Find a complete list of local galleries in our online guide.
Julia Monroe, co-director of Reynolds Gallery, considers a painting with Tyler Boy. (Photo by Jay Paul)
Richmond is an art town. It possesses a world-class encyclopedic art museum, the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts; the new Institute for Contemporary Art at Virginia Commonwealth University with rotating exhibitions of contemporary art; the No. 1 public art school in the nation in VCU’s School of the Arts; and a city-designated Arts District with a monthly art walk. Richmond is also home to many artists and crafters. But where are the best places to buy fine art and other hand-crafted items for the home?
Start with the galleries. While there are concentrations along West Main Street and Broad Street — don’t forget the side streets — Richmond boasts galleries around the city, including Eric Schindler Gallery in Church Hill, The Highpoint in Scott’s Addition, Shockoe Artspace in Shockoe Bottom, Iridian Gallery in North Side, Crossroads Art Center in the West End, or Artspace in Manchester. Reynolds Gallery is one of the oldest — along with 1708 Gallery — and sells art from well-established artists such as Sally Mann and Tara Donovan to emerging talent such as Brittany Nelson or Eva Rocha.
Reynolds Co-director Julia Monroe shares advice for seasoned collectors and beginners: Buy art that you like.
“When you can’t shake a piece, you should buy it. If a piece haunts you, find a way to make it part of your life. Art is personal, and if you love it, art will stand up against changing design trends and mix with other artistic styles,” she says. “In fact, we love seeing contemporary pieces put in conversation with antiques and family heirlooms.”
Co-director Alice Livingston adds, “VCU is an incredible resource for the highest-caliber emerging artists in the world, so although we don’t encourage people to think about art in terms of purely an investment, it certainly doesn’t hurt when an artist gets national recognition and the value doubles or triples.”
If you are looking for fine art on the secondary market, the pickings are slimmer. Philadelphia-based Freeman’s, the oldest auction house in America that sells items on par with the more well-known Sotheby’s or Christie’s, has a satellite location, Freeman’s Southeast, in Richmond, but all sales take place in Philadelphia. Crossroads Art Center features pre-owned art on its website buyrvaart.com, and clients can preview the art in their salesroom. A rotating inventory, priced from under $100 to over $10,000, is available for customers to buy from the comfort of their homes.
“Don’t collect a piece of artwork just because you are wagering that it’s going to be worth a lot of money 10 years from now, because that’s just sort of like reading tarot cards in the art market,” says Jennifer Kirby, director and owner of Crossroads Art Center. “Go to all the galleries in town and see what appeals to you.“
Studio Two Three in Scott's Addition (Photo by Erin Edgerton)
Many local storefronts offer affordable handmade items from two-dimensional prints to jewelry, ceramics and items for the home. Studio Two Three in Scott’s Addition, which began as a printmaking studio, has a storefront with a steady rotation of mostly hand-printed items. Quirk Gallery’s shop sells jewelry, ceramics, prints and other home goods.
Craft + Design (Photo courtesy Visual Arts Center of Richmond)
Finally, don’t miss the art-buying events, especially the long-running craft fairs: Arts in the Park in May and Craft + Design in November or any of the multiple events put on by the Richmond Craft Mafia. Pop-up events — advertised mostly on social media — offer work at affordable price points. Be on the lookout for mainstays like Studio Two Three’s print fairs, trunk shows at Quirk, the Northside Artists’ Holiday Artwalk, pop-up craft sales at VCU of student work, or 1708 Gallery’s Monster Drawing Rally. And Current, an art fair that took a hiatus to reorganize in 2018, is back for the fall of 2019.
Finally, many nonprofits — from the recently formed Oakwood Arts to the long-standing 1708 Gallery — host annual fundraisers that offer a party with a purpose: Proceeds go toward artwork and operation costs. Each typically features the sale of local art in a live or silent auction alongside food and beverages to ticketed guests.
