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Canvas Operating Manager Claire O'Keefe and Laura Lee's General Manager Michael Smith
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Canvas is located at 3104 Semmes Ave., three blocks from Laura Lee's.
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"The Market" space at Canvas
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A lounge area inside "The Market"
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"The House" area of Canvas
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Area inside "The House" at Canvas
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"The Garden" features a fire pit, outdoor seating and forthcoming garden to be planted by Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden's Urban Gardeners.
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This outside area doubles as a coffee or cocktail bar.
Since restaurateur Kendra Feather opened Laura Lee’s, the South Side ode to an American fern bar, in 2016, the Semmes Avenue outpost has embraced its identity as a neighborhood restaurant, a place for the people.
“That has been our motto since day one,” says Laura Lee’s General Manager Michael Smith, the vivacious personality and unofficial face of the restaurant, as we tour Canvas, a community event venue down the street from the restaurant.
Laura Lee’s and Canvas recently celebrated one year of collaboration.
The alliance between the two businesses formed after Canvas' founder, Scott Wayne, began to frequent Laura Lee’s. The more Wayne and Smith conversed, the clearer it became that both businesses shared similar profiles: spaces for the community designed to make patrons feel comfortable.
Canvas allows Laura Lee’s to use a progressive locale for dinners and other private celebrations, while Canvas — which also hosts board meetings, strategy sessions and other business-oriented events — can employ the thoughtfully curated space in a different way while promoting community partnerships and supporting a fellow neighborhood business.
“We don’t want to have buyouts [of Laura Lee's] every week. ... We’re in a neighborhood and want our neighborhood people to have a space they can come to without having to think about it,” Smith explains. “It really sucks walking up to a door with that sign that says, ‘Private Party.’ ”
The name Canvas is derived from the idea that the venue serves as a blank canvas of opportunities.
“Over time it has transformed into this space,” says VCU graduate and Canvas Operating Manager Claire O’Keefe of the year-and-a-half-old venture. “The idea is for people to get together ... and be close to who they’re talking to — the proximities are designed very thoughtfully, similar to Laura Lee’s.”
The space comprises multiple elements including “The House,” an airy and modern room featuring a midcentury sofa, plush royal blue chairs, circular tables, bright shag rugs, a projector and mounted paper scrolls for brainstorming.
A second main area at Canvas, dubbed “The Market,” is furnished with moveable tables, allowing the space to fluctuate between hosting seminars or private dinners prepared by Laura Lee’s Executive Chef Scott Lewis and his team.
“This allows mobility,” Smith says. “It’s cool to know we can pick Laura Lee’s up and bring it three blocks over here and offer, I’m gonna say, the same experience, as far as the cuisine but in a different space.”
Other aspects of Canvas include a podcast room called “The Studio”; a customized Airstream trailer for those seeking an intimate breakaway or to channel their inner Jack Kerouac; as well as “The Garden,” a cozy, fenced backyard space with two serving areas, a fire pit and wooden barrel tables — rustic chic.
“You come here and feel at home and welcome, you’re in a neighborhood,” says O’Keefe, a former server who shares that the partnership with Laura Lee's allows her to marry her passions of hospitality and event management. "The Forest Hill Park trail system is close, people can walk to Laura Lee’s or WPA [Bakery] or Crossroads. We’re truly welcoming them to this neighborhood and want them to enjoy it.”
O’Keefe says Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden's Urban Gardeners plan to plant produce on the grounds in the coming months. Other Canvas partnerships include Lamplighter Coffee Roasters, Belle Isle Moonshine, The Veil Brewing Co. and Buskey Cider, Soul N’ Vinegar, and Salt & Forge.
On Sunday, Jan. 5, Laura Lee’s will host its largest event to date at Canvas, “Beaucoup Beaujolais,” and welcome Alice Feiring, the Brooklyn-based author of "Natural Wine for the People” whom Smith describes as the “godmother of natural wine.” The seminar/history lesson/tasting/community conversation will explore the term “natural wine” and have a number of distributors in attendance, from Plant Wines to Native Selections.
“This is an exciting opportunity for all the wine nerds in Richmond,” Smith says, laughing. “People are asking about specific things. … It means the greater public [can] understand this idea of wines that don’t have added sulfurs and wines farmed biodynamically or organically and sustainably.”
Community members interested in an event at Canvas can choose to rent the entire compound or individual spaces for full- or half-day time periods. Laura Lee’s is currently working on obtaining an on-premise ABC license but can serve wine and beer brought by guests.
