This issue of Richmond magazine explores two topics that, to me, help to make Richmond unique: art and history.
As the home of Virginia Commonwealth University’s School of the Arts, which is among the top-ranked schools of its type in the country, Richmond possesses a vibrant arts scene. You’ll see evidence of the city’s artistic bent in Jackson Ward’s murals and Broad Street’s art galleries, in the exhibitions at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts and VCU’s Institute for Contemporary Art, and at annual art events such as Arts in the Park and the Visual Arts Center’s Craft + Design.
On Page 54, Paula Peters Chambers takes a look at Studio Two Three, founded in 2009 by four VCU art school grads who needed a place where they could practice printmaking. Not only were they looking for a way to make printing less cost prohibitive by pooling their resources, but from the outset, the founders wanted to make the space accessible to all, selling memberships so that members could access the space to create art 24/7.
It was a winning formula, and today, Studio Two Three is thriving, the recent recipient of numerous grants, one that will help it to eventually purchase a permanent location.
The organization hit its stride in 2020, during the height of the pandemic and social justice protests in Richmond, when it pivoted to sewing masks and printing and giving away posters and prints, even making international news with the “Giddy Up Loser” print it made on-site and distributed during the removal of the Robert E. Lee statue from Monument Avenue.
Our second feature, “To Protect and Preserve” on Page 48, delves into the changing nature of historic preservation as the removal of Confederate symbols has shifted the focus to highlighting the city’s long-neglected Black history, and as younger generations do not seem to share the same passion for preserving old buildings as their forebears. With Second Baptist Church in danger of being demolished once again (preservationists first saved it from the wrecking ball 30 years ago), historic preservation is in the spotlight. I’ve always loved this building, a 1906 Classic Revival masterpiece, and would love to see it repurposed as a gathering spot — perhaps for an arts organization seeking a new home? I hope the building’s owner, Historic Hotels, which also owns The Jefferson, can get creative and save it.
