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2024 in review

Looking back at the good, the bad, and the surprising from 2024.

By Caite Hamilton, Tami Keaveny, Catie Ratliff, and Susan Sorensen

We don’t know about you, but we love a list. Quick to read, easy to digest—what’s not to like?—they’re the perfect way to wrap up a long, eventful year of news, arts, and food coverage. Behold, all the naughty and nice things about 2024.  

Ten headlines we were surprised to see

From January 1 onward, 2024 was a newsworthy year everywhere. And Charlottesville was no exception, making local and national news headlines. Here are 10 that surprised us this year.

March 20: Wildfire destroys multiple buildings at Twin Oaks

When a wildfire devastated two structures at Twin Oaks, including a processing and storage facility, the future of the intentional community was uncertain. Twin Oaks is still recovering nine months later, but it’s moving forward. The community closed its signature hammock business as a result of the fire, and is weighing what business it wants to pursue next.

April 29: Ukrop family sells Charlottesville Quirk Hotel

Four years after it opened, the Quirk Hotel Charlottesville was bought by Blue Suede Hospitality Group on April 29. The Ukrop family sold the four-story, West Main Street building for $24 million, $20 million more than they paid for the property in 2017. Renamed The Doyle Hotel, the spot retains many elements of the Quirk, including the popular rooftop bar.

May 4: UVA calls in state police to break up encampment, arrest students

Leaders at the University of Virginia called in Virginia State Police to break up a pro-Palestine encampment after days of peaceful demonstrations. More than two dozen people were arrested. Prosecutors and university officials eventually dropped all charges and no-trespass orders after months of public pressure.

May 28: Mel Walker dies at 71

Mel Walker, Charlottesville icon and owner of Mel’s Cafe, died on May 28 at the age of 71. Opened in 1989, the popular West Main Street eatery was not only a cherished soul-food restaurant, but a gathering place for Charlottesville’s Black community before it closed its doors permanently in July.

June 7: Local Food Hub announces imminent closure

Following the surprise announcement of its closure in early June, Local Food Hub ended its Fresh Farmacy program on July 15. The program offered clients a “prescription” for fresh produce and distributed more than 40,000 pounds of local produce in 2023. While fellow local nonprofit Cultivate Charlottesville offers fresh produce through community gardens, that organization is at risk of also closing if it does not raise enough funds by April 2025.

September 5: UVAHealth physicians and professors publish letter of no confidence

A group of physicians at the University of Virginia released an open letter on September 5 calling for the removal of UVA Health CEO Craig Kent and School of Medicine Dean Melina Kibbe. Allegations in the original letter included the creation of a toxic work environment and unsafe patient practices. In October, a group of surgeons also came forward, alleging that UVA has pressured providers to fraudulently raise bills.

September 21: Umma’s closes after two years

Korean- and Japanese-American fusion restaurant Umma’s closed its doors after hosting its last dinner service on September 21. A popular space for the local LGBTQ+ community, Umma’s shut down not due to a lack of support, but because its owners moved out of town.

October 17: Tony Bennett announces immediate retirement

Basketball legend Tony Bennett announced his retirement as head coach of the University of Virginia men’s team on October 17, just 20 days before the Hoos’ first game. Bennett’s exit, which came months after he signed a contract extension, shocked and saddened fans. Interim Head Coach Ron Sanchez, an associate head coach under Bennett, is off to a shaky start, with preseason polls predicting the team will finish fifth in the ACC. 

Photo via UVA Athletics Communications.

October 21: City Manager and Salvation Army announce low-barrier shelter plans

City Manager Sam Sanders presented Charlottesville City Council with plans and funding options for converting the Salvation Army’s thrift store on Cherry Avenue into a year-round, low-barrier shelter. The creation of such a shelter has been a longtime priority for local leaders, but became more urgent following the erection of tents in Market Street Park last fall. City Council is expected to allocate funding for the project at its last meeting of the year.

November 27: Blue Moon Diner closes its doors

Beloved diner/gathering place/music venue Blue Moon Diner served its last stenciled pancake in late November, after nearly 20 years under the stewardship of Laura Galgano and Rice Hall. The diner, which originally opened in 1979 and was previously owned by Mark Hahn of Harvest Moon Catering, was a Charlottesville institution but, as Galgano wrote on the restaurant’s Facebook page, “It’s time for new adventures!”—CR

Triomphe!

10 Hoos who made us proud in Paris

Kate Douglass won two gold and two silver medals at the 2024 Olympic Games.
Photo via UVA Athletics Communications.

There was a lot to like about the Paris Olympics and Paralympics. The games were the most ecologically sustainable of the modern era. Every medal contained a piece of metal from the Eiffel Tower. The logo for Paris 2024 featured a lowercase ‘i’ to symbolize inclusivity and individuality. For local fans, however, one of the best things was the success of former, current, and future University of Virginia athletes. 

When the Olympics and Paralympics concluded on September 8, UVA-affiliated athletes (and one Wahoo-to-be) had earned 16 medals—seven gold, seven silver, and two bronze. A dozen of those medals were won in the swimming pool, with Kate Douglass and Gretchen Walsh returning home with eight of them. (UVA Swimming & Diving Head Coach Todd DeSorbo was Team USA’s women’s swimming coach, and 25 percent of the female swimmers who competed for the United States were current or former Hoos.) In addition to Douglass and Walsh, Emma Weber seized gold at her first Olympics, while Paige Madden earned silver and bronze. Then there was the silver medal awarded to Western Albemarle High School’s Thomas Heilman, a future Hoo who, at 17 years old, was the youngest male swimmer to qualify for the Olympics since Michael Phelps in 2000.

On the soccer pitch, former Cavalier standout Emily Sonnett competed on the United States’ women’s team that defeated Brazil to capture a record fifth Olympic gold medal. And during the Paralympics, UVA rower Skylar Dahl was part of the U.S. PR3 mixed four with coxswain that claimed silver.

But not all UVA athletes were on Team USA. Rower Heidi Long was on Great Britain’s women’s eight team that won bronze, and Pien Dicke helped the Netherlands win gold in field hockey. 

It was later reported that if the University of Virginia had been its own country in the 2024 summer games, it would have finished with the 16th-most medals, just behind Spain. To that, we say: Wahoowa!—SS  

Turn, turn, turn 

Four times traffic held us up

1. The first of a few summer efforts to eliminate congestion in high-traffic areas, a roundabout at the intersection of Hydraulic Road and Hillsdale Drive wrapped up in August after a month under construction. At the peak of the work, the Virginia Department of Transportation reported that roughly 35,000 vehicles per day were being detoured from Hydraulic Road to avoid the construction.

2. Left turns are so 2023, said the Virginia Department of Transportation in August as it eliminated left-turn lanes from Hydraulic Road onto Route 29. Drivers were encouraged to take a circuitous route through nearby shopping center parking lots, all in the name of “improving traffic flow” (but to hell with your morning commute). 

3. Construction began on a pedestrian bridge in the—you guessed it—Hydraulic corridor, just north of Zan Road in September. Part of a $30 million project to improve traffic flow and pedestrian safety in that area, the project will continue until fall 2025. 

4. A two-decade-long process to rehab the Belmont Bridge ended in late June to mixed reviews, garnering criticism for its clunky medians, unfinished landscaping, and, as one commenter on Reddit put it, “I’m most disappointed that they created this graffiti paradise. Wish we could have an art competition to cover all that gray.”—CH

Photo by Stephen Barling.

The best words

We’re proud of every cover story we print on Wednesday, but some resonate with us more than others. Here’s a look at C-VILLE staffers’ favorite features of the year.

Editor in Chief Caite Hamilton

Her pick: Timeless treasure (June 12)

“As I wrote in my letter that week, this cover story read more like an excerpt from a memoir than the type of feature we normally run, but Michael Moriarty’s piece on finding his dad’s vintage Timex struck a chord with me. Loss is a universal experience, and I hoped Mike’s piece—which so deftly navigated the complexities of grief—would strike a chord with readers as well.”

Culture Editor Tami Keaveny

Her pick: Wild observations (January 10)

“In 2024 we found three ways to champion the eloquent work of writer and poet Erika Howsare. In a feature on her latest book, The Age of Deer, Howsare shared her research process, telling writer Sarah Lawson, ‘I felt the aching gladness of being alive and among other living things.’ A frequent contributor to C-VILLE Weekly, Howsare wrote our May 22 cover story about the thriving arts scene in the Shenandoah Valley, and her December 4 feature looked at environmental concerns around light pollution.”

News Reporter Catie Ratliff

Her pick: Educational opportunities (May 1)

“As a news reporter, my job often involves sorting through documents, attending local government meetings, and conducting phone interviews. Working on this cover story was both a breath of fresh air and enlightening, and it provided readers a look into Charlottesville’s alternative-education learning centers and the students enrolled in them. Lugo-McGinness Academy and Knight School both shine in their fostering of community, and they build environments where students feel safe and can learn effectively.”

Editorial Assistant CM Turner

His pick: Now playing (August 21) 

“Connecting artists and audiences is one of the most fulfilling aspects of what we do in the C-VILLE Weekly Culture section. When we focused our lens on a new generation of musicmakers shaping Charlottesville’s sonic scene earlier this year, we provided a picture of the varied and dynamic acts sharing their sounds on stages around town. From punk rock to hip-hop, Americana to mainstream, local listeners have a lot to choose from.”

Copy Editor Susan Sorensen

Her pick: Role call (October 30)

“I love fall. And I love movies. So come late October, when the leaves are changing and the Virginia Film Festival is rolling, Charlottesville is my happy place. Which is why my favorite 2024 cover story was our guide to the 37th film fest. This year, we focused on folks working behind the scenes, including directors, producers (thanks for stopping by, Matthew Modine!), writers, and production designers, to name a few. Not only was it illuminating reading, but the package of stories made me a wiser, more appreciative moviegoer.”

Sold out!

58 reasons why you should’ve bought your tickets early in 2024

1/13: Roy Wood Jr. and Jordan Klepper The Paramount Theater | 1/26: The Legwarmers The Jefferson Theater | 1/27: Hot in Herre: 2000s Dance Party The Jefferson Theater | 2/1: The Red Clay Strays The Jefferson Theater | 2/3 Daniel Donato’s Cosmic Country The Jefferson Theater | 2/17: The Stews The Jefferson Theater | 2/18: Tanner Usrey The Southern Café & Music Hall | 2/19: Chelsea Cutler (The Beauty Is Everywhere Tour) The Jefferson Theater | 2/20: Blackberry Smoke The Jefferson Theater | 3/3: St. Paul & the Broken Bones The Jefferson Theater | 3/4: GWAR The Jefferson Theater | 3/8: Dawes & Lucius The Jefferson Theater | 3/10: The Disco Biscuits The Jefferson Theater | 3/14: The Cancelled Podcast The Paramount Theater | 3/15: Mark Normand The Paramount Theater | 3/16: Mason Ramsey The Jefferson Theater | 3/19: Hermanos Gutiérrez The Jefferson Theater | 3/21: Jack Stepanian The Southern Café & Music Hall | 3/22: “The Moth Radio Hour” The Paramount Theater | 3/22: Haley Heynderickx The Southern Café & Music Hall | 4/3: Slaughter Beach, Dog The Southern Café & Music Hall | 4/5: Wait Wait Stand-Up Tour The Paramount Theater | 4/5: Sam Burchfield & The Scoundrels with Tophouse The Southern Café & Music Hall | 4/6: Ryan Caraveo The Southern Café & Music Hall | 4/28: Mandy Patinkin The Paramount Theater | 5/5: Benjamin Tod & Lost Dog Street Band The Jefferson Theater | 5/9: Dar Williams The Southern Café & Music Hall | 5/10: Pecos & the Rooftops The Jefferson Theater
5/11: Chamomile and Whiskey Rivanna Roots | 5/14 and 5/15 Thievery Corporation The Jefferson Theater | 5/21: Temple Grandin The Paramount Theater | 6/17: The Japanese House The Jefferson Theater | 6/26: Trousdale The Southern Café & Music Hall | 6/27: Pete Davidson: Prehab Tour The Paramount Theater | 6/30: Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit Ting Pavilion | 8/16: HASH with Pinkish The Southern Café & Music Hall | 8/24: Jack Stepanian The Southern Café & Music Hall | 9/6: Gogol Bordello The Jefferson Theater | 9/9: An Evening with Goose Ting Pavilion | 10/2: Vampire Weekend Ting Pavilion | 10/9: Ailey II The Paramount Theater | 10/9: Ray LaMontagne and Gregory Alan Isakov Ting Pavilion | 10/13 Neko Case The Jefferson Theater | 10/19: Kate Bollinger The Southern Café & Music Hall | 10/20: Sabrina Carpenter: Short N’ Sweet Tour John Paul Jones Arena | 10/22: Nick Shoulders and the Okay Crawdad The Southern Café & Music Hall | 10/22: 49 Winchester The Jefferson Theater | 10/25: Whiskey Myers Ting Pavilion | 10/26: Little Feat The Paramount Theater | 10/30: Jelly Roll: Beautifully Broken Tour John Paul Jones Arena | 11/9: Ronny Chieng The Paramount Theater | 11/9: Tycho The Jefferson Theater | 11/15: Molly Tuttle & Golden Highway The Jefferson Theater | 11/22: JP Harris Dürty Nelly’s | 11/23: Shane Smith & The Saints The Jefferson Theater | 12/6: Bored Teachers: The Struggle is Real Comedy Tour The Paramount Theater | 12/15: Indigo Girls The Paramount Theater | 12/18: Leslie Odom Jr. The Paramount Theater

Indigo Girls performed at The Paramount Theater on December 15. Supplied photo.

Looking good

Our Art Director Max March picks his favorite shots of the year

Being on the ground during major news events is so important, and for my money there isn’t anyone who does it like Eze Amos. He’s particularly good at finding quiet moments amidst the chaos, and this photo—taken right before Virginia State Police broke up the UVA encampment protesting the war in Gaza—resonated with me.

There’s something about great show photography that makes you feel like you’re there in the moment. Charlottesville really punches above its weight when it comes to the caliber of touring musicians who put on terrific shows here, but it’s particularly special when you get to feature a show from some local talent, like up-and-comers Palmyra, in this shot by Tristan Williams.

Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes 

Three additions to C-VILLE in 2024

C-VILLE celebrated its 35th birthday in September of 2024 and, with it, added some new merch, an arts newsletter, and a donor campaign. 

Merchandise: T-shirts! Tote bags! Bumper stickers! Our new line of merch, launched in September, celebrates C-VILLE past and present. Head to c-ville.com and click “Shop” to wear your love for your local paper on your sleeve (or your coffee mug).

To-do List: Also in September, we started sending out a weekly newsletter from the Culture section. Sign up for it (and our Friday morning one, too) at c-ville.com.

Save the Free Word: Thanks to more than 100 generous readers, our new donor campaign has amassed nearly $10k, a healthy sum that’s helped us add a News Editor to our staff (look for his byline in January).

Speaking of which, 

two more changes coming in 2025:

In January, you’ll notice C-VILLE has a new look—online and in print. We’ve been working hard to usher the weekly into the 21st century (better late than never?) and into our next 35 years.—CH

Categories
Arts Culture

Pick: Accidental Death of an Anarchist

A Maniac wreaks havoc at a police station in Live Arts' Accidental Death of an Anarchist. Supplied photo.

A farce for the force: Italian playwright Dario Fo’s political satire Accidental Death of an Anarchist pokes fun at the Italian police force by imagining a fictionalized aftermath of 1969’s real-life Piazza Fontana bombing. Giuseppe Pinelli, an anarchist wrongly accused of the bombing, plummets to his death from a fourth-floor window while in a police interrogation room. In the acclaimed play, the Maniac works his way through the police station, confuddling officers with absurd disguises and witticisms until the truth is revealed. Susan E. Evans helms the production—her first directing gig as Live Arts’ artistic director.

Through 6/5. $20-25, times vary. Live Arts, 123 E. Water St. livearts.org

Categories
Arts Culture

Pick: Tuba Skinny

Jazz ensemble Tuba Skinny performs at the Jefferson Theater on May 22. Supplied photo.

Preservation haul: New Orleans jazz ensemble Tuba Skinny fulfilled a lifelong dream this year with the release of Magnolia Stroll, its first album of original music. The group formed in 2009 as a loose collection of street musicians that combines cornet, clarinet, trombone, tuba, tenor banjo, guitar, frottoir, and vocals. Influenced by a wide range of music, including spirituals, Depression-era blues, ragtime, jug band music, and more, Tuba Skinny is known for its commitment to reviving long-lost songs—which is what makes Magnolia Stroll so special. It’s an ode to the musicians, past and present, who’ve inspired the group.

Sunday 5/22. $25-28, 8pm. Jefferson Theater, 110 E. Main St. jeffersontheater.com

Categories
Arts Culture

Pick: Venus & Adonis

Soprano Alyssa Weathersby stars as Venus and serves as stage director in the Early Access Music Project's production of Venus & Adonis. Supplied photo.

Sad, mad love: A grumbling Cupid, lovesick Venus, and dishy Adonis star in Venus & Adonis, a modern operatic take on the classical Greek myth, produced by the Early Access Music Project, a rotating group of musicians that brings early music to the community through accessible programming. Originally composed by John Blow in the 1680s, Venus & Adonis features a baroque band with period instrumentalists, and stars sopranos Alyssa Weathersby and Julie Bosworth, and baritone Harrison Hintzsche.

Monday 5/23. $15-35, 7:30pm. Blackfriars Playhouse, 10 S. Market St., Staunton. earlymusiccville.org

Categories
Culture Food & Drink

Tall orders

Ralph Sampson’s American Tap Room is open six days a week at the Barracks Road Shopping Center. Images: Anna Kariel

It’s been more than 40 years since Ralph Sampson led the University of Virginia Cavaliers to a run of basketball glory that included an NIT title in 1980, an NCAA Final Four appearance in 1981, and a trip to the NCAA Elite Eight in 1983. The 7-foot, 4-inch Harrisonburg native was one of the most sought after college recruits of his generation, winning NBA Rookie of the Year and making the cover of Sports Illustrated six times during his college career. He retired from pro basketball in 1995, went into coaching for several years, and was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2011.

For his latest rebound, Sampson returns to Charlottesville to lead a new team at Ralph Sampson’s American Tap Room, which held its grand opening at its Barracks Road location last month.

“The opening weekend was crazy,” says Sampson. “It happened to line up with alumni weekend, so the opening celebration with the teams tested us from the start.”

The stylish restaurant combines a traditional sports bar with upscale-casual dining, and it’s clear how much consideration went into every aspect, including the decor. Seated under a wall of signed basketballs, accented by a miniature statue of Sampson himself, the superstar baller takes care to emphasize that “this is not just a sports bar. We want it to be a place where people can have great experiences and great food. You’ll never see me hang my jersey on the wall.” 

The idea, says Sampson, is to bring together the community as a whole. “The world of UVA can feel very separate from the rest of the city,” he says. “Like when I was a student, I didn’t feel like I knew the rest of Charlottesville. So we hope that this can be a place for both communities.”

The menu follows the vibe of the restaurant with a mix of bar food and fine-dining options, intending to offer something for everyone. A bacon-wrapped filet mignon with lobster tail rings in at $54, with burger prices around $14. 

Supplied photos.

An order of the jumbo lump crab cake arrived softly composed, herby, and drizzled with grilled lemon accompanied by crispy, well-seasoned fries. A side of dijonnaise complemented the crab dish, as did the house IPA—Ralph’s Big Juicy, a mouthwatering citrusy beer developed in partnership with Three Notch’d Brewing Company. 

With plenty of room for dessert, Sampson personally recommended the Rockslide brownie sundae. “It’s one of my favorites on the whole menu,” he says. “The chocolate is so rich and soft, there’s nothing else like it.” 

Sampson approaches his foray into the restaurant business with a coach’s mentality.  “I want to win championships in the restaurant industry,” he says. He understands that success in this field, like sports, comes from building a team of talented, hard-working players.

Sampson partnered with Thompson Hospitality, the group behind The Ridley on West Main Street, to build his first original-concept restaurant. “I first met Warren [Thompson] back when we were both at UVA, but it wasn’t until recently that we connected again over this project,” he says. “There were so many moving parts and some setbacks when it came to opening this place up. It really showed us our strengths and our weaknesses, and I was lucky to have such an experienced and professional team on my side.”

Sampson says he has lots of plans for the space, everything from screenings of classic games to meet-and-greets with professional athletes and live recordings of his all-things-sports podcast, “Center Court.” With its community focus, and sports history foundation, his American Tap Room is a place where Sampson is sure to power forward once again.

Categories
Arts Culture

Epic metal

Artistic blacksmith Ellen Durkan’s Wearable Ironwork workshop takes place at the Virginia Institute of Blacksmithing in Waynesboro from May 23-27. Learn more at vablacksmithing.org. Photo: Joe Hoddinott.

In an industry divided by art and craft, blacksmith Ellen Durkan is forging her own path. Durkan creates intricate, complex, wearable art, known as “forged fashion.” 

She was drawn to blacksmithing while pursuing a master’s degree in fine arts at Towson University. No one in the program was a blacksmith, but that wasn’t a problem for Durkan. She started messing around with metal and scored a blacksmith assistant position at Peters Valley School of Craft in the summer of 2008, which gave her a taste of what forging could be.

With no background in fashion and half a summer’s worth of ’smithing experience, Durkan got to work on her thesis—a runway show that combined her newfound love of blacksmithing with her passion for figurative work and performance art. The finished show featured six women in fabricated dress cages, complete with metal shoes. Durkan is open about the beginner quality of her early pieces. “They weren’t forged or fabricated particularly well, and they weren’t structurally sound, but you’ve gotta start somewhere,” she says. “I have to credit the exploration of crappy stuff that fit poorly and was extra stabby and all over the place.”

Today, Durkan’s wearables are dynamic, accessible, and significantly more comfortable thanks to clever leatherwork. Her portfolio includes copper collars with ruffles so smooth they look like fabric, armor-like bodices, curling skirts, soaring headpieces, and more. She makes all of it at Iron Maiden Forge, her one-person shop in Delaware.

Ellen Durkan working on a piece of her forged fashion. Photo: Ric Frane.

Durkan’s work takes inspiration from numerous sources, including gothic architecture, Celtic knotwork, and Alexander McQueen. One of he favorite creations features a fitted neck piece and face covering. “I really like that piece because it’s conceptually dynamic, and on a technical level it’s dynamic,” she says. Inspired by triptychs, the face piece features three layers. The top layer is a cage-like steel face covering, which hinges open to reveal the second layer—a nose and mouth formed out of copper. The face looks like it could be from a mold, but Durkan actually hand-formed it using a chasing repoussé technique, where a design is created on the front side of a piece of metal by hammering the back side, and chasing involves pushing back metal on the front side to define a design. 

The final layer opens to view the wearer’s own face. “I like working with pieces that the model can manipulate on the runway. The face piece goes with a skirt that has hinging doors and a tryptic opening that’s based on gothic architecture, and a rose window inspiration in the center,” says Durkan. “The model can open the doors on the skirt and on her face, so she’s in control of what she’s representing.” 

Her work is a beautiful, impressive feat by itself, but it comes alive with new meaning when it’s worn. It gives power to the wearer, acting as literal and metaphorical armor that invites vulnerability, inspires confidence, symbolizes strength, and literally takes strength to wear. You can see the finished products—bodies wrapped in metal—at runway shows. One of the last shows Durkan held was in 2019, and it featured 45 minutes of original music, aerial performers, and 16 models from ages 15 to 72. The oldest model was a friend of a friend. “She was very reserved,” says Durkan with a smile, “and then as soon as she hit the runway she was just owning it. And she kept her piece on all night, the heels and skirt.”

Photo: Joe Hoddinott

This confidence is something Durkan also sees in students’ workshops, where she works with them to design and forge something to fit the neck or chest. It’s a class that not only teaches students about blacksmithing, but about themselves. 

“It’s a personal exploration as well as a forging exploration,” says Durkan. “Most people aren’t super in tune with their bodies, and in order to make these pieces, they’re allowing me to help them. We get personal about stuff, their stories.” It’s an intimate process, forming metal around the curves of the body, and Durkan can see peoples’ confidence grow as they fit pieces to themselves, sometimes to cover insecurities, other times to embrace them. 

From May 23-27 she’s teaching a five-day workshop at the Virginia Institute of Blacksmithing in Waynesboro—the only artistic blacksmithing school certified to operate by the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia. VIB offers a variety of classes that require no experience, like Durkan’s, as well as a Certificate of Artistic Blacksmithing, taught by co-founder Dale Morse. 

Despite making art that’s undeniably badass and takes an extraordinary amount of skill, not everyone sees what Durkan is on to. In graduate school, Durkan says she was told not to pursue the direction she did, and today, she still faces pushback from a male-dominated industry. “I think it’s a little better now, but 12 years ago there was such a divide between art and craft, and you were just shoved into one of the dimensions,” she says. “If you have crossover, which I kind of do, the art world is like ‘well this is too much craft’, and the craft world is like, ‘there’s naked women, she’s dealing with emotional issues through metal, we don’t know what to do.’ But I just kept doing what I wanted, and eventually people came around and were like ‘Oh shit, maybe she’s doing something that other people might be interested in.’”

Durkan is still doing what she wants, and expressing herself through any art form she can get her hands on—ceramics, drawing, makeup, photography, pinup. “I don’t feel like I should be pigeonholed into just one thing. It’s all part of the same artistic expression. Do whatever you want to do.”

Categories
Arts Culture

Pick: This Much I Know To Be True

The Paramount Theater screens Andrew Dominik's new documentary, This Much I Know To Be True, about the friendship and collaboration between Nick Cave and Warren Ellis. File photo.

True companion: Andrew Dominik’s acclaimed 2016 documentary One More Time with Feeling followed Australian musician Nick Cave on an emotional journey of creation and loss when, during the recording of a new album with his band, Cave’s son tragically passed away. Dominik has reunited with Cave and Warren Ellis, Cave’s collaborator, for the companion film, This Much I Know To Be True, an optimistic and hopeful doc that captures the creation of their last two studio albums.

Wednesday 5/11. $13-15, 7:30pm. The Paramount Theater, 215 E. Main St., Downtown Mall. theparamount.net

Categories
Arts Culture

Pick: Bob Log III

Bob Log III performs at The Southern Café & Music Hall on May 11. Supplied photo.

Enjoy the ride: Clad in a skin-tight jumpsuit and singing through a motorcycle helmet wired to a telephone handset, Bob Log III delivers a one-man show of musical mayhem like no other. The Arizona-based multi-instrumentalist stomps on a homemade cymbal with one leg, a kick drum with the other, and plays finger-picked slide guitar while singing original crowd favorites including “Boob Scotch” and “I Want Your Shit On My Leg.” The interactive show features plenty of props, shots, and maybe a little bit of crowd surfing.

Monday 5/16. $12-15, 8pm. The Southern Café & Music Hall, 103 First St. S. thesoutherncville.com

Categories
Arts Culture Food & Drink

Rooted wisdom

Kat Maier is a trained physician’s assistant with over 30 years of experience teaching and practicing herbal medicine. She will read from her new book, Energetic Herbalism, at New Dominion Bookshop on May 13 at 7pm. Supplied photo.

If Kat Maier were a plant, you could say she has released her seeds all around Charlottesville. She’s been here since 2005, teaching and practicing herbalism, so at this point she has many former students and clients in and around town. Her Belmont home, also the site of her apothecary, classroom, and garden, is a node where all these people—and many plants, from the weedy to the endangered—have gathered. The place itself, you might say, is a kind of tincture, or concentration, of our area.

On a visit in late spring, the garden is bursting with fragrant azaleas, plus the foliage of low-growing plants like goldenseal, trillium, and bloodroot. Maier is warm and welcoming, with intense blue eyes and a ready laugh. She sits in a shady backyard spot and explains that her new book, Energetic Herbalism, distills wisdom gleaned not only from her years of work in Charlottesville, but the two previous decades she spent in Rappahannock County. It’s a guide to several world traditions of herbalism and 25 of the most essential medicinal plants. She’ll give a book talk at New Dominion on May 13.

“I never went to herb school,” she says, summarizing a life history that she details more fully in the book’s introduction. “I really apprenticed to the plants. I taught myself by spending incredible amounts of time in Shenandoah National Park.”

She also trained as a physician’s assistant—a grounding in Western medicine that shows, for example, in her requirement that students bone up on anatomy, physiology, and the Latin names of the plants they use. But one senses that herbalism, for Maier, is really a matter of the spirit. “For me, the foundation is that relationship with the plant,” she says.

“I feel like she has been studying it and living it constantly for all these years,” says Katherine Herman, who completed the three-year herbalism course at Maier’s school, Sacred Plant Traditions, in 2013 and went on to found Gathered Threads, an herb farm in Nelson County. “It’s not just book knowledge. It’s just amazing the amount of wisdom that she has.”

A quick dip into Energetic Herbalism hints at the breadth of that wisdom; you might be looking for basic information on the uses of calendula, say, and find yourself reading about how the history of colonialism relates to our sense of disconnectedness from nature. Maier advocates for a lifelong practice of curiosity and humility toward plants. “Often when I lead a plant walk, people ask me whether this plant or that one is ‘good for anything,’” she writes. “Imagine if someone introduced me to you and, after greeting you, I wondered aloud whether you were good for anything, or how I could use you.”

Besides running Sacred Plant Traditions, Maier has also been deeply involved with United Plant Savers, a group that aims to protect native medicinal plants. A growing market for medicinals has threatened certain wild species, like black cohosh and ginseng. Maier’s city garden is, she says, a sanctuary for some of these plants and, she hopes, a model for others. “People are talking about how to rewild the urban areas,” she says. “We have to have many different people planting the plants. The time is now.”

She grows delicate natives—on this day, a colleague is transplanting wild yam along the side of the house—but that doesn’t mean shunning the plants that Europeans brought to North America and that usually get labeled as weeds. “Our major medicines are chickweed, dandelion, cleavers—all the plants on the Roundup label,” she says, adding that dandelion’s genus name, Taraxacum, means “remedy of all disorders.” “They were brought over as a primary food and medicine,” she says. In the age of climate change, she advocates for an inclusive view of the plants we find ourselves living with now, rather than a strict division between native and invasive.

At an earlier point in her career, she enthusiastically gathered medicinals from around the world, but she’s settled into a belief in bioregionalism—in her definition, “trying to have your food and medicine from the region where you live.” That’s why the book lists the characteristics and uses of just 25 plants. Choosing these, Maier says, was “one of the most agonizing parts of the book,” since she has knowledge of so many others. But working with a small number of plants, she says, is a mark of folk herbalists the world over. The book presents three different energetic systems—vitalism, ayurveda, and Chinese medicine—based on the idea of elements that make up the universe and the body. During her training, Herman says, this approach “gave us a well-rounded approach to the human body and how to look at herbs.”

Along with the publication of Energetic Herbalism, Maier has closed her clinical practice in order to travel and teach, as well as redesigning her clinical training. Her former students are carrying on her work in various ways—a local ecosystem of seeds she sowed, now blossoming.

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Arts Culture

Heads will roll

Alexander Skarsgård stars as a brutally violent Viking in The Northman. Photo: Focus Features.

Set in ninth- and 10th-century Europe, Robert Eggers’ brutal revenge saga The Northman is a lavish, sweeping film, but its unrelenting gore will undoubtedly repel many viewers. 

Loosely based on the Scandinavian legend that inspired Hamlet, with elements of Macbeth thrown in, The Northman’s antihero, young prince Amleth, vows revenge after seeing his father, King Aurvandil War-Raven (Ethan Hawke), slaughtered by his uncle, Fjolnir (Claes Bang), who then steals his kingdom and marries his mother, Gudrun (Nicole Kidman). After being raised into full warriorhood by Vikings, the adult Amleth (Alexander Skarsgård) tracks his uncle down and sets his vengeance in motion, aided by one of Fjolnir’s slaves, Olga (Anya Taylor-Joy).

The Northman doesn’t sugarcoat its pagan characters’ bleak, filthy, violent lives. These are bona fide barbarians who thrive on casual slaughter and enslaving conquered peoples—their facility with mayhem means the difference between freedom, death, or lowly servitude. Beheadings, disembowelment, and general bloodletting abound—a Viking raid on a Slavic village is particularly hideous, and makes for troubling viewing, especially in light of recent world events.

For his tale of bestial savagery and revenge, Eggers drew heavily on John Milius’ Conan the Barbarian—lifting the opening narration, the overall plot structure, key scenes, ad infinitum—but The Northman lacks a critical ingredient that made Conan a more successful film in every sense: Milius’ wicked sense of humor.

The Northman’s humorlessness is arguably its weakest point, while no doubt an artistic choice by Eggers, and the film takes itself too seriously. Eggers also draws on Roman Polanski’s bleak Macbeth in many ways, from its pivotal witches to the consciousness-raising medieval drug-induced hallucinations. The Northman’s score by Robin Carolan and Sebastian Gainsborough also seems to echo the Third Ear Band’s unforgettable soundtrack for Polanski.

Although not on par with Eggers’ excellent The Witch, The Northman is a well-crafted production and a distinct improvement over his meandering The Lighthouse. The film’s cast is fine overall, particularly Kidman, Willem Dafoe as Heimir the Fool, and Bjork in a small, memorable appearance as a  witch.

Production design and costumes are high-quality, the Nordic locations are striking, and Eggers keeps his camera mercifully steady, eschewing senselessly jerky camerawork. CGI effects don’t overwhelm the movie, but the sadism and bloodshed levels are high enough to reach Valhalla.  

Bleak and grim, with glaring plot holes, The Northman is 20 minutes too long and doesn’t inspire multiple viewings. Films about truly barbaric characters are a gamble, because, as in this case, they focus on inarticulate thugs who are little better than the vermin they’re battling. Eggers succeeds at making a Viking epic, but a joyless, often repulsive one that’s easy to appreciate, but not so easily palatable.

The Northman

R, 137 minutes
Alamo Drafthouse Cinema, Violet Crown Cinema