After a two-year stay in Nashville, Jacob Paul Allen returns to his Blue Ridge Mountain roots for an evening of his self-described “Appalachian red dirt” sound. The singer-songwriter flirts with outlaw country and dances with bluegrass, while leaning into ’90s and Americana sounds. Whether performing solo, or with his backing band The Flood, Allen is known for his captivating stage presence, stories, and banter. Come ready to hit the dance floor at this pub-style show.
Since 2004, Kirby Hutto has been general manager of the Charlottesville Pavilion, where he and his team have hosted legendary musicians and world leaders. Now, he’s ready to retire. Photo by Tristan Williams.
Kirby Hutto has been involved with the Ting Pavilion since ground was broken for the downtown venue in 2004. Together with his crew, he’s hosted James Brown, Loretta Lynn, Bruce Springsteen, former President Barack Obama, and the Dalai Lama, to name just a few. Now, the Pavilion’s general manager is passing the torch and stepping into the crowd.
“I’m 65. I’ve got a Medicare card, man,” says Hutto. “It’s time to start enjoying everything that I’ve worked so hard for.”
Hutto’s career was born out of a love for live music. He traces the spark to 1976, when he was a first-year at the University of Virginia. “Back in the day, when the drinking age was 18,” he says, “you would go to have dinner at Observatory Hill Dining Hall and there would be kegs and a band playing outside on the Lawn.”
But his first shot at managing live shows didn’t come until 1992, when he went to work for Fridays After Five, Charlottesville’s longrunning concert series. There, he transitioned the Fridays shows from booking corporate bands—“You know, wedding bands that would come into town. They had no local following.”—to tapping into outstanding local talent such as Charlie Pastorfield and The Believers, Wolves of Azure, TR3, The Casuals, bands that were “big in their time.” He remembers how, in 1995, The Subdudes accidentally drove to Charlotte, North Carolina, on the day of the concert while it was pouring rain in Charlottesville.
At FAF, Hutto learned to make sure the show went on no matter what chaos was unfolding backstage. That lesson has served him well in his GM role at the Pavilion.
“You’re really, really fighting the good fight to make things happen,” he says. “And ideally, from the patron’s point of view, all they know is they came to a great show.”
In 1996, Hutto left Fridays After Five for more steady work in the corporate world. But soon, he caught wind that Coran Capshaw was looking to build an amphitheater on the Downtown Mall. Hutto contacted a good friend who worked for Capshaw, and asked to pass along a message, almost as a joke: “If you need somebody to run that amphitheater, tell him to give me a call.”
Months later, he got that call. “Next thing you know, I’m having dinner with Coran,” says Hutto.
At the Pavilion, Hutto has dealt with every manner of touring artist, from the well-worn veterans of the road to the discombobulated traveling acts that haven’t heard of an input list before. But regardless of a performer’s crew size or experience, he and his staff—many of whom have been with Hutto for five to 15 years—have worked tirelessly to ensure visiting musicians have a memorable time in Charlottesville.
“I know from talking with other venues, artist hospitality can be an afterthought,” says Hutto, who credits Allie Leffler, the Pavilion’s artist hospitality manager, for the effusive praise performers have for the venue. “And that’s how you, A, make an artist want to come back, but, B, it’s also how you sort of compensate for some of the challenges that we know our venue presents.”
The urban nature of the Pavilion’s downtown location means that space to unload gear is limited—and therefore that process takes much longer—but artists also have quick access to the amenities of the mall and surrounding attractions. David Byrne brought his mountain bike to town, and Pavilion staff pointed him to the Rivanna Trail. Neko Case went on a shopping spree.
“A lot of artists will take their day off here,” says Hutto.
That pride in the Pavilion’s situation in the center of Charlottesville extends to the non-musical events Hutto and his team book, from high school graduations to the Eid prayer for the city’s Muslim community. He stresses that the Pavilion is city-owned—“It’s a public-private partnership”—and that the way the venue represents, promotes, and supports the community is the legacy he hopes to leave behind.
“We’ve created this special little place … there’s not a whole lot of them exactly like us around the country,” says Hutto. “We find that balance between the ticketed shows with the big names, the Fridays After Five with the local names, and then all of the community activities. And between those three buckets, we stay damn busy.”
Though Hutto is stepping from part-time involvement into retirement in May, he’ll remain a resource for his successor through the end of the year. The new GM, Jonathan Drolshagen, has managed venues such as The Southern and The Jefferson Theater, and he shadowed Hutto last year.
“I hope he’s gonna be able to thrive in it,” says Hutto.
Golnar Adili’s “She Feels Your Absence Deeply: A Family History Woodblock” is on display at “Women Making Books” through June 10. Image courtesy of the gallery.
Commonplace books, private scrapbooks, and zines are presented alongside traditionally published works at “Women Making Books,” an exhibition currently on display at the UVA’s Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library. The show forces viewers to let go of their preconceived notions of what a book is, so they consider the idea of authorship and explore the ways in which women have been involved in North American and English bookmaking from the mid-18th to 21st centuries.
“The [exhibition] is thinking about women writing books, but writing in scare quotes,” says curator Annyston Pennington. “What does it mean to be a writer? What does writing look like? And what are the different ways that women have actually participated in and also intervened in print culture?”
Read between the lines of the exhibition’s 23 pieces, and you might begin to uncover the answers.
The exhibition, arranged chronologically, opens with a familiar frontispiece illustration of Phillis Wheatley, found at the beginning of her 1773 work, Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral. Though the publication of the book made Wheatley the first published African American author of poetry, her control over the design of the book itself was limited. Wheatley was enslaved by a Boston family, and her enslaver’s words forward her own. What would it have looked like if Wheatley had been able to call all the shots regarding the design of her book?
Questions of agency and intent arise at all the installations, which include works by other well-known authors like Virginia Woolf and Louisa May Alcott, as well as pieces from unknown women who likely would not have even considered themselves writers.
One such piece is a commonplace book from 1782, belonging to an unidentified woman who filled the blank pages with quotations, translated Latin, and bits of writing from contemporary authors, much like the way we use modern-day Tumblr blogs or Pinterest boards.
Another installation includes a poetry book, in which a grieving mother found solace following the death of her son. Her annotations in the margins of the page could be considered defacement, but by including her in “Women Making Books” she is presented as an author. Whether she meant to or not, her words have altered our perception and reading of the book, making it impossible to detangle the two writings found within.
“Women Making Books” concludes with “She Feels Your Absence Deeply: A Family History Woodblock” by artist and UVA alum Golnar Adili. Text is written on multiple wooden blocks, which can be arranged to show different images. It turns the traditional book model on its head, and refashions it into something new.
Together, the works offer an intimate look inside the minds of various talented women and what they deemed important enough to write down, in a collection that serves to memorialize a feminine bond of creativity when creating, deconstructing, and reimagining books.
Avery Fogarty grew up in Midlothian playing piano, singing in choir, and taking vocal lessons. When they picked up the guitar in high school, their musical world was transformed.
“When I started listening to Angel Olsen, Big Thief, and Snail Mail, that’s when I finally found a voice and I was like ‘I know what kind of music I want to make now,’” Fogarty says.
Fogarty began working the open mic circuit, where they met guitarist Kevin Ganley. The two decided to move to Richmond in a dedicated pursuit of music, forming Hotspit in 2018 with bassist Grant Tolber and drummer Kurt Bailey.
“The scene was incredibly welcoming. I feel like Richmond really takes care of new bands and really quickly we got to play some of the venues that I was going to and being like, ‘This is the venue I want to play; this would be the mecca for me or the big one,’” Fogarty explains. “I think we got to accomplish goals really quickly and that put us in a better position to be like, ‘Okay, how can we be even more serious? Maybe time to record and time to tour.’”
The group secured a date playing the renowned Audiotree series in Chicago, and thought it would be a good idea to release studio material ahead of the performance, so audience members would have a touchstone to listen to. Hotspit made its official recording debut in 2021 with CC, an EP tracked with Danny Gibney from the Harrisonburg group Dogwood Tales.
“That was the first time we had ever put out anything and realized how important recording is,” says Fogarty. “It’s funny because you think being a band is just recording, but for us, we thought we had to play every single show and cut our teeth first. So we did things a little backwards, but I wouldn’t change anything; I’m happy with how we approached it.
CC is a moody, melodic slice of indie rock, and this year, Hotspit picked up the pace with a follow-up EP, Memory of a Mirror Image. Standout track “Cave Dweller” was recorded at Drop of Sun in Asheville, with string arrangements by Jessika Blanks (of the duo Bedspread Radio) tracked back in Richmond at Bryan Walthall’s home studio.
“We try really hard to record what we can replicate live, so we don’t do a lot of overdubbing or extra elements that we aren’t also performing just so we kind of stay true,” Fogarty says. “Our live sound is similar to how we sound on our record.”
With two EPs under its belt, Hotspit plans a full-length release, and continues to tour, with stops in Harrisonburg, Baltimore, and New York City next month.
Five Democratic candidates for Charlottesville City Council convened for two forums ahead of the upcoming primary election.
While the general election for City Council is not until November, the winners of the June 20 primary are all but guaranteed seats due to the lack of Republican challengers.
The Democratic candidates vying for three open seats are Dashad Cooper, Bob Fenwick, Natalie Oschrin, Michael Payne, and Mayor Lloyd Snook.
At the most recent forum on May 24, the candidates were given an opportunity to introduce themselves before moving on to public questions.
Newcomers Cooper and Oschrin spoke about their policy focuses, and shared their backgrounds as longtime Charlottesville residents. Taking a different approach, former councilor Fenwick highlighted his environmental and zoning concerns during his opening remarks. Current council members Payne and Snook focused on their accomplishments and desire to keep working on current projects.
For Snook in particular this election is crucial, as he must be reelected to council to be eligible for a second term as mayor.
The democratic primary for City Council is one of several local and state elections that will take place on June 20.
While the deadline to register ahead of time has passed, residents can still sign up to vote through same day registration. Voters can select up to three candidates for City Council on their ballots.
The full May 26 forum can be found on the Charlottesville Tomorrow website (cvilletomorrow.org) and the Cville Dems YouTube channel (youtu.be/bMv50qMiffk).
The Daily? Progress
Major changes are coming to The Daily Progress in June, when the longtime Charlottesville paper will switch from daily print editions to a thrice-weekly physical newspaper.
The DP will be delivered by mail on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday starting June 27, with a full e-edition available online. On days with no print edition, the publication will post condensed e-editions.
As the only daily newspaper in the Charlottesville area, the DP’s shift to three times a week print editions is notable. Since its founding in 1892, the paper has been a major source of local news.
In its article discussing the changes, the publication cited advertising shifts, printing costs, and the changing job market. These challenges are not unique to the Progress, with the consumption of print media declining broadly due to the rising popularity of digital content.
While The Daily Progress will still have new content online every day, the long-running paper’s shift away from daily print newspapers marks the end of an era for Charlottesville.
In brief
Veterans’ resources
Military Appreciation Month is coming to a close, but local veterans’ resources are still available. In the greater Charlottesville area, in-person resources for vets and their families can be found at the Charlottesville Veterans Affairs Office (va.gov) and the Virginia Department of Veterans Services (dvs.virginia.gov). The Veterans Crisis Line is an additional resource that can be reached by dialing 988 and selecting 1, or texting 838255. For confidential online chats, go to veteranscrisisline.net/get-help-now/chat
WillowTree layoffs
On May 24, Charlottesville-based tech company WillowTree laid off 23 employees locally, and nearly 100 more workers nationwide. The layoffs come months after the company was acquired by TELUS International, and WillowTree claimed the acquisition would create more jobs. In a statement regarding the layoffs, WillowTree President Tobias Dengel called the move a “restructuring,” and said it would “optimally [position the company] for long-term growth and success.” The layoffs impacted approximately 12 percent of WillowTree’s total workforce.
Good says pay up
The House of Representatives has passed a resolution introduced by Rep. Bob Good that would restart federal student loan payments and prevent the discharging of debt. While the measure was mostly passed along party lines, two Democrats voted with the slim Republican majority. The resolution was introduced through the Congressional Review Act, which is a fast-track legislative tool used to quickly overturn rules made by federal agencies. If the resolution is adopted, the decision would be retroactive and could potentially reinstate payments due during the pause.
Sahara Clemons at Second Street Gallery. All images courtesy of the galleries.
Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library 2450 Old Ivy Rd. “Women Making Books” explores women’s contributions to English and North American bookmaking from the mid-18th to the 21st centuries, and other permanent exhibitions.
Botanical Fare 421 E. Main St., Downtown Mall. “Familiar Scenes: Recent Landscapes in Oil” by Randy Baskerville. Opens June 26. Through September 4.
The Bridge PAI 306 E. Main St. Open studios with member artists of The Underground, and a mural created by high school students of Blue Ridge Juvenile Detention Center. Through June.
The Center at Belvedere 540 Belvedere Blvd. “All About Flowers,” a group exhibition of floral photography by the Charlottesville Camera Club. Through June.
Chroma Projects Inside Vault Virginia, Third St. SE. “Symbiotic Tango,” collaborative works by Beatrix Ost and Michelle Gagliano. Through June. First Fridays opening.
Beatrix Ost and Michelle Gagliano at Chroma Projects.
The Connaughton Gallery Rouss & Robertson Halls, UVA Grounds. “Healing Nature,” acrylic on canvas and oil on canvas Henry Wingate and Rick Morrow. Through June 15.
Create Gallery InBio, 700 Harris St., Ste. 102. “BozArts for Literacy” features work from Betty Brubach, Julia Kindred, Brita Lineberger, Katharine Eisaman Maus, Ellen Moore Osborne, Shirley Paul, and Juliette Swenson to benefit Literacy Volunteers. Through June.
Crozet Artisan Depot 5791 Three Notch’d Rd., Crozet. “Quiet Places,” paintings by Debra Sheffer, and “Lucid Trees,” wooden objects by Jason Goldman. Through June. Meet the artists June 17 at 1pm.
C’ville Arts Cooperative Gallery 118 E. Main St., Downtown Mall. “Exploring Virginia and Beyond,” designs from illustrator Barbara Shenefield. Through June. First Fridays opening.
The Fralin Museum of Art at UVA 155 Rugby Rd., UVA Grounds. Exhibitions include “Look Three Ways: Maya Painted Pottery,” “Processing Abstraction,” and “N’dakinna Landscapes Acknowledged.”
Scott Smith at McGuffey Art Center.
JMRL Central 201 E. Market St. Digital collage artwork by Reta Crenshaw.
Kluge-Ruhe Aboriginal Art Collection of UVA 400 Worrell Dr. “Performing Country,” an exhibition highlighting never-before-seen works, and other permanent exhibitions.
Les Yeux du Monde 841 Wolf Trap Rd. “Axis Mundi,” new work by New York-based artists Dorothy Robinson, Kurt Steger, and Meg Hitchcock. Through June 15.
Live Arts 123 E. Water St. Watercolor paintings by Karen Knierim. Opens June 10.
“In Memoriam: Art by and for D’Sean Perry” at the Ruffin Gallery.
McGuffey Art Center 201 Second St. NW. In the Smith Gallery, “Flotsam, Discarded Materials Transformed,” an immersive installation of oceanic artwork by L. Michelle Geiger. In the first floor hallway galleries, “Cracked,” an exhibition representing the cumulative works created by the 2022-23 Incubator Studio Artists. In the second floor hallway gallery, “Portraits: Ourselves, Themselves,” a McGuffey members group exhibition featuring portraits. In the Associate Gallery, “Travel,” works by associate artists. Through July 2. First Fridays opening.
New City Arts 114 Third St. NE. “loss.nothing.memorial.” is an immersive sound and video installation by Ashon Crawley, honoring the lives of musicians, singers, and choir directors from the Black Church tradition who died of AIDS complications between 1980-2005. Through June 29. First Fridays opening.
Alissa Ujie Diamond at The Scrappy Elephant.
Phaeton Gallery 114 Old Preston Ave. “New Works” by Jackie Moore Watson. Through June 29.
PVCC Gallery V. Earl Dickinson Building, 501 College Dr. In the North and South galleries, the 2023 Student Exhibition. Through September 4.
Quirk Gallery 499 W. Main St. “Trial & Error,” mixed-media works by Frank Phillips. “Ephemeral Spring,” a group show curated by Jessica Breed, featuring area artists. “House on Fire,” glass works by Kiara Pelissier and her team. Dates vary.
Tobiah Mundt and Sarah Boyts Yoder at Second Street Gallery.
The Ruffin Gallery 179 Culbreth Rd., UVA Grounds. “Playing with Syn-tax,” works by this year’s UVA studio art graduates and Aunspaugh fellows. In the third floor stairwell gallery, “In Memoriam: Art by and for D’Sean Perry.” Through June 23.
The Scrappy Elephant 1745 Allied St., Ste. C. Mixed-media works by Alissa Ujie Diamond. Through July 5. First Fridays opening.
Second Street Gallery 115 Second St. SE. In the main gallery, “Ditto” showcases collaborative works by Tobiah Mundt and Sarah Boyts Yoder. In the Dové gallery, “Echoes in the Deep Blue,” a solo exhibition of new work by Sahara Clemons. Through July 21. First Fridays opening.
Maude Brown at Studio Ix.
Studio Ix 969 Second St. SE. “Beyond Boundaries” showcases works created by artists with developmental disabilities who belong to The Arc Studio collective. Through June 25. First Fridays opening.
Top Knot Studio 103 Fifth St. SE. “Take A Closer Look: intimates of nature” by Claire Smithers Mellinger. First Fridays opening.
Circe Strauss at Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Charlottesville.
Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Charlottesville 717 Rugby Rd. Showcasing the works of Circe Strauss using polarization diffraction in “Through a Glass Darkly,” and Ellen Osborne using mixed-media collage in “Transparency.” Through June.
Visible Records 1740 Broadway St. “Blue Veins,” murals and small square drawings from artist in residence Nadd Harvin, and “ENTRE NOS: Aesthetics of Undocumentedness,” a group show curated by Erika Hirugami featuring emerging artists within the undoc+ spectrum. Through June 3 and opens June 9, respectively.
Inez Gonzalez emphasizes the importance of community feedback
in police reform. Image courtesy of City of Charlottesville.
As the Executive Director of the Police Civilian Oversight Board, Inez M. Gonzalez is working to improve policing and police-civilian relations in Charlottesville.
Since its conception following the deadly 2017 Unite the Right Rally, the PCOB—formerly known as the Police Civilian Review Board—has been a source of contention. While many believe in the board’s goal of “[providing] objective and independent civilian-led oversight of the Charlottesville Police Department,” the PCOB has been criticized for its failure to enact real change.
Stepping into her new role, Gonzalez has a multitude of ideas for improving the efficacy of the PCOB. Despite her title, she is not a part of the board itself, but rather is employed by the city to serve as a leader and supporter for the group. The job is unique because she cannot direct the actions of the board beyond recommendations, but is beholden to its orders.
One of Gonzalez’s first recommendations came earlier this month, when she suggested the PCOB change elements of its meeting to increase engagement. “I’d like for us to make an effort individually to try to get people to come, to get them to participate,” she says. “I don’t know how it was in the beginning, but right now it seems like participation is dwindling. And that’s what I don’t want.”
Although she is new to Charlottesville, Gonzalez has an extensive background in police internal affairs and a passion for reform that has prepared her for the executive director role. She has 28 years of law enforcement experience, during which she held several jobs, including commander in Newark, New Jersey’s internal affairs office and regulatory enforcement inspector for the Pennsylvania state department. “Police reform is something that’s near and dear to my heart,” Gonzalez says. “I love policing, so I want to do something to make sure that we can make it better, and so that there can be a bridge built between the police and the community.”
“I’d like … to see [the PCOB] make improvements that make sense, that are beneficial to the community,” she says. “But I’d also like to see more of a training and educational component, so that the community understands why the police do what they do, what the policies are, and how everything works. So when something does go wrong, they know exactly how to address it.”
Gonzalez’s active approach to reform and relationship building is a welcome change of pace for the PCOB, which was without an executive director for more than seven months following Hansel Aguilar’s resignation. Aguilar stepped down after only a year, and was criticized for the slow movement of the board and the handling of its first case last fall.
Learning from her predecessor, Gonzalez is making an effort to engage the Charlottesville community in the PCOB. “I’m not strictly going to focus on doing investigations, I actually want to do community outreach to bring the people in to get them to understand the process,” she says.
In addition to community outreach and education, Gonzalez is conducting a thorough review of Charlottesville police policies. “I’d like to make sure that we review all of the policies and procedures that Chief Kochis will eventually update to make sure that they’re in compliance, not only with state law, but that they make sense in terms of what our mission is to the community,” she says.
According to Gonzalez, Kochis has been extremely amenable to her requests, and that has helped with the review process. The evidence of the department’s cooperation is apparent on the conference room table in Gonzalez’s office, which is strewn with CPD internal affairs documents in locked cases and policy printouts. While she has not yet met University of Virginia police chief Tim Longo or Albemarle County police chief Sean Reeves, Gonzalez hopes to continue building strong relationships with local law enforcement leaders.
Reflecting on her first few weeks on the job, Gonzalez is optimistic about the future of policing in Charlottesville. However, she also emphasizes the need for continued community feedback.
“One of the biggest messages I want to send is for people not to be afraid that if they do have a negative interaction with the police, to please let us know and make a complaint,” she says. “But in the same vein … if you had a good interaction with a police officer, by all means also let us know in the portal and give a compliment … it’s not just about when police officers do a bad job, it’s when they do a good job as well.”
The Mountain Valley Pipeline will cost approximately $6.6 billion according to developers. Photo by Mountain Valley Watch.
The United States Forest Service has approved passage of the Mountain Valley Pipeline through Jefferson National Forest.
First proposed in 2014, the 304-mile pipeline spans from West Virginia into Virginia, with a possible 75-mile Southgate Extension into North Carolina. While proponents of the MVP argue that the natural gas pipeline is a “critical infrastructure project,” many environmental groups and communities along its pathway oppose the project. Since the MVP’s proposal alongside other projects, including the canceled Atlantic Coast Pipeline, there has been lengthy debate over the construction, pathway, and necessity of the pipeline.
Although the MVP would not cut through Charlottesville, its impacts are potentially far-reaching. Several local climate protection groups have been fighting the pipeline’s completion, including environmental advocacy organization Appalachian Voices.
“When the project was originally analyzed, in terms of market need, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission—which is the federal agency that certifies gas pipelines—said it was justified because there was shipping contracts for the pipeline’s capacity,” says Appalachian Voices Virginia Field Coordinator Jessica Sims. “But the issue with that is that four of the five companies that MVP had contracted were shippers or corporate affiliates of the pipeline-sponsoring companies. So, they were essentially selling it to themselves, [which is] problematic.”
Beyond the shady approval process, Sims highlighted the MVP’s impact on communities and landscapes along its pathway.
“Depending on the circumstances of the location, its steepness, or its proximity to water resources, you’re running the risk of sedimentation from the construction efforts exiting the construction site and impacting what’s around it,” says Sims. “And so that’s what we’ve seen … with Mountain Valley Pipeline running through such steep slopes and through the mountains of Virginia into West Virginia, that the sedimentation issues have been horrific and have impacted water resources in both states.”
With the Biden administration’s approval of the Amendment to Forest Plan for Jefferson National Forest and right-of-way under the Mineral Leasing Act, the MVP is much closer to obtaining the authorizations it needs to be fully operational by the end of this summer. As of May 23, the MVP and proposed Southgate Extension still have to obtain permits from the Army Corps of Engineers, the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality, and the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality.
While those in favor of the pipeline’s construction view it as a vital energy resource, Sims argues there are cleaner alternatives that can be pursued. “We have the tools, we have the vision, we have the future already happening here in Virginia in terms of clean energy development,” she says. “It’s an opportunity for Virginia to truly invest in that transition, and to make sure that it is a just transition that has that type of energy available for everyone, and does not leave behind workers that have previously been in the fossil fuel industry, especially in the coal regions of Virginia.”
Despite the MVP’s recent wave of success in obtaining authorizations, Sims remains optimistic about blocking the pipeline’s completion. “I maintain that it will be stopped. We see at this moment, they’re missing both a federal and a state permit,” she says. “Those fighting Mountain Valley Pipeline are not going to stop fighting.”
Rising Appalachia pairs global influences with a soulful, folk-roots sound on its album, Leylines. The quartet is joined by West African musician Arouna Diarra on the ngoni and talking drum, and Irish musician Duncan Wickel on fiddle and cello. The band, fronted by sisters Leah and Chloe Smith, tackles tough topics in its songs. “We’re folk singers and we consider this a folk album, so there’s a lot in there,” says Chloe. “There’s word of politics, of being women in the music industry, as well as a lot about our lives on the road.”
Thursday 5/25. $22–25, 8pm. The Jefferson Theater, 110 E. Main St., Downtown Mall. jeffersontheater.com
Meet two of the Rockfish Wildlife Sanctuary’s newest, and cutest, patients. These fluffy red fox kits were rescued and brought to the sanctuary after their mother was shot by a property owner. They’ve joined one of the largest cohorts of orphaned fox kits in RWS’s history—19 kits! RWS is one of the few wildlife rehabilitation facilities in Virginia that admits fox kits, meaning it cares for the majority of central Virginia’s orphaned or injured furry red friends. While the kits rest, recover, and grow at RWS they’ll receive fresh meals, new enrichment, and enclosure cleanings every day. “We hope their story reminds people of the importance of coexisting with wildlife. Foxes are vital ecological players in Virginia, they control prey populations, eat invasive animals, and disperse native seeds…” says RWS Executive Director Sarah Cooperman. “We look forward to providing these orphaned kits with the respectful, compassionate care they deserve, and aim to release them in late summer.” Learn more about Virginia Wildlife and meet RWS’s other patients at rockfishwildlifesanctuary.org.
