARCH 6
VCUarts Visual Communication Design MFA Exhibition
Opening Reception Friday, May 4, 6-10pm
Open 11-3 through Wednesday
207 W. Broad Street

Featuring the work of: Heather Boone, Ben Gaydos, Jinny Kim, Matt Klimas, Karen Stein, Todd Timney
For additional info: 804.828.1709

Posted by at 9:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

froshArt is an unconventional online community resource for artists in Richmond.
Release Party and public gallery opening, May 4, 7pm
Apex Digital, 900 W. Broad Street.
Bring your artwork in a digital format and register to have your work displayed via projector.

Posted by at 1:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Presenting nine amazing Sculpture students in:
NINE OVER ONE HUNDRED TWENTY ONE
May 4, 5PM -7PM
Stephanie Bingham
Diana Cavanaugh
Elizabeth Chaney
Amanda Dalla Villa
Terence Edwards
Nicol Leddington
Brian Murer
Chris Park
Becca Witt

Work will be on display at, in, and around the first floor of the Fine Arts Building, 1000 W. Broad Street.

Posted by at 1:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Friday May 4th, 2007
Student Commons, Ballroom A&B
$25 for general seating and $35 for preferred seating

The Department of Fashion Design and Merchandising at Virginia Commonwealth University will host their 2007 Annual Juried Fashion Show, titled Divine Disorder, featuring the best 130 garments designed and produced by the fashion design students. Divine Disorder will consist of eleven segments, ranging from couture loungewear to cocktail and evening dresses.

The show will also feature a segment of menswear themed "Urban Cowboy”, and a segment featuring garments made entirely from organic fabrications. With the increasing awareness and popularity of environmentalism, as well as organics, this growing trend has filtered into the fashion industry. This trend, known as "eco fashion," will also be featured in the Fashion Department's 2007 fashion show.

This year, Cotton Incorporated, is the major sponsor of the fashion show including underwriting the cost of the production of the show, $9,000 in design student scholarships, cotton fabrication for several segments, and a trip to New York City to visit their Cotton Library and Trend Forecasting center.

Posted by at 3:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Interior Environments
MFA Thesis Show "Means of Egress"
Opening May 4, 2007 4-7pm
10-5 weekdays

Virginia Center for Architecture, The Social Gallery
2501 Monument Avenue, Richmond, VA

Posted by at 2:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Please join the VCU Department of Dance on Thursday, May 3 at 1:00 PM
for an informal showing of work by our spring guest artist, Monica Bill Barnes.
Studio 203 of the Dance Center at the corner of Brunswick and Floyd.

Monica Bill Barnes is a New York based choreographer described by Deborah Jowitt of The Village Voice as "one of the wittiest young choreographers around--she can stir your heart as well as make you laugh." Barnes has created eleven evening-length dance works for her own company, Monica Bill Barnes & Company, ranging from a two woman vaudevillian traveling side show to an intergenerational dance extravaganza for fifteen performers. Her dances have been produced in over twenty venues in New York City ranging from Joe's Pub (DancemOpolitan Series) to Symphony Space and Danspace Project/St. Mark's Church, Dance New Amsterdam, Dance Theater Workshop, Dixon Place, Dancenow/NYC/The Festival and Dancing in the Streets. Her work has been presented nationally and internationally by organizations including Jacob's Pillow, The International Fabbrica for Choreographers (Florence, Italy), The Fourth International Dance and Movement Festival on the Volga (Yaroslav, Russia), Tanz Festival (Karlsruhe, Germany), Sushi Performance and Visual Art (San Diego, CA), DancePlace (Washington, D.C.), The Philadelphia Museum of Art and The Yard. She has been the invited Guest Artist at the North Carolina School of The Arts University, University of California, San Diego, University of California, Riverside, Vassar College, James Madison University, Shenandoah University and Dance New Amsterdam's Modern Guest Artist Series (1999 to present). Barnes holds an MFA from New York University/Tisch School of the Arts.

The VCU Dance community has been delighted to have Ms. Barnes in our midst, teaching, choreographing, and offering wisdom gleaned from her years of experience as a dance artist on the downtown New York scene. Her work--characterized by what The New Yorker called her "famous wit"--was presented most recently at Symphony Space in New York, April 19-21. For photos and press clips about her company, visit http://www.monicabillbarnes.com.

Posted by at 1:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)