Here are some Richmond art gems and artifacts hidden in plain sight:
(From left)
1. Wouldstalk
There are 10 of these little guys around town (and one pink Snoopy) in murals created in 2014 by David Flores for the Richmond Mural Project. On his davidfloresart.com website, he calls his take on Charles Schulz’s Woodstock from the comic strip Peanuts “Wouldstalk.”
2. Rocking the Tiny Bar
Black Iris on Broad Street hides several unexpected delights, including its Tiny Bar space, where you’ll find intimate concerts and also a mural with a Jules Verne-meets-Moby Dick theme from local artist Duncan Robertson. Look closely and you’ll find two rockers serving as seamen: David Bowie and David Byrne.
3. Uneeda Biscuit
At the turn of the previous century, hand-painted advertisements adorned barns and commercial buildings across the nation. You can find remnants of this early public art across Richmond. This Church Hill ad for Uneeda Biscuit at East Broad and 25th streets is one of the better preserved, and a great example of the craft from an advertising pioneer powerhouse.
4. Stuart White
A co-founder of Uptown Gallery (you can find her works there), White produces playful pieces that incorporate hidden images. In Sixth and Grace for example, the former fashion coordinator for Miller & Rhoads displays has an array of famous folks including Botticelli’s Venus and Queen Elizabeth I in woods behind two mid-century shoppers wielding Thalhimers bags, and in Athena, the classic Greek goddess is flanked by small figures including an octopus and a nuclear submarine.
5. Stained Confederate Saints
The elegant Tiffany stained glass at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church on Grace Street is a reflection of the sanctuary’s time as the spiritual home to the Confederacy’s Gen. Robert E. Lee and its president, Jefferson Davis. Each is memorialized in allegorical stained glass windows from the Tiffany Studio. The Moses figure looks much like an elderly Lee, and St. Paul looks a bit like Davis. This summer, the church began discussions on its legacy and the Confederate symbols it houses.
