Month: May 2017

Categories
News

Kumbaya moments at Lee Park—sort of

Bible in hand and on bended knees, activist Veronica Fitzhugh asks Jason Kessler, whom she's called a "Nazi," for forgiveness. Staff photo

Charlottesville religious leaders staged a counterprotest this morning at Lee Park in anticipation of a gathering of Confederate supporters that didn’t happen. And when two foes met amid the hymns and prayers, all was not forgiven.

According to a press release, the Confederates were supposed to be at the park at 10am. Members of the religious community, including Methodists, Unitarians and Sojourners, met at First Methodist Church before 9am and proceeded singing into the park.

More than 70 people gathered in front of the statue of General Robert E. Lee and sang,”We Shall Overcome,” “Give Peace a Chance” and “This Little Light of Mine” for more than two hours, while calling for racial justice, love and unity.

unitarians
People of faith gathered in Lee Park to support racial justice. Staff photo

At the same time off to the side, a handful of those who favor keeping the statue of Lee, an issue that has turned the park into a flashpoint that drew white nationalists two weeks ago, were not part of the unity the organizers advocated.

Western-heritage defender Jason Kessler said he was there to support City Council candidate Kenny Jackson.

Jackson, a native Charlottesvillian and an African-American, wants to keep the Lee statue, a position for which he said he’s been called an Uncle Tom. He pointed out that most of the people wanting to remove it—and assembled for the counterprotest—were affluent whites.

“When Dr. King came here,” said Jackson, “he talked about peace and unity. He didn’t try to make white people feel guilty about the past.”

And about the group of white activists with Showing Up for Racial Justice, he said, “They make us feel like we’re stupid and need special help,” he said.

The statue, he said, “is not an issue for the black community.”

And he denounced those who have been putting up posters around town with photos of Kessler and others, calling them Nazis.

Activist Veronica Fitzhugh’s peacemaking moment was rebuffed when she asked Kessler to hug her.

Instead, Kessler accused her of posting the “Know Your Nazi” posters around town. “It’s one thing to talk about love and peace, but this woman has been putting up fliers with my name and address, saying we’re Nazis, listing our places of business and telling people to harass us,” he said.

Ten days ago, Fitzhugh, wearing a pink wig, screamed in Kessler’s face for him to “fucking go home” when he sat at a table on the Downtown Mall May 20. Today, wearing a black mantilla-like scarf, she got on her knees before him and asked, “Are you going to forgive me?”

“I want you to leave me alone,” replied Kessler.

Jackson continued to object to the posters he claimed urged people to kill Nazis.

“What I said was, ‘Nazi go home,'” said Fitzhugh.

“Let him talk,” interjected Mason Pickett, a City Council regular who has his own adversarial relationship with SURJ, two of whose members quickly were in his face as police officers approached and intervened.

“It is not against the law to yell at people,” said Fitzhugh. Among the cops standing nearby was Chief Al Thomas, but when she asked, no one answered her question about the legality of screaming at people.

ChiefThomas-Pleasants-Amos
Chief Al Thomas and Major Gary Pleasants are on hand, along with about 20 other cops at Lee Park. Photo Eze Amos

Jackson mentioned a May 20 video of Fitzhugh and others shouting at Kessler. “On the video you were cursing and abusing,” said Jackson, who pointed out that was illegal and indicated he knew that from personal experience.

There were some less confrontational discussions between those holding opposing viewpoints.

Artist Aaron Fein said he came to listen to other people. “Certainly there were people with whom I found common ground I didn’t expect, and other opinions weren’t changed.”

kessler-handholding-Amos
Jason Kessler passed on an opportunity to hold hands in public. Photo Eze Amos

When a speaker from the larger religious group asked everyone to grab the hand of a neighbor, Fein stood in a small circle with Jackson’s group, which was also holding hands. Fein held one hand extended to Kessler, who kept his own firmly in his pocket.

Kessler told some of those talking to him that he supported Jackson because he wasn’t into “white guilt.” He pointed to the spiritual adherents and said, “These people are trying to wipe white people from the face of the earth by 2050. They want to displace white people.”

Brittany Caine-Conley was one of the organizers of the event. “I’m here because I think it’s imperative people of faith organize against racism,” she said. “It’s one of the imperatives of Christianity.”

“We need to stop hate,” echoed Jackson. “We need to stop posting signs that talk about killing people.”

As many of those in the park dispersed, Chief Thomas, when asked how it went, said, “We only have one goal—that everyone stays safe and respectful.”

Correction: Aaron Fein was misidentified in the original version.

Categories
Real Estate

Aging in Place: Building and Renovating for the Long Term

Couple in front of house

By Celeste M. Smucker –

Some major trends in today’s  real estate market reflect the preferences of its two most active groups of buyers, Boomers and Millennials.  Surprisingly many of the same floor plans and amenities are attractive to both suggesting that their appeal is universal encompassing lifestyle preferences that are good for now as well as for the long term.

High on the list are smaller, greener homes that are easy to care for both inside and out along with home designs that facilitate independence in the long term featuring one level living and open floor plans.

Design for the Long Term
Design elements that facilitate aging in place apply whether  home owners are renovating an existing house or starting from scratch to build new. Either way they must evaluate their unique  needs and determine how best to meet them.

Linda Broadbent with BHG Real Estate III did this evaluation when building her own home, and has assisted many clients who face the decision of whether to sell a house they love or renovate to make it more livable as they age.  She explained that often it makes sense for them to modify their older home, paying for the renovations by taking out a home equity loan. 

Before making a decision, however, Broadbent suggests they make a list of concerns, then decide if they can be addressed through renovation.  If they choose to go the new home route, they can take their list to a builder who will help them incorporate their ideas into their favorite house plans.

She did just that when building her own home, starting with a list and narrowing her preferences by determining  what she felt she needed versus what would be nice.  She gave the example of an aesthetic consideration such as the installation of quartz countertops that are popular today but more expensive than granite or some of the other alternatives. 

For some people upgraded countertops would be worth the extra money. For others it may make sense to put the savings towards more practical upgrades such as adding pull out shelves or a lazy Susan inside cabinets—for easy access to what is stored there—and replacing a double kitchen sink with one big one.

Why the larger sink?  Broadbent  explained that many people prefer it because the extra space makes it easier to wash large items like  pots and pans with the less flexible fingers often associated with aging. 

Planning for the long term may also require that people change how they view their existing space.  Broadbent and others who are self-employed often work out of a home office.  In her case she recognized she might also want a place for someone giving in-home care should that need arise in the future. To accomplish these two objectives she “borrowed” space from the garage area and what was originally designated as the laundry room to create what is now an office or a den, but which in the future could be a bedroom for a live-in care giver. 

In addition to major items there are also many smaller changes that can be incorporated into a new or renovated home to facilitate living there long term. These include installing rocker switches in place of traditional light switches, replacing door knobs with levers, and cabinet knobs with pulls.  Another significant improvement is updating light fixtures and adding brighter bulbs to make it easier to read, write, work in the kitchen, or do crafts. 

Strips of lights in stair wells, hallways, and along sidewalks between the house and the driveway can make a big difference as well, and while an elderly person may particularly appreciate these, so would a parent walking a hallway at night to comfort a teething baby, or a teenager with a leg in a cast due to a ski boarding accident. 

Of  course today home owners can control their lighting and heating systems remotely using their smart phones.  Rob Johnson, owner of Green Mountain Construction described home automation as an upgrade that is “increasingly popular through all age groups.”

Long Term Design Popular at All Ages
While certain design elements such as grab bars would not be on the “must have” list of many younger home owners (although they might be if one of them is disabled), other amenities that facilitate aging in place are popular among Millennials as well as Boomers. And when building or remodeling, if the need for grab bars is anticipated, it is easy and inexpensive to plan for their installation in the future as required.

There is more interest today in “transitioning in a house,”  said Keith Smith with Roy Wheeler Realty Co., and this is true even among younger buyers, he added.  He described what people of all ages are asking for today as “minimalistic”  with more open space and not such a big kitchen.  They want a house that is “more open and light driven,” with less maintenance.  “They don’t want to spend Saturday and Sunday cutting the grass,” he continued,  but would rather spend free time hiking, canoeing and visiting breweries and vineyards. 

Of course from a marketing perspective, building or renovating a home that appeals to a wide age range also means it will be easier to sell if the owners don’t stay as long as they had originally intended. 

Johnson’s clients are mostly 40 and older.  Some of the more popular items they ask for are one level living, a master suite on the first floor and a high efficiency HVAC with good air filtration. 

He added that “we do install many showers that are handicap accessible but still very attractive in the effort to be prepared for the long term. Additionally, adding blocking in walls for grab bars is important whether those items are installed as part of a current project or in the future.”

Anne Hughes with BHG Real Estate III agrees that one level living is important for a long term stay in a house, or at least that the master bedroom and bath and the laundry room should be on the first floor.  She pointed out, however,  that we are somewhat limited by our local topography. The hilliness can be a challenge when building or planning a renovation sometimes making it difficult  to stretch out and expand the home’s footprint to fit in everything that would be desirable to have on the first floor.   

Smith described a recent renovation completed by some clients on a Belmont home built in 1902.  The house was purchased when the owners were much younger and they recently decided they wanted a more livable floor plan but weren’t willing to move to a newer home and give up their close-in lifestyle. 

While the property didn’t lend itself to putting on a downstairs master suite, the owners were able to extend the living space on the back of the house and add a half bath and laundry area on the first floor.  Smith believes this newly renovated house is not only more livable, but the owners now have a place that will be more marketable in the future with a great deal more equity.

Renovations like this that create more open space and, in some instances, wider hallways, are appealing for aesthetic reasons but the space also becomes easier to maneuver for someone with a walker or wheel chair.  Access can also be improved with entry ramps, or by increasing the size of bathrooms by removing linen closets and tubs.

However, it is not just the over-65 age group that appreciates these kinds of bath upgrades. Broadbent described a recent sale to a young couple with children who planned to widen doors and rearrange space for a more open look in a bathroom where they also intended to install a walk-in shower. 

A related trend in bath remodels involves removing the once-popular Jacuzzi tubs that take up a lot of space and installing  a much bigger shower stall, expanding it from three to four feet to a more generous five to six feet, said Troy Yancey, a remodeler with T.E.A.L. Construction. 

While some home owners choose to put in a smaller tub as well, these can be hazardous for elderly people, Broadbent explained, as accidents often happen when people are climbing in and out.  She also recommends vinyl rather than tile for the floor stating that it is safer. People who like the tile look, can choose vinyl designed to look just like tile, she added.

Elsewhere in the house, upgrades that improve accessibility while opening up high traffic and work areas also appeal to home owners of all ages. Yancey expressed that some of his more popular kitchen renovations include installing pull-out trashcans under countertops and inside cabinets and getting microwaves off of counters and above stoves and putting them under the counter as well.

Low Maintenance Landscaping
One aspect of planning for the long term is landscaping that is easy-care, drought resistant and doesn’t require a lot of physical labor.  Broadbent explained that many people who would like to stay in their homes, often decide to move when they can no longer take care of their yard.  Easy care landscaping helps people remain in their home whether they choose to maintain it themselves, or have it done by someone else since they won’t have to pay as much for the work.  Of course this concept also appeals to younger folks who don’t want yard work to detract from their leisure activities.

One way to avoid yard care is to move to a townhome or other community where the HOA takes care of exterior maintenance.  And for people who still enjoy a little gardening, often these communities set aside space for that purpose, Hughes said.  It’s not unusual for there to be a designated garden area, or, in one case, prepared raised beds that are available for homeowners who want to claim them, she continued.  Even condo owners can participate by planting container gardens.

Another popular feature for downsizers with a small, private back yard is outdoor living spaces that feature seating areas, fountains, plants and even stoves that expand their living space without adding  a lot of maintenance.

Everyone Wins
Planning for aging at home can be a win-win for everyone involved.  Not only are we creating homes that are easier for everyone to live in and enjoy, but the occupants have longer to entertain friends and family in a place they have grown to love.

Careful planning also means fewer in-home accidents, and less demand for nursing home and assisted living situations as home owners are able to age safely in place for longer.   

From a real estate perspective we are creating homes that meet a genuine demand from people of all ages whether the owners live there just a few years, or happily enjoy their homes long term.

Celeste Smucker is a writer and blogger who lives near Charlottesville.

Categories
Real Estate

Navigating Local Rivers for Fun

By Ken Wilson –

“Rollin’, rollin’, rollin’ on the river” – Creedence Clearwater Revival

Rivers we have aplenty in Central Virginia, and spring through fall is prime time for boating, canoeing, tubing and paddling of all sorts. Let’s take a look at two local rivers and some popular ways to enjoy them.

The James
Formed by the convergence of the Jackson and Cowpasture Rivers in the mountains of Botetourt County, the James River is Virginia’s largest, flowing for 340 miles across the entire state to the Chesapeake Bay in Hampton Roads. In fact, the James is one of the longest rivers in the country beginning and ending in the same state. Its watershed encompasses approximately 10,000 square miles—almost one quarter of the state. Originally named the Powhatan River, for the chief of the Powhatan Confederacy in the Tidewater region, it was first called the James, after King James 1 of England, by the English settlers who established Jamestown. The river soon became the Virginia Colony’s major transportation artery, ferrying goods, newly arrived settlers, and tobacco, much of which was sent back to the motherland.

Nelson County residents know that the little town of Wingina, south of Lovingston on James River Road (Route 56), is a good place to put a paddle in the James. Boaters and canoers will find a ramp at the Route 56 bridge. Eleven miles downriver at Howardsville, there is a concrete boat ramp at the James River Wildlife Management Area off of Route 626. The river there is shallow, especially when the weather has been dry—so shallow that the ramp is frequently covered with sand. Expect shallow pools and short riffles (rocky and shallow sections with rough water) here, and a few islands. Look for smallmouth bass, redbreast sunfish, channel catfish, and longnose gar. Ten miles downriver at Scottsville there is another concrete ramp. Check river conditions before setting out at the James River Watch website (www.jamesriverwatch.org).

The Rivanna
Running southeast through Albemarle and Fluvanna counties, the Rivanna is formed by two smaller streams, referred to as its North and South Forks, whose headwaters flow from the Blue Ridge Mountains. Forty-two miles long, it is a tributary of the James, running into the larger river at Columbia in Fluvanna County. Named after Anne, Queen of England (think “River Anna”), this exceptionally pretty waterway was Virginia’s first officially designated Scenic River. Like the James, it was a major commercial highway, transporting wheat and tobacco in the state’s early days.

Put in on the sandy bank at Charlottesville’s Darden Towe Park off of Route 20. Two miles downriver at Riverview Park on Chesapeake Street, you’ll find a wooden staircase leading up the bank. The river here is calm with no rapids. The public access at Milton, where Route 22 crosses the river just west of intersecting Route 250, is 3.9 scenic miles downriver past several Class II and III rapids. It’s 10 miles downriver to Crofton (near Lake Monticello) with only one set of rapids, negotiable by beginners. The landings here are owned and maintained by the Virginia Department of Game & Inland Fisheries.

Crofton to Palmyra in Fluvanna County is 6.5 miles, with only one spot of rapids. Here too are concrete boat landings owned by the Department of Game & Inland Fisheries. The 16-mile trip to Columbia passes through several Class I-II rapids and one Class II-III drop. This is a day’s trip, and at least one member of the party should be an experienced boater. The view includes hills, farms and high banks. Plenty of parking is available at each of these spots, but overnight parking is not permitted at Darden and Riverview. The Rivanna Conservation Society publishes a waterproof map and guide to the Rivanna River.

Safety Tips
The James River Association recommends careful planning and preparation, including informing a third party of one’s plans, carrying maps of the area, watching weather and river conditions, and not setting out alone. Equipment to be carried includes a Personal Flotation Device (PFD) with an attached whistle, a hat to shield the sun (or a helmet if kayaking in rapids), water shoes or sneakers, waterproof or quick drying clothing, a dry bag with a first aid kit, flashlight, a small knife, bug repellent, sunscreen, snacks, and drinking water—more than you think you’ll need.

The Association further recommends scouting rapids of Class III and higher before attempting them, portaging around big rapids and dams, and quitting the river in the case of thunder or lightning. Capsized boaters should not stand up in rapids, but float through them with feet up and pointing downstream. Boating safety courses are available in the classroom through the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries, the US Coast Guard Auxiliary, and the non-profit boating organization U.S. Power Squadrons. Online and home study classes are available as well.

Outfitters
A number of area outfitters offer tips, trips and gear. Scottsville’s James River Runners rents equipment for their tubing, canoeing, kayaking and rafting trips—both days trips and overnight excursions—for all age and skill levels. Also in Scottsville, Reeling and Rafting rents tubes, canoes, kayaks and rafts, and transports renters upriver to start their trip. Charlottesville’s Rivanna River Company rents canoes, tubes, paddleboards and solo and tandem kayaks, along with paddles and lifejackets. It provides safety orientation and transports customers, their equipment and their boats to the river. Most trips are self-guided, but canoeing, kayaking, and stand-up paddle boarding classes are also available. 

Categories
News

Bus logistics among top concerns in city

Andrea Wieder, who uses the bus as her primary source of transportation, says it should be more of a priority for city officials. Eze Amos

Andrea Wieder relies on the bus.

Bus No. 4, which stops at the bottom of Highland Avenue, is the one the Fry’s Spring resident takes to Food Lion and CVS. For Harris Teeter’s Senior Discount Day every Thursday, she takes the same route, transfers to the No. 7 bus and checks out the offerings at Barracks Road Shopping Center. The free trolley shuttles her downtown, and she’ll also take that to the doctor at UVA if she doesn’t walk or ride the No. 10 bus line.

“Timing can be tricky, but that’s life,” Wieder says, and adds it doesn’t take long to memorize a route. Some concerns with the bus, however, are out of her control. “There are frequent delays on the buses. It seems not a problem of the buses or the bus drivers, but the fact that around this town, there is so much construction going on, you can hardly turn a corner without running into cranes and extra congestion.”

On a recent morning, Wieder invited Democratic City Council candidate Heather Hill to ride the No. 7 bus with her.

“I wanted her to sit on the bus with me, see who was on the bus with me and see where the buses go,” she says. “I wanted her to hear that the system seems to have very low priority within the city. I don’t understand that, since it’s a tremendous link and a resource for many, many people.”

On that day, the bus was so late Wieder called the Downtown Transit Station to inquire about the holdup. The person who answered the phone told her that construction equipment at the site across from C&O Restaurant—a slew of detached brownstones known as C&O Row—was causing a traffic jam.

“Why don’t they coordinate things like this?” Weider asks. “Why is it that every single bus in the city of Charlottesville—with the exception of [buses] 5 and 9—passes through the transit center on the same street at the same time?”

Wieder met Hill when the candidate was canvassing the city for her campaign. By the end of May, Hill will have knocked on about 2,300 doors and spoken with at least 1,600 individuals.

“While I am grateful for our public transportation infrastructure, there are clearly ways it can be improved, and I strongly feel evaluating the future state of this system needs to be done in partnership with the county and the university,” Hill says, adding that riding the bus with Weider reinforced some of the transit system’s hurdles that she had heard about from other residents. She notes that CAT has recently installed data collecting fareboxes, which will produce ridership and bus timeliness numbers.

The City Council hopeful likes data, and by surveying neighborhoods door-to-door, she has deduced the top five concerns of the residents with whom she interacted.

Overall, she says affordable housing is the No. 1 worry. Development, zoning and planning come next, with the viewpoint that current projects don’t address the community’s needs, erase green spaces and lack a long-term vision. The third concern was schools and education, followed by infrastructure and supporting multi-modal transportation. Voters are also worried about the allocation of the city’s resources.

“My time speaking with neighbors throughout the city has highlighted the extent to which we are united on many priorities,” Hill says. “It has also made me aware that the issues we hear about in public settings are not always reflective of the things that matter most to the broader community.”

Categories
News

Express distress: Locals say post office is not performing to the letter

Alakazam Toys and Gifts owner Cassandra Mathis calls her postal service “unpredictable,” leaving her unsure each day if a mail carrier will stop by her store. Staff photo

From the Downtown Mall and beyond, some Charlottesville businesses and residents are concerned with their mail delivery—explicitly the lack thereof. A few have not received their mail until well into the evening, while others have gone days without any kind of postal service.

Verdigris owner Mazi Vogler says her postal service is irregular when it comes to shipping packages. When she needs to ship a package the same day, she says her postal carrier often does not return to pick up the boxes.

“I’m not even waiting for him,” Vogler says. “I’m running to the post office every day.”

Alakazam Toys and Gifts owner Cassandra Mathis has also had issues with mail delivery to her Downtown Mall toy shop. She says the consistency of her postal service has been getting worse since her business’ regular carrier retired about a year ago.

“Some days we don’t get any mail,” Mathis says.

Those days, Mathis says, pose significant problems for sending of bills and financial mail. The longest period of time she has gone without postal service is two days.

“It’s so unpredictable,” Mathis says. “I can’t rely on if the postal carrier is going to stop by.”

And when a postal carrier does deliver mail to Mathis’ store, it’s not always the same person.

Standing in contrast is a recent USPS commercial that communicates the company’s pride in its service to business owners, especially for e-commerce and online deliveries. The May 18 commercial emphasizes the important relationship between business owners and the USPS—a relationship with which Vogler and Mathis have been having a few trust issues.

But not every business on the mall has complaints with its mail service. Joan Fenton, owner of J. Fenton Too and Quilts Unlimited, says her postal service is “awesome.”

She says the store’s heavy volume of packages for online delivery sometimes slows mail service, but her USPS carrier is very accommodating in picking up the large number of packages.

Tension around mail service has even provoked rumors: One example is that the Southern Environmental Law Center had installed a camera to monitor its mail, although the center expressly denies this rumor and provides no complaints about its postal service.

The hit-or-miss service extends beyond the Downtown Mall. Matt Murray, who lives on Wayside Place, says he recently did not receive any mail at his home for three days straight, nor did his neighbors, a situation he says has never occurred before.

“It was one of those occasions when I was expecting something of importance, and I was wondering where it was,” Murray says. “It reminded me of how dependent we are upon a reliable postal service.”

When Murray’s mail service did resume, he says his carriers told him they were coming from outside of the area, from Troy to Bridgewater.

“I heard through the grapevine that 16 mail carriers had quit,” Murray says.

However, Freda Sauter, from USPS corporate communications, says, “There seems to be confusion and misinformation about staffing at the Charlottesville post office.” She says only one career letter carrier has recently retired, with two other employees currently out on requested leave.

“We do have transitional employees and that fluctuates,” Sauter says. “Typically the Postal Service employs a smaller supplemental workforce in the summer, when mail volumes are lower, and larger temporary staffing during the fall, our busiest time of the year.”

The Charlottesville post office currently lists openings for two part-time mail carriers on its website.

Charlottesville USPS Officer-In-Charge Victoria Brinkley did not respond to C-VILLE’s request for comment.

Categories
News

In brief: McAuliffe’s report card, adieu Yancey Elementary and more

Photo John Robinson

Making the grade

Earlier this month Governor Terry McAuliffe signed an executive action that will significantly cut greenhouse gas emissions from state fossil fuel power plants. Executive Directive 11 instructs the Department of Environmental Quality to establish regulations to cap carbon emissions. Only a handful of states have attempted this—it’s kind of a big deal.

Mike Tidwell, the executive director of the Chesapeake Climate Action Network, says the directive “is precisely what environmental advocates have been asking the governor to do for more than two years now. With President Trump dismantling climate policies nationally, it’s reassuring that Governor McAuliffe has at last responded in a powerful way.”

Noting the governor’s “decidedly mixed environmental legacy” in a Washington Post op-ed May 21, Tidwell also said this new action will improve the failing report card grade that CCAN assigned to McAuliffe last year.

Here’s how the environmental cheerleaders say he’s doing so far:

D-lister

Keeping fossil fuels in the ground: D

Cleaning up a toxic legacy of coal ash: F

Moving Virginia to a new clean energy economy: C+

Fighting sea level rise and flooding impacts: B

Final grade: D+

From racetrack to subdivision?

Court documents in the neighbors’ suit against Foxfield Racing Association showed plans to split the primo Garth Road property into 17 lots called Hermit’s Thrush, and another plan that would develop some of the 184-acre property and keep the track, according to Charlottesville Tomorrow.

5th District candidate

sneathern-amosAttorney/Charlottesvillian Andrew Sneathern got a jump on the 2018 congressional race and announced a run May 30 for the Democratic nomination, presumably to challenge Tom Garrett.

Yancey Elementary nevermore

The Albemarle School Board voted 5-2 May 25 to close the Esmont school, which has staved off closure for years, at the end of the current school year on June 9, citing dwindling enrollment—118 currently, 108 projected for next year—low test scores and a loss of $395,000 in federal grants. Students will attend Red Hill or Scottsville elementaries.

“White silence is racist violence.”—The anonymous Cville Solidarity in a May 24 press release on resisting violent white supremacism in Charlottesville

HR downsizing

UVA plans to merge its academic and medical human resources departments, which could slice 40 jobs. Employees claim they’ve been kept in the dark; UVA says they’ll be offered jobs, the Daily Progress reports.

Wenners and losers

Blank vertical book cover template with pages in front side standing on white surface Perspective view. Vector illustration.Sticky Fingers: The Life and Times of Jann Wenner and Rolling Stone Magazine, a biography about the mag’s founder, will hit bookstore shelves this October. Author and journalist Joe Hagan says it will address the now debunked UVA sexual assault story, “A Rape on Campus,” which resulted in a major lawsuit and retraction.

Categories
Arts

Fralin exhibition tells a story beyond the gallery walls

The “Collect, Care, Conserve, Curate: The Life of the Art Object” exhibition offers a behind-the-scenes look into what it takes to maintain a museum collection. Pictured above are the pre- and post-restoration images of Louis Mathieu Didier Guillaume’s “Maximilian Schele De Vere.” Photography courtesy of Fine Art Conservation of Virginia, Scott W. Nolley, Chief Conservator. Courtesy of The Fralin Museum of Art at the University of Virginia.

When Maximilian Schele De Vere arrived in Scott Nolley’s art conservation studio in Richmond, he was in rough shape.

Covered in years’ worth of dust, tobacco residue and coal-fire furnace soot, Schele De Vere—or rather his portrait, rendered in oil paint on canvas by Louis Mathieu Didier Guillaume circa 1887—had fallen against a trash can and suffered a large, jagged tear and significant structural damage from exposure to uncontrolled temperature and humidity in a University of Virginia pavilion basement. The painting, which had once hung on a pavilion wall, sat untouched in UVA’s collection for years.

“Collect, Care, Conserve, Curate: The Life of the Art Object”

The Fralin Museum of Art at the University of Virginia

Through July 23

“To the uneducated eye, it looked like a total loss,” says Nolley, who has been an art conservator for more than 35 years and has done conservation work for UVA and its Fralin Museum of Art, as well as for Monticello, Colonial Williamsburg and the Commonwealth of Virginia.

“When something comes to that level of damage, it’s a bit of a tipping point,” Nolley says. “The decision is made whether it’s worth the attention or if they’re just going to let it go.”

Guillaume, regarded by many as one of the best portrait artists working in the U.S. at the time of the Civil War, was based mostly in Washington, D.C., and Richmond, so Nolley has seen a fair number of Guillaume paintings come through his studio. The artist was known for his “tiny, delicate, draftsmanship-like brushstrokes” and “deftly modulated, incredibly sensitive” colors, says Nolley. When you get up close to a Guillaume painting, details such as the highlights on jewelry, buttons or individually rendered whiskers on a mustache are rather breathtaking. “His skills are unchallenged in my world,” says Nolley, so seeing this portrait of Schele De Vere in storage and “in this condition was just heartbreaking.” 

Not only is Guillaume a significant painter in American art history, the subject, Schele De Vere, is an important figure in UVA history—hired in 1844, the Swedish-born professor taught modern language classes at the university for more than 50 years.

After 110 hours of technical work that required extensive knowledge of chemistry and art history, “Maximillian Schele De Vere” is back on display at the University of Virginia, this time in The Fralin Museum of Art, as part of the “Collect, Care, Conserve, Curate: The Life of the Art Object” exhibit currently on display through July 23.

The details of his journey back include: adhering the painting to a supporting canvas, cleaning off layers of soot, grime and stains using a custom-designed, water-based cleaning system, filling losses to the paint layers and in-painting with pigments dispersed in acrylic resin.

In most fine art museums, pieces come out of storage, go up on the wall or in a case, and then are returned to storage once the exhibit is over. This is certainly true at The Fralin, which has nearly 14,000 objects in its permanent collection, says Jean Lancaster, The Fralin collections manager who curated the exhibit.

Lancaster is constantly in conversation about The Fralin’s collection with curators, scholars, appraisers, digital imaging specialists and conservators like Nolley. Together they decide, among other things, what to conserve, when to conserve it and how—“The Life of the Art Object” exhibit brings some of those conversations into the public sphere to show how and why some of these decisions are made.

What were they to do about the portrait of a young man that had been attributed to 17th-century Dutch master Rembrandt but demonstrated qualities of 20th-century portraiture? An X-ray fluorescence scanner of the painting showed that titanium white pigment—a pigment not used in oil paint until the 1910s—was used for the young man’s lace collar, confirming the suspicion that the painting wasn’t a Rembrandt…but the question of what it was remained.

What about the late 19th-/early 20th-century Chinese export plate that had been repaired with staples by a European china mender? Leave the staples in to show the history of china repair or make it look like new?

The exhibit also afforded Lancaster the opportunity to send some neglected pieces out for conservation, and display ones that had never been on view in the museum—like the oldest textile in the collection, a Peruvian feathered tabard (tunic) covered in brilliant yellow and turquoise parrot and macaw feathers.

Each object has “its own story, its own needs, its own preservation priorities,” says Lancaster. “Art has a life beyond the gallery walls.”

Labels in the exhibit describe the preservation stories, enhancing the viewer’s appreciation, bringing us closer, not just to the artists, but to other viewers, to the people who prayed in front of the “Seven Saints in Adoration” altarpiece from 14th century Siena and to the person who centuries ago brought a brownware ocarina to his lips and blew a soft melody.

“The truth resides in these objects,” says Nolley. “People can rewrite history all they want, [but] they’re not making any more material from these periods; it’s just an impossibility. So returning to and referencing and studying this material is one of the few ways you can directly engage a time period,” he says of the act of viewing these objects. “It’s a very valuable asset to us as a species and a culture,” and it must be preserved.

Categories
Arts

ARTS Picks: Pops at the Paramount

There’s a little something for everyone in Pops at the Paramount, where the Charlottesville Symphony at the University of Virginia will perform Summer Lovin.’ The program features tunes from a wide range of musicals, such as Hello Dolly!, Hamilton: An American Musical and Grease, and is led by guest conductor Erin Freeman and features vocalists Jennifer Piazza-Pick and Alexander Sapp.

Saturday, June 3. $25-95, 7:30pm. The Paramount Theater, 215 E. Main St., Downtown Mall. 979-1333.

Categories
Living

LIVING Picks: Week of May 31- June 6

macro shot of dragonfly. isolated on white background

Family

Dragonflies of Ivy Creek

Saturday, June 3

Bring your family and a pair of binoculars to Ivy Creek and learn more about the dragonflies that live there. Meet the group at the Education Center. Free, 11am-12:30pm. Ivy Creek Foundation, 1780 Earlysville Rd. 973-7772.

Nonprofit

4 Our Freedom 5K

Saturday, June 3

This seventh annual 5K benefits nonprofits that support military members, veterans and their families. Proceeds go to Wintergreen Adaptive Sports, Operation First Response and Parade Rest Virginia, among others. Donations accepted, 8am. UVA Research Park, 1001 Research Park Blvd. 4ourfreedom5k.com.

Food & Drink

Food truck battle

Saturday, June 3

Head to Horton Vineyards where 10 food trucks will face off in a head-to-head battle. Each truck will offer a $3 sampler—make the rounds and decide for yourself who’s the winner. Free admission, noon-4pm. Horton Vineyards, 6399 Spotswood Trl., Gordonsville. (540) 832-7440.

Health & Wellness

Clean the Bay Day

Saturday, June 3

The Chesapeake Bay Foundation hosts its 29th annual Clean the Bay Day. Join volunteers across the state and at several Charlottesville locations, as they clean up our waterways. Free, 9am-noon. Locations vary. cbf.org/events/clean-the-bay-day.

Categories
News

Tactical change: Not your grandpa’s protest

Jason Kessler Photo by Eze Amos

In images from the civil rights movement of the 1950s and ’60s, African-Americans in their Sunday best peacefully protested, and when violence occurred, it came from police or from virulent racists.

Those are not the optics of today’s demonstrations.

Instead, protesters knock cell phones out of people’s hands, blast them with bullhorns, block filming with hands or hats and link arms to prevent passage—and that was just at the May 14 vigil in Lee Park after the Richard Spencer white nationalist crew was there the night before.

And a video circulating from May 20 shows right-wing blogger Jason Kessler with three other people sitting at a restaurant table on the Downtown Mall, surrounded by a dozen or so people shouting, “Nazis go home” and ordering them to leave.

“You don’t get to dictate who comes in or out,” said a police officer responding to the scene.

“White supremacists should not be allowed to move quietly in public spaces,” says Pam Starsia with Showing Up for Racial Justice, which has been active in confronting Confederate memorial supporters and the alt-right—although Starsia says she’s speaking only for herself, not for SURJ.

In sharp contrast to the 1920s, when members of the Ku Klux Klan met secretly in the dark wearing white hoods, yet passed by day in polite society, she says, the strategy now is to disrupt and “to loudly call out white supremacists in public spaces.”

And yet some local activists’ tactics straddle the line between free speech and criminal behavior.

“It’s very disturbing,” says Charlottesville Commonwealth’s Attorney Dave Chapman. The heated rhetoric leads “to an atmosphere of antagonism,” which leads to escalation. “We should all discourage behavior that stops short of criminal offenses.”

In his more than 30 years as a prosecutor, Chapman has seen a number of protests. The difference in the current crop is “the intensity and the physical confrontation accompanying it,” he says, as well as the participation of people from outside the community.

UVA professor and activist Jalane Schmidt explains the trajectory of protest tactics since the 1950s, when Martin Luther King Jr. organized a movement of “respectability politics” and was influenced by Gandhi and Henry David Thoreau’s nonviolent resistance.

That changed in the 1960s and ’70s with the Black Panthers, who wore military garb and “eschewed respectability politics,” she says. “The tactics always change with time.”

She says, “The 21st century descendants of the Klan are the alt-right. They should not be allowed to circulate anonymously in polite society.”

A May 24 press release from the anonymous Cville Solidarity suggested a laundry list of ways to resist white supremacy. “Refuse to employ, work with, serve or shop with Nazis. Refuse to sit next to them at a bar or restaurant. Refuse to let them sit peacefully in a public space,” it said.

“There’s a harassment and intimidation campaign being led by Joe and Pam Starsia,” Kessler says. Joe Starsia was in the video of the mall shouters, and activist Veronica Fitzhugh can be seen yelling in Kessler’s face, “Fucking go home. Get up and go home.”

Earlier that night, Kessler said he went to Champion Brewery and was refused service. “They violated my civil rights,” he says.

Can businesses deny service to those whose politics or philosophy they don’t like?

“Beliefs and philosophies are protected constitutionally against actions by government,” John Jeffries, former dean of UVA’s law school, writes in an email. “Private parties are free to act against unwelcome beliefs and philosophies, unless there is a statute against such discrimination.”

For Champion owner Hunter Smith, Kessler’s civil rights “didn’t cross my mind for a minute,” he says. “He assaulted someone who works for the business. It was a safety issue.”

Jay Taylor, the man whom Kessler punched on the mall January 22, frequents the brewery and does work there, says Smith.

However, in the face of demands that service be denied, Miller’s is taking a different tack after some white nationalists came there for beers following the tiki-torch assembly at Lee Park. Miller’s Scottie Kaylor calls for courtesy on Facebook and writes: “Our policy is simple: if any person or group, on either side of the political spectrum, displays an overt hatred or disrespect for others at Miller’s, they will be asked to leave.”

Arrests from protests are mounting. After the February 11 Lee Park rally that brought gubernatorial candidate Corey Stewart to town to protest City Council’s vote to remove the Robert E. Lee statue, Kessler filed charges against Sara Tansey for snatching his phone. She was charged with destruction of property and Tansey filed an assault charge against Joe Draego, claiming he grabbed her arm when he retrieved Kessler’s phone.

At the May 14 candlelight demonstration at Lee Park, Jordan McNeish was charged with disorderly conduct for allegedly spitting on Kessler, Charles Best was charged with felony assault for hitting an officer in the head with a thrown cell phone, and Kessler was charged with disorderly conduct for refusing to leave the park and inciting with a bullhorn, say police.

“Police said I wouldn’t leave the park,” says Kessler. Protesters “wouldn’t let me leave. They were blocking me. They encircled me so that I was trapped.”

“Jason Kessler barged into a peaceful space that had been created by people of color with every intention of inciting a confrontation,” says Pam Starsia. “He was the aggressor.”

In video and photographs from the May 14 event, a young man filming is encircled by people who are asking why he was filming, blocking his camera and, he says on the video, knocking his cell phone out of his hand.

Blocking people filming is a tactic that comes from a practice called “doxxing,” says Starsia, in which leftist activists are filmed and their images are put online to “encourage harassment.”

“It’s a mob tactic used online by the left and the right,” says Kessler.

Rutherford Institute founder John Whitehead compares current protests to ’60s sit-ins, where demonstrators “didn’t stop someone from free speech,” he says.

“The more I read about it, these people don’t want free speech,” he says. “You can’t block other people’s right to move on public property. These people need to grow up and respect other people’s rights.”

Is it free speech or assault?

What’s legal and what’s not in the resistance? We checked with Commonwealth’s Attorney Dave Chapman.

Slapping away a person’s cell phone: “Unwanted touching in an angry, rude or vengeful manner can constitute assault in Virginia,” says Chapman.

Invading one’s personal space: While there’s no law against trespassing in personal space, close contact and yelling in someone’s face could be disorderly conduct, says Chapman, escalating into allegations of being jostled. See unwanted touching above.

Using a bullhorn in someone’s face: Could violate the noise ordinance, and doing it aggressively in someone’s face in a way that interferes with her free speech potentially could be disorderly conduct.

Linking arms to prevent passage: If it’s restricting someone’s freedom and not letting them go, it could be abduction, says Chapman.