This week has something for everyone — from an exhibition at the Black History Museum & Cultural Center of Virginia to the Junior League’s Book & Author event and the 13th annual RVA Fashion Week, which features events both virtual and in person.
A Week of Style
The 13th annual spring RVA Fashion Week starts today and runs through Sunday, May 2, with a lineup of events both virtual and in person. Held at venues across the city, this fashion extravaganza will focus on styles curated from local boutiques, with proceeds benefiting hunger relief organization Feed More. On Tuesday, April 27, a ticketed fashion show will showcase up-and-coming streetwear designers at the Hofheimer Building both in person and virtually. For a dinner and fashion show experience, Quirk Hotel is featuring styles from Arts District boutiques on Wednesday, April 28. Several other ticketed and free events lead to the Designer Fashion Show at Common House Richmond on Saturday, May 1.
—Nicole Cohen, Special Projects Editor
Flora at the Forefront
Join international adventurer and television personality Justin Fornal, host of the Discovery Channel’s “Unexplained and Unexplored,” for Forgotten Uses of American Flora, a virtual exploration of the many long-forgotten uses of native North American flora hosted by Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden on Tuesday, April 27. Fornal will identify common weeds once used in Native American ceremonies and discuss processes used to create medicinal salves, colonial era tinctures, resin-based adhesives, plant-based textile dyes and more.
—Susan Morgan, R•Home Managing Editor
Books and Authors
Reading is enjoying something of a renaissance, with print book sales rising 8.2% in 2020, making April 29’s Junior League of Richmond Book & Author Event more necessary than ever for readers in search of new books to devour. The 76th annual edition is virtual again this year, with featured authors including Richmond’s own Sadeqa Johnson (pictured above), who turned to historical fiction for “Yellow Wife”; Judy Batalion, whose “The Light of Days” is a nonfiction account of Jewish women fighting for the Polish resistance in World War II; and Gabriela Garcia, whose debut novel, “Of Women and Salt,” hops through different time periods to explore the lives of four Latina women. Tickets will be sold through April 28, and all the books are available for purchase through the event’s bookstore partner, Fountain Books.
—Chad Anderson, Copy Editor-at-large
Moves for a Mission
Richmond Urban Dance wants to get you moving for a good cause with a hip-hop fitness class, with all proceeds to benefit local National Alliance on Mental Illness affiliate NAMI Central Virginia, at 6:30 p.m. on April 29. It will be staged in the Diamond’s Green Lot parking area off Robin Hood and Hermitage roads. The session will be led by Shay Mills and is presented in conjunction with Baker Unified Fitness.
—Tharon Giddens, Lifestyle Editor
In Step With One of the Greats
The Black History Museum & Cultural Center of Virginia is exhibiting a photographic record of more than 30 images from the life of a son of Jackson Ward, Bill “Bojangles” Robinson, through June. The show, “Mr. Renaissance Man,” guides visitors through the performer’s career during the first decades of the 20th century. He was the highest-paid Black performer in the country when he danced with Shirley Temple, and although the four-time Robinson-Temple pairing involves now wince-worthy plots, the movies record Robinson’s influential tap dancing. He died at age 71 on Thanksgiving Day 1949, and his funeral in New York drew some 50,000 people.
—Harry Kollatz Jr., Senior Writer
Cast Your Vote!
Voting is now open for Richmond magazine’s 34th annual Best & Worst survey! Support the businesses, events and neighborhoods you know and love by sharing your picks and enter to win prizes from some of the region’s favorites, including The Mill at Fine Creek and Fine Creek Brewing Co., WPA Bakery, AAA Flooring, and Papeterie. Voting continues through May 7.
River City Roundup is Richmond magazine's weekly compilation of the best things to see, do and experience in the region, compiled by our editors. Get each week's installment directly in your inbox every Monday by subscribing to our e-newsletter.
