Artist Hamilton Glass discusses his design for the 2018 Richmond Folk Festival poster after its unveiling at Glave Kocen Gallery. (Photo by Jay Paul)
Last night the Glavé Kocen Gallery became a boisterous heraldic hall by displaying the posters from each year of the Richmond Folk Festival, which began as part of the national festival series in 2005. Each piece is an original design created by a Richmond artist, and joining that esteemed roll with last night’s unveiling ceremony is Hamilton Glass.
Stephen Lecky, the festival manager for Venture Richmond, prior to the undraping of the Glass work, reminded the enthusiastic gathering that the festival begins in just one month. Volunteer coordinator Jamie Thomas says that there’s a need for “The Green Team,” which collects recyclables, and Safety Escorts to clear the way for artist transportation on those club carts. See all volunteer openings.
BJ Kocen, the irrepressible emcee for the gathering, and who for the past five years has opened the gallery to make an event of the poster announcement, also made a pitch for the Carmax Family Stage, in part supported by the regional nonprofit performance and education group, Jazz and Acoustic Music Inc., whose featured performers of Richmond-based talent will include bluegrass fiddler Josh Goforth, singer-songwriter and Richmond native Janet Martin, family-friendly rockers Dog’s New Clothes, and music impresario and ukuleleist Samson Trinh. For Wednesday's event, the driving and rambunctious sounds of Andrew Alli and Josh Small provided accompaniment for this celebratory time when we didn't have to think about hurricanes or other disasters.
Then came the moment. Glass gazed upon the crowd and grinned, saying, “It’s because of the kind of people here that are a big reason I get the opportunity to do so many cool things — like this.”
Glass, known for his wall-sized murals around the city, needed to compress a big idea into a much smaller space. He couldn’t represent all the instruments involved, but Glass sought to describe through color and dynamic form how the festival sounds and feels inside the listener.
Glass explains that when he attends the festival, his goal is to seek out something new.
“I go there to sample something different, which is the beauty part of what happens there,” he says. “I wanted to reflect that variety.”
