You never know what’ll come through the amps when Hypercube hits the stage—death metal vocals, trilling saxophone, cartoonish scale bursts. The new music quartet performs across the boundaries of classical chamber music, incorporating electric and acoustic sounds for sax, guitar, piano, and percussion. For its concert, Hypercube performs new pieces composed by UVA music department graduate students Gabrielle Cerberville, Kristin Hauge, Rah Hite, and more.
UVA President Jim Ryan says he is optimistic about working with local partners to improve community safety. Photo by UVA Communications.
The University of Virginia Community Safety Working Group released its report aimed at improving community security following an uptick in gun violence in and around Charlottesville.
Formed in the aftermath of the November 13, 2022, fatal shooting on Grounds and a wave of area shootings, the CSWG is a collaborative effort between UVA, Charlottesville City, and Albemarle County leaders. Experts consulted by the group include local law enforcement departments, UVA’s Crisis Intervention Team, city and county public school officials, and nonprofit organizations such as the Uhuru Foundation.
“The Community Safety Working Group took up their charge during a difficult time, with violence hitting close to home on Grounds and in our community,” said President Jim Ryan to UVA Today. “Their comprehensive recommendations provide tangible steps toward a safe, thriving community, and I look forward to working with our partners to implement their proposed actions.”
While the CSWG report was released to the public on January 25, community leaders first reviewed the document and its recommendations in September, according to UVA Deputy Spokesperson Bethanie Glover.
“All of the working groups that operate under the auspices of the President’s Council on UVA-Community Partnerships … submit their reports to the President’s Council for review before they are finalized and moved forward. That process took place in October and November,” says Glover. “Once reviews were completed and the county, city, and UVA agreed that the report offered a comprehensive view of opportunities to decrease gun violence, the report was made available for public view.”
In its report, the CSWG breaks down its recommendations into four major goals: creating protective community environments, enhancing place-based programming and access to care, improving coordination and information flow among the Charlottesville community, and connecting youth to caring adults and activities.
The January 25 report includes several short- and medium-term recommendations, and Glover says that “many of the report’s recommendations are already being implemented through established programs, activities, resources, and courses.”
While the CSWG lists improving coordination and information flow as one of its main goals in strengthening community safety, UVA has not moved on its position to withhold the independent report on the 2022 shooting on Grounds that killed Devin Chandler, Lavel Davis Jr., and D’Sean Perry, and injured two other students. Recommendations from the working group to advance this goal are limited to “center resident input” and the creation of an information hub, caregiver support network, data-sharing system, and community resource app. The CSWG kicked off work in this area with the launch of the Charlottesville Albemarle Youth Opportunity Center in spring 2023, and is currently developing other information coordination efforts, such as hiring “a data scientist to integrate data sets pertaining to youth violence.”
“The university is delaying the release of final reports from the external review due to concerns that doing so now may impact the pending criminal trial of the accused,” Glover says about UVA’s decision to withhold the independent incident report. “We are committed to providing the external review as soon as we can do so without interfering with the criminal proceedings in any way.”
To advance the group’s goal of creating protective community environments, the CSWG recommendations include gun education programs, strengthening community relationships, establishing crisis response teams, and creating a coordinated crisis response plan. Many of the short-term recommendations to support these efforts are still in early development, but coordinated efforts to obtain funding and considerations towards the creation of Crisis Response Teams are reportedly underway. Other initiatives recommended by the CSWG are broadly described as “launch public awareness campaigns” and “offer support and Community-Engaged coursework,” which included a fall 2023 class on “The Wicked Problem of Gun Violence” at the Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy.
The work group’s suggestions for improving place-based programming and access to care are equally ambitious, including investing in access to care, bridging university and community resources, and investing in community resources. Short-term recommendations to advance these efforts are relatively specific, including a new clinic operated by UVA Health and Sentara Martha Jefferson Hospital focused on “pediatric neurodevelopmental and behavioral health” that is slated to open this fall.
The CSWG’s steps toward strengthening support networks for local youth include supporting existing community mentorship programs, investigating violence interrupter models, advancing school-based recommendations, and strengthening academic support, youth programming, and reentry programs. Short-term efforts toward advancing these goals include “trauma-informed” and “research-based” training for mentors and uplifting the Comprehensive Care Coordination Program and One-Stop Shop efforts.
According to Glover, next steps following the CSWG report release include sharing the recommendations “with the groups and organizations who have the skills and resources to bring them to life (whether within UVA or across the broader community) so that they can be implemented in the coming months and years.”
Ed. note: This story has been updated from its original January 31, 2024, publishing date to reflect additional information provided by the University of Virginia in regards to improving community security.The date of the Community Safety Working Groupreport’s release has also been corrected.
Izabelly Gleed started ballet when she was 4 years old. “A doctor suggested [dancing] for my feet instead of correction boots,” says Gleed. “I actually wasn’t thrilled at first and often would try to escape ballet classes early on!” Now, Gleed is rounding out her seventh and final season as a company artist with Charlottesville Ballet. She’ll take the stage on February 2 and 3 at CB’s Heartbeats, an intimate, hour-long performance of contemporary choreography and classical favorites, including the Grand Pas de Deux from Le Corsaire. Stick around after the show to meet and mingle with Gleed and other dancers. charlottesvilleballet.org
Name: Izabelly Gleed.
Age: 33.
Pronouns: She/her.
Hometown: Vitória, Brazil.
Job(s): Ballerina and dance teacher with Charlottesville Ballet.
What’s something about your job that people would be surprised to learn: How hard it actually is to dance for hours and look effortless while doing it. It takes a lot of endurance and daily training to create the beauty you see on stage.
First role you danced: The Bluebird variation from the famous ballet Sleeping Beauty.
Favorite ballet move: Petite and grand allegro (the little jumps and big leaps).
Favorite role you’ve performed: Kitri in Don Quixote—this was with the Cuban ballet school Espaço da Dança, and my partner was my ballet teacher.
Dream role: Myrtha in the romantic ballet Giselle or George Balanchine’s Serenade.
What’s on your pre-show playlist: A lot of Brazilian music and all of them from different genres. I also enjoy Coldplay to balance the Portuguese.
Best part of living here: How gorgeous Charlottesville is. It doesn’t matter which season we are in, there are so many amazing views in all of them.
Worst part of living here: The chaos and indecision on inclement weather days in the winter.
What’s your comfort food: For a meal, I go with a good dish of meat, rice, and beans … and I always want chocolate as comfort food.
How do you take your coffee: For everyday coffee, I take it with cream, and for special days I go with a vanilla latte. Charlottesville Ballet’s downtown studios are next to JBird Supply, which is dangerous.
Who is your hero: I have to say my mom, who is a true inspiration to me.
Best advice you ever got: Everything has its own time. If it hasn’t happened yet, maybe something else will and you might even prefer it.
Proudest accomplishment: Being able to do what I love. Lots of little girls dream of being a ballerina, but very few make it into this competitive career and I feel lucky to be one of those few.
Describe a perfect day: Any day that I get to spend time with people I love.
If you could be reincarnated as a person or thing, what would you be: My puppy because she has everything she could ever want and lives the best life.
If you had three wishes, what would you wish for: To travel the world, to be able to spend more time with family and friends, and to never get another injury.
Most embarrassing moment: My bachelorette party back in 2019.
Do you have any pets: Yes, a very cute English bulldog named Clara, who’s named after the lead character in The Nutcracker.
Favorite movie and/or show: Right now it’s “Reacher,” but it depends on the month and what mood I’m in.
Favorite book: Honestly I have many of them since I read a lot, but the first one from my childhood that will always be with me is Harry Potter. I’m also into Stephen King right now.
What are you listening to right now: Coldplay and Taylor Swift.
Go-to karaoke song: “Something Just Like This” by The Chainsmokers and Coldplay.
Best Halloween costume you’ve worn: A cow onesie, complete with a pink udder on the front. My students love it, and it sometimes makes appearances at the theater to keep my body warm backstage.
Who’d play you in a movie: Jenna Ortega.
Celebrity crush: Henry Cavill.
Most used app on your phone: WhatsApp and Candy Crush.
Last text you sent: Love you (to my husband).
Most used emoji: Laughing crying face and heart.
Best journey you ever went on: Moved to the U.S. from Brazil without really knowing anyone, got a job, made friends, and ended up finding an amazing person, who’s now my husband, in the process.
Next journey: I am retiring from dancing professionally this spring, which is bittersweet for me. I will still work closely teaching students and being a manager at Charlottesville Ballet Academy, and I cannot wait to see what life has for me in its next chapter.
Favorite word: Saudade, which doesn’t have an exact translation to English, but it’s similar to missing something or someone.
Hottest take: Air fryers don’t work as well as the real thing.
What have you forgotten today: To buy eggs at the grocery store—I was too focused on planning my ballet classes!
Creole music royalty CJ Chenier & The Red Hot Louisiana Band fuses the traditional sounds of accordion-driven zydeco with rock and blues. The son of zydeco music pioneer Clifton Chenier, CJ grew up surrounded by the sounds of music indigenous to Louisiana Creoles, and joined his father’s band when he turned 21. Today, his live shows incorporate dynamic storytelling, soulful vocals, and red-hot instrumentals.
Tuesday 2/6. $20–23, 7pm. The Jefferson Theater, 110 E. Main St., Downtown Mall. jeffersontheater.com
The law enforcement standoff on the 800 block of St. Charles Avenue lasted from the afternoon of January 23 to the early morning of January 24. Staff photo.
Standoff ends peacefully
Charlottesville resident Brian Turner was arrested after an overnight standoff with the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Charlottesville Police Department. The 42-year-old is accused of operating a multi-state prostitution ring and posting hundreds of commercial sex advertisements online.
“The FBI is currently negotiating with an individual who has barricaded themself inside of a residence in the area of the 800 block of St. Charles Avenue,” the CPD shared in a Facebook post during the standoff. “This is an isolated incident specific to that residence and does not pose any threat to school or public safety in the area.”
Turner was taken into custody on January 24 after the hours-long standoff was peacefully resolved.
According to a press release from the United States Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Virginia, Turner has been charged with violating the Mann Act, which prohibits the transportation of women and girls for the purpose of prostitution. “Turner controlled all or almost all aspects of arranging commercial sex dates. … Text messages show him providing instructions and information to his victims about dates, such as how long the date was scheduled to last and how much money to charge,” the release said. “Turner also transported the adult victims to and from the hotels and often stayed in the hotel parking lot or another hotel room while the victims saw commercial sex customers.”
The FBI’s investigation into Turner began in February 2023, following reports from local law enforcement agencies.
On the trail
The Rivanna Trail. Photo by Jack Looney.
Patrick McNamara will appear in Charlottesville General District Court on February 6 in connection with a mid-January alleged assault that occurred on the Rivanna Trail, between Riverview Park and Free Bridge. Since his January 18 arrest, McNamara has been released on bond, and publicly asserted his innocence.
Charlottesville police responded to two reports of assault on the Rivanna Trail on January 12, with the suspect described by both victims as a tall, thin white male between 20 and 30 years old. Neither victim was physically injured, and officers were not able to locate a suspect at the scene.
McNamara has been charged in connection with only one of the incidents, and is facing a misdemeanor count of assault and battery. If convicted, the 37-year-old could serve up to 12 months in jail.
Following his court appearance on January 23, McNamara told The Daily Progress that he is “100 percent innocent,” and has proof of an alibi.
“We wouldn’t have charged somebody if we didn’t think they did it, but we have to prove that,” said CPD Chief Michael Kochis during a January 26 interview on WINA’s “Charlottesville Right Now.”
In brief
Water down
The Albemarle County Service Authority has lifted a boil water advisory, and a general call to reduce water usage, in northern parts of the county. The ACSA claims this was a necessary response to low pressures that developed in the water system after a water main broke along Route 29 south of Camelot Drive.
Big money
The University of Virginia received $1.4 million from The Jefferson Trust Board of Trustees to fund 17 new projects and programs. This follows two annual awards of 14 grants each to the university. The projects and programs benefiting from the money include “Nursing Narratives,” a new recurring editorial section in the UVA School of Nursing quarterly magazine; the UVA Cyber Range, focused on cybersecurity education, research, and promotion; the Center for Forest Urbanism, dedicated to study and policy around urban foliage conservation; and a summer internship program with the Department of African American and African Studies and the Ivy Creek Foundation.
Top recruits
UVA men’s tennis recruits are tops, according to a January 29 release by TennisRecruiting.net. Four student-athletes have signed on to the team for the 2024-25 season: Brazilian Joao Fonseca, 2023’s top-ranked male in the International Tennis Federation Junior Rankings; Rafael Jodar of Spain and Canadian Keegan Rice, ranked 11 and 32 in the ITF Junior Rankings, respectively; and Stiles Brockett of Fairfax, the number one recruit in the Mid-Atlantic and Virginia.
Before it was purchased by the Church of Good Shepherd, 750 Belmont Ave. was slated to become Rachel’s Haven. Image by City of Charlottesville.
In 2019, City Council rezoned a church site in Belmont to allow for subsidized apartments to replace parking on the three-quarter acre lot. The project never materialized, and four and a half years later, a new faith-based institution has purchased 750 Hinton Ave.
The Church of the Good Shepherd currently rents space at the Music Resource Center for its Anglican fellowship and services. On December 21, the entity paid $1.5 million for the Belmont property, which had been owned by the Hinton Avenue Methodist Church since 1909. The city assessed the lot and its structure at just over $3 million.
“As a church, whether as renters or owners, we aspire to have a humble and gentle presence wherever we are,” says Robert Cunningham, a priest at Good Shepherd. “Part of what that means for us is the recognition that we are stepping into a history that predates us—in this case, the fruitful and wonderful legacy of Hinton Avenue United Methodist Church. And as we do so, we are seeking to be attentive to all that has come before us, and seeking to gently step into and participate in what is already happening around us.” The Hinton Avenue congregation has now consolidated with the First United Methodist Church, and they worship together as the Charlottesville City Cooperative Parish at 101 E. Jefferson St. in downtown Charlottesville.
“We also look forward to working with the new congregation in the Hinton Avenue building as a partner in ministries to downtown Charlottesville and Belmont,” says Alex Joyner, pastor at FUMC.
The 2019 rezoning granted approval to build up to 15 units for a project called Rachel’s Haven. Some of the units were to have been for adults with developmental disabilities. A group of neighbors in Belmont sued to overturn the rezoning, but the case was dismissed according to Circuit Court records.
The Piedmont Housing Alliance got involved with the project, but the city denied a site plan for the project in August 2022.
“We are in active conversation with Rachel’s Haven about partnering to shift the program to a different site,” says Sunshine Mathon, executive director of Piedmont Housing Alliance.
Joyner says the Hinton Avenue congregation remains committed to Rachel’s Haven, and is excited that the project may now be able to have more units than originally envisioned.
If the owner of 750 Hinton Ave. wanted to proceed with a housing project, the new zoning for it would allow much more than 15 units. The 0.76 acre lot has the Residential Mixed Use 3 designation, which allows unlimited residential density and three stories by-right and two additional levels if the city’s affordable housing requirements are met. This property is the only one in the immediate vicinity that has that designation.
PHA is also working with the Park Street Christian Church on a project to build affordable units on its property at 1200 Park St. Council approved that rezoning in early 2022. The city is contributing $1.125 million to the project in the current fiscal year, and the same amount again for the next. A final site plan is under review, but the project requires additional financing.
“We continue to actively work with the Park Street Christian Church to find funding for an affordable housing development on the site,” Mathon says.
PHA is not involved with a project at Mount View Baptist Church in the Locust Grove neighborhood that would see as many as 72 units on undeveloped land under the 2022 rezoning. The entity that owns the land, Mount View Properties LLC, recently purchased an adjacent single-family home on River Vista Avenue to expand its geographic footprint.
Karen Elizabeth Milbourne. Photo by Tristan Williams.
January 29 marks the start of Karen Elizabeth Milbourne’s tenure as the J. Sanford Miller Family Director of The Fralin Museum of Art at the University of Virginia. Milbourne comes to UVA from the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African Art in Washington, D.C., where she was senior curator and acting head of knowledge production. A leading scholar in the field, Milbourne received her BA in African studies from Bryn Mawr College, and Ph.D. in art history from the University of Iowa.
Milbourne has won numerous awards and fellowships, including a Fulbright Fellowship, and several awards from the Smithsonian and others for curatorial excellence. Her writing has been published in edited volumes and journals including African Arts, Nka: Journal of Contemporary African Art, Art Papers, ARS, and Collections. Milbourne is the former chair of the Smithsonian Artist Research Fellowship program and currently serves on the scientific committee for Archives of Women Artists, Research and Exhibitions, and the advisory board for the Lusaka Contemporary Art Center.
She is arriving at an exciting time for the arts at UVA, with the second Charlottesville Indigenous Art Takeover on view now. The event is sponsored by the Kluge-Ruhe Aboriginal Art Collection and The Fralin, in concert with the exhibitions “Maḏayin: Eight Decades of Aboriginal Australian Bark Painting from Yirrkala” and “Voices of Connection: Garamut Slit Drums of New Guinea” at The Fralin. The former, the most significant exhibition of bark paintings to tour the United States, was largely curated by the artists themselves, who formed the concept, selected the works, and wrote all text associated with the exhibition, including catalog essays. A collaboration between Papua New Guinean scholars and UVA faculty, students, and museum staff, “Voices of Connection” showcases the instruments and people of Papua New Guinea and its offshore islands. Correlating exhibitions and events will be happening at the Kluge-Ruhe, Les Yeux du Monde, Second Street Gallery, and the Upper West Oval Room of the Rotunda.
Just as exciting are the plans to expand and elevate the arts at UVA by constructing a new multidisciplinary arts center. C-VILLE sat down with Milbourne to discuss her role.
C-VILLE Weekly: Can you tell me about your personal history with art? What set you on your path?
Karen Milbourne: I did not officially start studying art history until graduate school. I was always interested in the arts and took studio classes throughout college. I actually started out as a psychology major, but wasn’t loving running rats through mazes. I took an African art history class and suddenly everything made sense. It was just the right place for me. And so I created an independent major in African studies with a minor in studio art. For my junior year I applied to a program through Colgate University at the University of Nigeria in Nsukka. I was extremely fortunate because artists who now are incredibly world-famous, like El Anatsui, taught there. He used to just let me hang out in his studio while he was working. His monumental work “Behind the Red Moon” is currently installed at Tate Modern’s Turbine Hall.
I came back knowing this was something I was passionate about. That summer, I had an internship at the Museum for African Art in New York City, which led to my first job. Around the same time, Bryn Mawr was given an African art collection and I was made curator of it as an undergrad. So, I wasn’t technically studying art history because Bryn Mawr didn’t offer a focus on Africa in its program, but I was quite focused on the subject. I wrote my senior thesis on Nigerian modern art and then worked at the museum in New York for a couple of years before going to graduate school.
Lisa Waup’s screen painting “moving tides” is part of “close to the wind” at Kluge-Ruhe Aboriginal Art Collections of the University of Virginia. Photo courtesy of the Kluge-Ruhe Aboriginal Art Collections of UVA.
Looking at the exhibitions you’ve curated at NMAfA, the African art you focus on is contemporary mostly, isn’t it?
Mostly. I work largely in the global contemporary. I’ve worked with Africa’s arts across time and a lot of my effort has been to undermine or unsettle assumptions about what is or isn’t African art. For instance, people don’t understand that there’ve been African photographers since the 19th century and that masquerade is a contemporary art form.
Of all those exhibitions, which are you most proud of?
I’ll give you three examples because each represents something different. The first, “Earth Matters, Land as Material and Metaphor in the Arts of Africa” was a really wonderful collaboration across the Smithsonian campus. It included partnerships with the Environmental Film Festival, Dumbarton Oaks, the National Air and Space Museum, the American History Museum, and the Smithsonian Garden. So bringing all of those different groups together and looking at what the Earth means to all of us was really exciting and rewarding. And intellectually, it was thrilling to have that ability to pull that project together. But it also made me realize how challenging big projects can be in terms of sustainability. So many of the things that I wanted as relationships or because of changing institutional structures weren’t possible.
“I Am: Contemporary Women Artists of Africa” came about after I’d gone through the collection of the National Museum of African Art and realized that only 11 percent of the named artists in the collection self-identified as female. So that led to a women’s initiative where we’ve been able to bring the representation of women artists in the collection up to 25 percent. With that exhibition I was really looking at the history of one institution and what institutions need to do to change, and then modeling a different way of showing women artists. It wasn’t that ambitious a project. I wasn’t traveling all over the world and bringing my own new research to it. It was about implementing a different kind of structural change.
“From the Deep” [on view now at NMAfA] wasn’t about me, the expert, going to an artist and saying, “I like this one, that one and that one,” and taking those artworks back to the museum. It was working collaboratively with the artist, Ayana V. Jackson, to help push her practice forward. So it was a six-year process where I worked with her from seed to harvest, providing her the space to create the artwork and bringing it to an exhibition format. We did two pop-ups, one in Johannesburg, one in Cape Town, because she’s based in South Africa. We brought audiences in, the soundtrack wasn’t yet scored, so it was going on live around us and we asked audience members, if you sit this close, if you sit this far, how do you experience it? And Ayana got the feedback of how people were experiencing the exhibition, which then informed the finalization of the artwork. That sort of collaborative process is really very exciting to me.
As director of The Fralin, you’ll be stepping away from your curatorial activities. Are you going to miss that?
Very much so. But the opportunity to envision what a museum should be is such a tremendous opportunity. I’m excited about partnering with the Kluge-Ruhe and creating a museum system that includes the performing arts and is centered on indigenous perspectives. It just didn’t seem like an opportunity I’d ever get again.
Karen Elizabeth Milbourne. Photo by Tristan Williams.
What is the status of UVA’s Center for the Arts? Is it going forward?
Oh, it’s definitely going forward. The Fralin, the Kluge-Ruhe and the new performing arts center will all share a single space, which is really exciting to think in a multidisciplinary fashion. I’ve worked with a lot of live artists, so it’s wonderful to think about partnering with the performing arts.
You’ve been recognized for your collaborative approach. How do you plan on collaborating with other creative and performing arts entities across UVA and Charlottesville?
It’s exciting thinking about the brilliance that one can find around the UVA campus. I would love to partner with the new [School of] Data Science. One of the main issues facing museums is databases, particularly, how to create databases that are flexible to allow for differing knowledge systems. For example, we might label something Yoruba artist, 19th century. Well, Yoruba might identify that same thing by clan. So where do you put the clan name instead of cultural name? How do you account for gender fluidity? How do you both have a backend where you can input data to allow for greater inclusion, and create it so that it’s outward facing in a way that’s not contradictory to how anybody wishes to identify themselves.
There is also potential for collaboration with the law school looking at ethical stewardship of collections, looking at cultural patrimony laws and understanding those in relationship to our collections and thinking about how we take care of them and interact with and share them. So these are things I’m really excited about, as well as really thinking in a more multidisciplinary fashion.
Another reason I’m so excited is the new building. We have the opportunity to think flexibly from the get-go, and can include things like a sprung floor for dancers and comprehensive electrical cabling that can support something complicated like an immersive video.
I would consider you on the front lines of the culture wars, and we’re a divided country and UVA is kind of a microcosm of that. The Fralin’s diversity efforts in recent years are really admirable, but there are many who are resistant to this. How do you remain positive and effective in the face of these challenges?
I’ve never worked anywhere where there weren’t challenges. I think that’s sort of the nature of being alive in this world. But I think all of these individuals are looking at the world around them and trying to imagine new futures. And that’s what I’m trying to do, I’m imagining a future with the museum. So it’s really trying to work with somebody on that front rather than hashing out what you said or they said, or was it this way or that way. I’m interested in, What is the future that we can build together? I think that’s the space where we can find common ground.
Do you have any hobbies? What do you like to do in your free time?
I’m an avid walker. I walk upwards of five miles a day with my dog. And, as soon as I can find a pool, I will go back to swimming. So those are two passions of mine. I love to hang out with my kids (ages 13, 16, and 19), and I love to read.
What are you most looking forward to about moving to the Charlottesville area?
Well, outside of the brilliant colleagues at UVA, it probably is the mountains. The physical environment was definitely part of the appeal, and I would also say, the vineyards.
Included in “Maḏayin: Eight Decades of Aboriginal Australian Bark Painting From Yirrkala” at The Fralin, Gunybi Ganambarr’s “Garrapara,” uses natural pigments on eucalyptus bark. Photo courtesy of The Fralin Museum at UVA.
Charlottesville Indigenous Art Takeover 2024
The Fralin Museum of Art at the University of Virginia
“Maḏayin: Eight Decades of Aboriginal Australian Bark Painting from Yirrkala,” February 3-July 14.
Kaira Ba puts a modern, energetic twist on the songs, stories, and rhythms of Senegal’s Mandé culture. The band was formed in 2011, shortly after percussionist and vocalist Diali Keba Cissokho immigrated to the United States, settling in North Carolina. With Cissokho on the 21-string kora, Jonathan Henderson on bass, Will Ridenour on percussion, and Austin McCall on drums, Kaira Ba effortlessly integrates the sounds of West Africa with the traditional music of the American South.
Meesha Goldberg at New City Arts. Photo by Kristen Finn. All other images courtesy of the galleries.
Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library 2450 Old Ivy Rd. “Their World As Big As They Made It: Looking Back at the Harlem Renaissance,” plus other permanent exhibitions.
The Beautiful Idea 411 E. Main St., Downtown Mall. “Echoes,” a new collection of gel prints by Deus Detritus/Klaus Evirytt. First Fridays reception at 6pm.
The Center at Belvedere 540 Belvedere Blvd. “Near and Far: Oil Paintings from Virginia, Maine, and Tennessee” by Randy Baskerville. Through February 29.
Chroma Projects Inside Vault Virginia, Third St. SE. In the Micro Gallery, “Gatekeepers,” Victoria Chaban’s pattern-rich, acrylic-on-paper studies of birds. Through February 23. In Vault Virginia’s Great Hall Galleries, “Sculpted Harmony” by Alan Box Levine and “Sabr (Patience)” by Amdane Sanda are on display through March. First Fridays reception at 5pm.
Victoria Chaban at Chroma Projects.
City Clay 700 Harris St. #104. “Creating Harmony,” ceramic pieces and ikebana flower arrangements by Helena Arouca. Through February 22. First Fridays reception and demonstration at 5pm.
Helena Arouca at City Clay.
The Connaughton Gallery McIntire School of Commerce, UVA Grounds. “Spirit of Place,” explorations in oil, acrylic, and pastel by Mae Stoll and Meg West. Through March 6.
Mae Stoll at The Connaughton Gallery.
Crozet Artisan Depot 5791 Three Notch’d Rd., Crozet. “The Secret Life of Leaves,” pieces by textile artist LaVel Rude. Through February 28. Meet the artist event on February 10 at 11am.
Crozet Library 2020 Library Ave., Crozet. Ink and watercolor works by Gayle Keaton.
Cunningham Creek Winery 3304 Ruritan Lake Rd. “Branches + Blooms,” contemporary impressions by Amy Jeanguenat and oil paintings by Meghan Cooper. Through April 11.
C’ville Arts Cooperative Gallery 118 E. Main St., Downtown Mall. “Weaving Warmth and Knitting Dreams,” yarn art by weaver Jan Russell and knitter Mary Whittlesey. Through February. First Fridays reception at 4pm.
Jan Russell at C’ville Arts Cooperative Gallery.
Elmaleh Gallery Campbell Hall, UVA Grounds. “Almost Useful: The Michael Owen Jones Exhibition” explores objects at the edge of utility, curated by Glenn Adamson. “Waste Not, Want Not” transforms discarded materials into long-lasting objects and building material prototypes, by JT Bachman. “Inclusive Narratives: Exploring Equity On The Manifesta Bookshelf,” an interactive exhibit. Dates vary.
The Fralin Museum of Art at UVA 155 Rugby Rd. “Structures,” a selection of 20th- and 21st-century artworks from the Museum’s permanent collection, and the Charlottesville Indigenous Art Takeover. First Fridays reception at 5pm.
Grace Estate Winery 5273 Mt. Juliet Farm, Crozet. Works by local landscape artist Anne French. Through March.
Kluge-Ruhe Aboriginal Art Collection of UVA 400 Worrell Dr. The Charlottesville Indigenous Art Takeover.
Lazy Daisy Ceramics 1709 Monticello Rd. Paintings and prints on canvas, paper, and board by Eli Frantzen van Beuren.
Eli Frantzen van Beuren at Lazy Daisy Ceramics.
Les Yeux du Monde 841 Wolf Trap Rd. The Charlottesville Indigenous Art Takeover. Opening reception February 3 at 1pm.
McGuffey Art Center 201 Second St. NW. In the Smith Gallery, “Spells,” oil paintings on canvas by Kelly Lonergan. In the First Floor Galleries, the associate members show. In the Second Floor Galleries, “In the House: Old and New,” works by renting members, and “In Retro,” large-scale works by Kelly Lonergan. Through February 25. First Fridays reception at 5:30pm.
Kelly Lonergan at McGuffey Art Center.
Northside Library 705 Rio Rd. W. A multimedia exhibit with BozART Fine Arts Collective artist’s Judi Ely, Katharine Eisaman Maus, and Shirley Paul. “In the Quiet Room,” works by Terry Pratt.
New City Arts 114 Third St. NE. In the Welcome Gallery, “Empire Is Over: The Lewis, Clark, and Sacajawea Cut-Ups,” a multimedia exhibit by Meesha Goldberg. Through February 22. First Fridays reception and performance at 5pm.
Peace Lutheran Church 1510 Broad Crossing Rd. Two-dimensional art on the theme of Genesis. Opens February 3.
The PVCC Gallery V. Earl Dickinson Building, 501 College Dr. “The Power of Plenty” showcases multiple printmaking styles from various artists. Through March 30.
A.I. Miller and Rose Guterbock at The PVCC Gallery.
Quirk Gallery 499 W. Main St. Frankie Slaughter’s “Interplay” is a celebration of the interplay of line, form, and texture, with various mediums, including paint, clay, and textile. Through March.
The Rotunda UVA Grounds. In the Upper West Oval Room, the Charlottesville Indigenous Art Takeover. Through July 7.
The Ruffin Gallery McIntire Department of Art, UVA Grounds. “Ambi Playground,” a video installation by Bogotá, Colombia-based interdisciplinary artist Camilo Leyva Espinel. Through February 16.
Scottsville Library 330 Bird St., Scottsville. A community exhibit of sunflower paintings.
Second Street Gallery 115 Second St. SE. In the Main Gallery, the Charlottesville Indigenous Art Takeover. In the Dové Gallery, “Tending,” personal drawings by Laura Josephine Snyder in conjunction with a film created in collaboration with photographer Kristen Finn. Through March 22. First Fridays reception at 5:30pm.
Laura Josephine Snyder at Second Street Gallery.
Studio Ix 969 Second St. SE. “Lore Spreader,” a collection of screenprints, paintings, and shelf installations by Travis Robertson. Through February 25. First Fridays reception at 5pm.
Travis Robertson at Studio Ix.
Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Charlottesville 717 Rugby Rd. The intuitive, or process, paintings of Shirley Paul. Through February.
Visible Records 1740 Broadway St. “Tributaries: A Visible Records Community Exhibition,” the result of visual artists and poets creating new works in conversation with one another. Through February 7.
A group of Charlottesville homeowners filed suit on January 16 to stop implementation of the city’s new zoning ordinance next month.
In the court filing, local law firm Flora Petit asserts that the zoning ordinance is invalid because it exceeds the powers afforded to the city by the Virginia General Assembly, fails to give “reasonable consideration” to infrastructure impacts, and harms the plaintiffs. The suit also accuses City Council of “misleading” the public about “the scope of the changes” brought by the ordinance.
Several of the complainants assert that they purchased properties due to their locations in “low-density neighborhoods,” and argue they would be harmed by an increase in tax assessments.
The plaintiffs in the suit are nine Charlottesville residents who predominantly live in the Barracks-Rugby neighborhood, all with home assessments over $750,000, according to reporting by The Daily Progress.
The zoning ordinance was passed unanimously by Charlottesville City Council in December as part of the city’s Comprehensive Plan. While proponents of the ordinance argue it would improve access to affordable housing by increasing density, opponents cite concerns including upzoning, potential traffic, and infrastructure impacts.
The suit could put a stop to not only the zoning ordinance, but the entire Comprehensive Plan.
Road work ahead
Supplied photo.
Work will begin January 29 on a Hydraulic Road improvement project slated to last through fall of next year.
According to the Virginia Department of Transportation, the project will make several improvements to traffic flow and safety in the area. Changes include constructing a pedestrian bridge over Route 29, building a signalized pedestrian crossing and reworking traffic patterns at the intersection of Route 29 and Hydraulic Road, and changing the intersection of Hillsdale and Hydraulic Road into a roundabout.
Previous plans to adapt the intersection of Route 29 and Angus Road into a Continuous Green-T configuration were scrapped following a May 2022 public hearing.
Construction will take place overnight between 9pm and 6am and start with median and drainage work. Drivers should look out for workers in and around the roadway during the construction window and potential lane, shoulder, and turn lane closures.
In brief
Crash course
An 82-year-old driver smashed into the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles customer service center on Abbey Road on the morning of January 22, leaving a large hole where some corner windows once stood. Albemarle County Police and Fire Rescue crews responded to the scene and reportedly treated a DMV customer for minor injuries, according to CBS19. Police have charged the driver with reckless driving in a parking lot. The customer service center reopened the following day.
Statue survey
The Jefferson School African American Heritage Center has launched a new Public Parks Survey to gather community feedback as it enters the next phase of its Swords Into Plowshares project. The survey is intended to help JSAAHC gain a better understanding of Charlottesville residents’ knowledge and use of local parks and their history. This, in turn, will guide the selection of potential sites for a new work of public art created from the melted bronze of the Robert E. Lee statue. The survey can be found via jeffschoolheritagecenter.org, under a link titled Take the Swords Into Plowshares Survey.
Reid’s on the rocks
Reid’s Super Save Market may not be going out of business, but it sure seems to look like it. A January 21 report from The Daily Progress claims the decades-old family run grocery store is “in trouble,” citing empty shelves, dwindling staff numbers, and declining traffic. But community members have expressed concern over the state of Reid’s since last October, when several shelves sat unstocked for weeks, prompting the store to put up a sign that reassured customers it was not closing down. A GoFundMe has been created to help keep the store open, raising over $10,000 so far.
