Richmond magazine’s writers and editors share their picks for the best virtual experiences in the days ahead.
Tobacco Made
Richmond’s tobacco legacy is explored in an online exhibition, courtesy of 10 students in the University of Richmond’s American Studies program. The exhibit includes a gallery of images of Richmond tobacco-related ads, products, and it casts a critical eye on the industry’s history and impact on the city through a series of visual essays. You can see a physical exhibition, “Tobacco Made: Richmond’s Unfiltered History,” in September at the University of Richmond Downtown. The online exhibition also offers suggestions for further reading, including the 2019 Richmond magazine package Tobacco Town and a story by our own Harry Kollatz Jr. about a mystery photograph from around 1917 of the Robert E. Lee monument surrounded by a patch of tobacco.
—Tharon Giddens, Lifestyle Editor
Virtual Valentine
Discover some lesser-known stories of Richmond’s rich history through "RVA 50," a virtual exhibition created by The Valentine museum. Throughout time, archaeologists and historians have studied the history of civilizations through the objects people have left behind, which allows for the inclusion of people who left no written records. RVA50 tells Richmond’s unique story — warts and all — of settlement, progress, setback and rebirth across four centuries through 50 objects from The Valentine’s collections. The museum uses maps, photographs, period clothing, paintings and portraits, and furnishings to tell the story, including of some of the little-known but important contributions from people such as James Armistead Lafayette, a hero of the American Revolution, who was born into slavery and served in the Continental Army as a spy for the Marquis de Lafayette.
—Susan W. Morgan, R•Home Managing Editor
Compost 101
One of the unexpected results of the coronavirus shutdown has been an increased interest in home cooking and gardening. Along with this comes a greater awareness of living sustainably — when you are trying to go to the grocery store as little as possible, you don’t want to waste anything. So, rather than throw your food scraps into the trash can, why not start a compost pile to nourish your newly planted garden? On Wednesday, May 20, at 6 p.m., Compost RVA founder Bruno Welsh will teach you how to get started during an RVA Makers Virtual Meetup. Welsh will give a video tour of the compost and vermiculture (that’s worm farming) setups at his home and explain some of the basics of DIY compost.
—Jessica Ronky Haddad, Editorial Director
Don’t Miss
- Making Menuhin In honor of the postponed Menuhin Competition and its competitors, VPM’s “Making Menuhin” podcast introduces listeners to the young musicians who will now be participating in the competition next year.
- Children’s Museum Online Tuition Raffle Through June 12, buy a $50 raffle ticket for a chance to win $50,000 deposited into an Invest529 account through Virginia529 in this annual Children's Museum raffle.
- VisArts Artists Helping Artists The Visual Arts Center of Richmond is holding weekly online auctions of work by local artists to raise money for the visual arts community.
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.
