arts and crafts – C-VILLE Weekly

What do we always say? If you’ve got it, haunt it—and Charlottesville’s got “it” in spades, as long as “it” is a frightening amount of Halloween (and pre-Halloween) fun. You’ve got just over three weeks to drink in all the boos you can handle, and we’ve scared up the best options in (and out of, if you’ve got your broom handy) town. Happy hauntings!

Let’s boo this!

While we prefer to gorge on Laffy Taffy, bite-sized Snickers, and Dubble Bubble, we know some of you crave a little, shall we say, balance. Don your costume for the YMCA Gatorade Halloween Hustle—a family-friendly 10k run (or two-mile walk, which we hear includes treats and surprises) and sweat out the sugar. Proceeds from the event support YMCA financial assistance, so everyone has access to the facility. $40-75, 8:30-10:30am. October 26, Brooks Family YMCA. piedmontymca.org

Poison pen

You don’t have to write the great American novel to gain notoriety around these parts. Instead, enter C-VILLE’s annual Two-
Sentence Horror Story Contest and hear your words read
aloud by actors from Live Arts theater (and published in the October 30 issue of C-VILLE). Remember: two sentences only, by the stroke of midnight on October 11. Visit bit.ly/2024cville horrorstorycontest to enter.

Yappy Halloween!

Three for the doggos

Strut Your Mutt Halloween Pageant

A benefit for Caring for Creatures, The Shops at Stonefield’s annual pageant includes a K-9 costume contest (with cash prizes!), trick-or-treat goodie bags, a raffle for handmade quilts by award-winning quilter Lolly Schiffman, live music, and vendors. $10-20, noon-4pm. October 19, The Shops at Stonefield. strutyourmutthalloweenpageant.org

Pups on parade

Here’s your chance to show off Fido in his Sherlock Holmes get-up and Fifi dressed as the cutest raccoon this side of the Ivy landfill. The annual Downtown Mall Doggie Howl-O-Ween pooch parade and costume contest has categories for the funniest, most creative, most Halloween-y, best group theme, and best in show. The evening also includes dog trick-or-treating, a photographer, a caricature artist, and $2,000 in raffles and prizes. Suggested donation of $15 benefits Hooves and Paws Animal Rescue, 5-8pm. October 25, Central Place. pawprintsboutique.com

Howl~O~Ween

Keswick Vineyards hosts its annual Howl-O-Ween event, where your furry friends come dressed in their cutest costumes and parade around (literally, there’s a puppy parade in the tasting room) for all to see. A costume contest follows, so tell your pals: Don’t be a haunt mess. Free, noon-4pm. October 27, Keswick Vineyards. keswickvineyards.com

Rock on

Well these sure do sound like a ghould time.

Spooky Funk Halloween Party Music Pop~Up

Dance party alert! DJ Ryan (aka Kendall Street Company’s drummer) will spin the tunes all night—you come ready to party, drink, and dance your boo-ty (get it?) off. Free, 6-9pm. October 25, Flying Fox Winery & Vineyard. flyingfoxvineyard.com

Fifth Annual Samhuinn Fest at Thistlerock with House of Hamill & the Donnybrooks

For the uninitiated, Halloween began more than 2,000 years ago as an ancient Celtic fire festival, Samhuinn (“sow-in”). Thistlerock Mead Company pays homage to the holiday’s origins, carrying on the traditions. Participate in fairy house-building workshops, crown-making, pumpkin-carving, and more, plus live music and fire-cooked food. Free-$15, 2-10pm. October 26, Thistlerock Mead Company. thistlerockmead.com

Ghouls Night Out

IX Art Park hosts this Halloween-themed costume rave in its Looking Glass gallery. Be prepared for spooky and surreal to collide in this immersive environment with lights, installations, and cutting-edge DJ-led beats. $20-75, 8pm-2am. October 26, IX Art Park. ixartpark.org

The Pollocks Howl~o~ween

Local favorite The Pollocks take the stage for a “spine-tingling night of music and mayhem.” $15, 7-9:30pm. October 26, The Batesville Market. batesvillemarket.com

Hard Rock Halloween

Van Halen and Stone Temple Pilots tribute bands Bad Halen and Sex Type Things, respectively, take the stage at Rapture for a hard-rock show. Free, 10pm. October 31, Rapture. rapturerestaurant.com

Get your fill

Nothing says Halloween like a stomach full of mini MilkyWays. Here’s where to grab a handful (and then some).

Downtown Safe Halloween

Ting Pavilion hosts this Charlottesville Parks & Rec-sponsored free event, with live performances and a DJ, plus crafts, games, a costume contest—whew! (There’s also a quiet zone for those who are scared of crowds.) Trick-or-treating downtown follows the event from 4-4:30pm. 2-4pm, October 19. Ting Pavilion. tingpavilion.com

Trick~or~Treating on the Lawn

A tradition that started in the late 1980s, Trick-or-Treating on the Lawn is for costumed kids of all ages, who are invited to visit each of the 54 Lawn rooms (and the Range) to scavenge for sweets. Free parking is available from 3:30pm at the John Paul Jones Arena garage, South and West lots, and from 4pm in the Culbreth Road garage. Hourly parking is also available nearby. Free, 5-7pm. October 31, The Lawn and Range, UVA. studentaffairs.virginia.edu

Party like a rock star

Annual favorite the Mock Stars Ball returns for two evenings
of intentional camp paired with some serious rock chops. Local musicians combine forces to form supergroup cover bands and impersonate big-timers such as Billie Eilish, The Cranberries, Sublime, Backstreet Boys, Brooks & Dunn, Smashing Pumpkins, and many more in a benefit for The Shelter for Help in Emergency in honor of Whitney French. $20-25, 8pm. October 25 and 26, The Southern Café & Music Hall. thesoutherncville.com

It’s craftacular

Ready to (cat) scratch your creative itch? These three spots have you covered this season.

Halloween Mask~Making Workshop

Head over the mountain for this one, a mask-making class at Staunton’s Art Hive. Ideal for all ages and skill levels, the two-hour workshop will take you through the process of creating a personalized mask, starting with design and sketching and ending with final touches like glitter, feathers, or fabric. All materials are provided. 11am-1pm, $15. October 12, Art Hive Creative Reuse and Art Center, Staunton. arthivestudio.net

Halloween Macrame

The Scrappy Elephant invites you to make a Halloween-themed (a ghost! a jack ‘o lantern!) macrame craft. Says the creative reuse retailer: “This simple project is perfect for those who have never done macrame as well as those more experienced.” For ages 12 and up. $30, 2:30-4pm. October 20, The Scrappy Elephant. scrappyelephant.com

Paint + Sip Costume Party

Follow the instructor’s directions to create your own version of Batty Moonrise, a spooky skyline featuring (did you know?) the only mammal that can truly fly. Pro Re Nata hosts—and a free drink is included in the price of your $45 ticket. Oh, and come dressed up—it’s on Hallow’s Eve Eve! 6-8pm, October 30. Pro Re Nata. blueridgebrushes.com

Get lost

Make your way through one of the Blue Ridge Mountain Maze’s corn mazes (now located at Blue Toad Hard Cider, near Wintergreen). Equipped with just a crayon and a blank survival guide, you’ll scout an escape path through five acres while taking in a panoramic view of the mountains. Tickets include access to plenty of family-friendly attractions, like the country store, farm animals, movies in the meadow, and the Farmy Fun Zone. Up for a more chilling experience? Come back at night to navigate the maze by moonlight.

Child’s play

For two evenings, Virginia Discovery Museum opens its doors for Boo Bash—carnival games, activities, and crafts. Plus, says the museum’s website, “Conduct eccentric experiments with UVA L.E.A.D. in the Mad Science Lab, concoct kooky potions in the Witch’s Cabin, dance the boogie-man boogie in the glow-in-the-dark Monster Mash room.” Proceeds support VADM’s programming. $18-65, 5:30-7:30pm. October 24 and 25, Virginia Discovery Museum. vadm.org

Witch you were here

Halloween’s not all plastic pumpkins and sticky children (blech!). For those of you with more sophisticated taste, try these.

Haunted Happy Hour

Before the October 18 showing of Live Arts’ What the Constitution Means to Me, enjoy spooky drinks and
$20 tarot readings by Jess Bronson of Sealed in the Stars on the theater’s rooftop terrace. Free, 5:30pm. October 18, Live Arts. livearts.org

Fall of the House of Usher screening

Enjoy live piano accompaniment from UVA film lecturer Matt Marshall while watching Jean Epstein’s 1928 surrealist adaptation of Edgar Allan Poe’s maddening novel. $5, 8pm. October 24, The Looking Glass at IX Art Park. ixartpark.org

Witches Tea Service

On West Main, Cakebloom hosts a proper tea service, with a “spoookkkyyy menu of tricks and treats.” Not hard to solve that mystery: We’re betting cake will be on the table. Come dressed in your favorite costume and be entered to win a free eight-slice sampler or, if you’re a runner-up, a free five-slice sampler. $45, noon. October 26 and 27, Cakebloom. cakebloom.com

Frights, Flights, & Bites: Halloween @ Ethos

Ethos Wine & Tea invites you for a trick-or-treat-style tasting (plus snacks!) of natural and local wines and organic teas. The event will take place on the sidewalk outside the Main Street café. $30-35, 6-9pm. October 31, Ethos Wine & Tea. ethoswineandtea.com

Halloween Organ Concert

Drink in a short concert of spooky organ music, followed by an up-close tour of the organ itself (we assume organ the instrument, but it’s Halloween, so who knows?). All ages are welcome to this free event. 4-4:30pm, October 31. Westminster Presbyterian Church. westminsterorganconcertseries.org

Creating a buzz: Local artists are ready to collaborate at The Hive

What happens when two artists walk into a bar?

Ask textile artist Tobiah Mundt and painter Kim Anderson and you’ll get the same answer: It’s an immediate connection. Both women relocated to Charlottesville with their families, Mundt from northern Virginia and Anderson from Nebraska, and sought a stronger connection to the art community. This past January, Mundt was looking for a studio and felt the space where she created her wool sculptures shouldn’t be “quiet and lonely.” After her children started attending school, Anderson reached a similar conclusion: When surrounded by people, she became a better artist.

The two connected during Craft CVille’s Galentine’s Day pop-up over their shared vision for a creative and collaborative maker space. Eight months and one big renovation later, that vision will become a reality. On October 6, Mundt and Anderson will open The Hive, an art-and-craft lounge in McIntire Plaza where visitors can order up an art project along with coffee, small bites, beer, or wine.

“The art bar is 16 feet long,” Mundt says. “The [project] tray comes with instructions and everything you need. You’ll be able to order from a seasonal menu that will change.”

For Anderson, what makes the space unique is that visitors can walk in anytime the lounge is open and create a tangible work of art. The price of each art project on The Hive’s menu will range from $1 to $20. Coffee and treats come from Milli Coffee Roasters and Paradox Pastry.

“You’re engaging with the arts without having to invest,” Anderson says.

The lounge’s décor also celebrates the work of local artists and entrepreneurs. Sculptor Lily Erb created The Hive’s sign and a fence surrounding an interior play area for children, and Wade Cotton of Timber Made Company created the lounge’s bar from fallen trees around Charlottesville.

Four art studios for rent inside the lounge will be named after African American-owned businesses demolished in the razing of Vinegar Hill. So far, two of the four studios have been named after Carr’s and Bell’s, Vinegar Hill businesses Mundt identified with the help of Tanesha Hudson, an activist and executive producer of the forthcoming documentary A Legacy Unbroken: The Story of Black Charlottesville.

“When my husband told me we were moving here, I Googled Charlottesville,” Mundt remembers. She says the history of Vinegar Hill was the first thing she found. “I had to ask myself, ‘How can I raise my family here? How can I build my business to honor what happened here?’”

In addition to hosting maker workshops that range from bows and arrows to bath bombs, Mundt says there will be more programming at The Hive that celebrates African American artists and professionals who have contributed to the Charlottesville community. UVA English professor and seamstress Lisa Woolfork will lead evening sewing classes in the lounge’s mezzanine workshop area. Mundt discovered Woolfork and her work by following the Instagram hashtag #cvilleart, which led her to Woolfork’s account @blackwomenstitch.

“I was like, ‘Is she in Charlottesville? There are black women in Charlottesville sewing?’ So I contacted Lisa,” says Mundt. “She keeps sending me project ideas. The number-one thing people have asked for is sewing classes.”

Anderson and Mundt will serve as craft-tenders behind the bar to provide tools and fuel for visitors purchasing an art project. When they’re not helping with a workshop or hosting a private party, Mundt and Anderson hope to find time for their own artistic pursuits. Anderson wants to continue teaching custom chalk painting and stenciling classes. Mundt plans to sculpt her wool creatures when the space isn’t busy. She says it will be an interesting artistic challenge, as much of Mundt’s work is deeply personal. Her needle-felted creations are simultaneously haunting and child-like, akin to the stuff of science-fiction monsters or a child’s nightmare.

“I think a lot of people make assumptions about my work and about me,” Mundt says. “The Hive is an open place. I want people to ask about [my work]. What’s scary about it? Not all of our artists are sugary sweet artists. …Everyone has many sides to them.”

Two artists with studios in The Hive are multi-media printmaker Emily Vanderlinden and jewelry maker Kelly Cline. Anderson and Mundt will rent the studios on a yearly basis and hope to add more artists and studios in the future. They also plan to take The Hive on the road by hosting workshops for children in the hospital.

“If you don’t have the words, you put it in sculpture or draw it,” says Mundt. “We want to make art in alternative ways.”

On any given day, Mundt says kids visiting the lounge might get to paint on the wall with their feet, or they might use “loads and loads” of what Anderson and Mundt cite as most parents’ least favorite art material: glitter.

“It will become a beautiful patina on our floor,” Anderson says.