Stonemason and sculptor Toru Oba’s public artwork can be seen at Ix Art Park and McGuffey Art Center.
Photo by Stephen Barling.
By Stephen Barling
Crouched in the back of his battered Ford pickup truck at Ix Art Park, Toru Oba is wrestling a worn yellow strap around a 5-foot-long, 400-pound hunk of raw sandstone. “I used to move these by myself,” he says, “but now I need help.”
The 79-year-old Japanese stonemason and sculptor can be forgiven if he no longer scales scaffolding with one hand while lugging his tools in the other. He’s remarkably fit for his age—or someone half his age. You have to be, to dominate the brute inertia of soapstone, sandstone, and granite.
Oba’s sculptures, which can be found around Charlottesville—notably in front of the McGuffey Art Center and at Ix Art Park—often range from one to several tons each. The gray and black stone blobs laze in the sun, their polished surfaces inviting visitors to run a hand along a smooth groove or poke a head through a carved hole.
The inscrutable works invoke a sense of creative, playful space. At McGuffey, picnickers sit down to a meal on a large smooth block while children play around them on the grass. At Ix, Oba is immersed in creating several new works. The park has agreed to host the pieces, offering staff and equipment to assist in moving the enormous chunks of stone while he coaxes them into their final shapes. All other labor and expenses—trucking in stones, equipment, and resources—are his.
It is no small feat. An Ix worker brings a forklift to raise the spike by its strap and slowly dangle it into a hole bored in the side of a stack of vaguely bone-shaped sandstone. Oba guides the chunk by hand, arranging wood planks into a platform for refining the stone while he finesses it into its final position using levers, straps, and chains. This one element will take days to add to the sculpture.
Sculpting is a largely improvisational process for Oba, who says he starts with an idea of what the final work will look like, but the stones themselves dictate what becomes of them. “Some artists carve a block down to a shape, but I use the shape of the stone to give me ideas.” The result might be a stout black pyramid or a tall multi-textured gurgling fossil. One sculpture at Ix suggests an oversized pixelated stone rabbit.
He hasn’t always felt so free to create what inspires him. After settling in Nelson County in 1986 with his wife, Oba began contracting work as a mason, building patios, stairs, and chimneys. Things changed in 1999 when he was hired to build the entry to Dave Matthews Band saxophonist LeRoi Moore’s Japanese-architecture-inspired mountaintop dream house.
As the entry’s stone stairs progressed, Oba says Moore asked, “Is that it? Can you do something a little ‘more?’” Thus began a multi-year project designing and installing stone gardens, paths, and patios around the property. With Moore’s encouragement, Oba incorporated sculptural elements into masonry all over the hillside.
“It was the best job I ever had,” Oba insists. The only limitations placed on him were set by Moore’s groundskeeper who demanded he use no heavy machinery so as not to disrupt the landscaping. “That’s how I learned to move these large stones by hand.”
After finishing the work at Moore’s property, Oba continued creating abstract art. He says he is rarely commissioned for installations but he does occasionally sell a large public piece. For obvious reasons, smaller fountains are more popular. Regardless, abstract sculpture is now a compulsion and he has since created dozens of immense stone works.
Covered in stone dust as he refines his giant spike with a grinder, he’s content for now assembling these few oversized pieces for Ix. It’s a herculean task, but he’s compelled to continue. “I just keep doing it.”
Ewa Harr says that, despite cuts in programming and staff, Ix Art Park is still a space for play in Charlottesville. Photo by Matt Dhillon.
Meet Ix Art Park’s full-time staff: Director of programming, Ewa Harr. Director of curation, Ewa Harr. Director of operations, Ewa Harr. Executive director, Ewa Harr.
Last year, each of those roles was separate, but now it’s a team of one. A financial deficit has forced the Ix Art Park Foundation to make some hard cuts. Put simply, the park has been spending more money than it’s taking in, Susan Krischel, Ix Art Park Foundation board president, announced last September.
“Ix Art Park is re-evaluating our current nonprofit business model,” Krischel wrote in the foundation’s 2023 Impact Report. “We want to ensure that we can provide a creative space that lifts our community for years to come. To accomplish this, we will dedicate 2024 to reexamining who we are as an organization and how we can best serve our community in a financially responsible manner.”
Most of the foundation’s income comes from events that are hosted at the park. That was 35 percent of overall revenue in 2023, according to the Impact Report. Twenty-four percent came from visitors to the Looking Glass, the park’s immersive museum installation; 20 percent came from donations; 11 percent from renting out the space; and 10 percent from camps and workshops.
Though locals generally think of Ix Art Park as synonymous with the 17-acre parcel, owned by developer Ludwig Kuttner, there are important nuances.
“I know there’s a lot of confusion about the whole structure in our community,” Harr says. “But the property between Elliott and Monticello is Ix, and that’s privately owned property. The Ix Art Park Foundation is a nonprofit that rents the property just like everybody else. Just like Three Notch’d or Brazos or Sake, we’re a tenant.”
Ix Art Park transitioned to nonprofit status in September of 2019, and opened The Looking Glass in January of 2020. Like many new and established organizations, Ix had to make radical changes while navigating the landscape of the pandemic.
“I think things would have looked a lot different for us financially had the museum not had to be closed for over a year because of the pandemic,” Harr says. “Then some of those emergency funds, some of those things that were allowing us to keep our staff on during COVID ended.”
The park has had to move to a more financially conservative model because of the gap in funding, according to Harr. “The hardest part of it was a reduction in staff. The people who really built up a lot of the magic that’s here are no longer here because of that funding gap.”
The programs we won’t see in 2024 are a lot of the free artmaking projects, says Harr. Summer camps and summer movie nights will also be missing. The Thursday night sunset market remains undecided.
Harr talks about these events as frozen, not eliminated. Her goal is one of recovery. She says her vision for the future is to bring back those community-oriented programs. “Bring back and develop and grow both educational and community programming, for sure,” Harr says. “We just can’t do it right now.”
Things we definitely will see in 2024 include the Saturday morning farmers’ market, which the 2022 Impact Report called the “crown jewel” of Ix Art Park, attracting between 2,000 and 3,000 people to an average market. Ix’s four signature events, the Charlottesville Arts Festival, Fae Festival, Soul of Cville, and Fantasy Festival will be sticking around too. Harr also intends to engage in as many partnerships and venue rentals as possible.
The park’s mission, as Harr sees it, is to be a space for play in Charlottesville. Last year, over 200,000 people came to play at Ix by attending some kind of programming at the park, according to the 2023 Impact Report. Harr is committed to maintaining what the park has meant for people.
“It’s such a unique place and that’s what it’s here for,” Harr says. “It’s a place to spark creativity, a place where people can come and set their imagination free.”
Important to that mission is inviting visitors to make art themselves. In 2024, Harr is planning to add more artist-led workshops. At the end of The Looking Glass tour a lounge invites visitors to make something of their own.
Despite the funding issue, Harr says the park remains active. Its events, sculpture garden and murals, children’s playground, and standing as a 24/7 art haven in the city isn’t going anywhere.
In fact, the next event is right around the corner. Ix will host a Valentine’s Day dance in partnership with Chinchilla Café on February 9. “It is going to be several fantastic DJs and the theme is going to be, ‘dress filthy, dress gorgeous,’” Harr says. Tickets are $10 presale and $15 at the door.
A Virginia House of Delegates subcommittee killed school funding bills Friday that would’ve allowed localities to raise money for school construction, voting 5-3 on all three bills. Similar legislation was passed by the state Senate.
The Republican-controlled House’s action looms large in Charlottesville: City Council has expressed that finding new revenue streams is a key step in a long-awaited school reconfiguration process. The bills would’ve given Charlottesville the ability to increase sales taxes by up to 1 percent if approved by voters. According to city officials, that increase would bring in an additional $12 million annually toward the reconfiguration of Walker Upper Elementary and Buford Middle schools, a project that has been debated for over a decade and is expected to cost $75 million in its first phase, reports The Daily Progress.
Buford Middle School currently houses students in seventh and eighth grades, but the new plan would move sixth graders from Walker Upper Elementary, which currently serves students in fifth and sixth grades, into Buford. Fifth graders would return to elementary schools, and Walker would be transformed into an early education center. The reason for the renovation and expansion of Buford is to decrease difficulties associated with transitioning into middle school, and modernize the over 50-year-old building.
Delegate Sally Hudson, who sponsored some of the bills that were rejected by the subcommittee, tweeted after the meeting that the bills wouldn’t have affected localities that didn’t want an increase in sales taxes.
“The bills simply gave local govts the right to ask their voters for a referendum to fund school construction,” Hudson wrote. “Virginia’s Dillon Rule handcuffs us again, and kids pay the price.”
Gun-rights activist will challenge Bob Good
The father of a journalist who was killed on live TV is seeking the Democratic nomination in Virginia’s 5th Congressional District.
Andy Parker. Supplied photo
Andy Parker’s 24-year-old daughter Alison was shot to death by a former employee at her news station, Roanoke’s WDBJ, while doing a live report in Moneta, Virginia, in August 2015. Following the tragedy, Parker embarked on a journey to “do whatever it takes to end gun violence,” becoming an activist for the enactment of tighter gun safety laws.
The focus of his current campaign, however, is regulation of the tech industry, specifically preventing the abuse of social media platforms, which had failed to remove content depicting his daughter’s murder. Parker hopes to amend Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, something that protects tech companies from being liable for what their users post.
“I had a choice to retreat into my grief or honor Alison’s life through action. I chose the latter,” Parker tweeted in an announcement of his run for Congress.
The seat is currently occupied by Republican Bob Good, a strong supporter of gun rights.
Hudson and Freitas spar in the House
While in power over the last two years, Virginia Democrats passed legislation that would incrementally increase the state’s minimum wage, from its 2020 rate of $7.25 an hour up to $12 an hour in 2023. Republicans, now in control of the House of Delegates, are trying to repeal some of that legislation. In a hearing on Monday, area delegates Sally Hudson and Nick Freitas clashed over the effects of the proposed minimum wage increase.
“I think it’s somewhat arrogant for us to assume that we should negotiate on [the workers’] behalf,” said Freitas, an Army veteran and Republican who represents Culpeper. ”Especially to the point where we’re essentially engaging in price fixing within the labor market, telling someone that wants a job, that may need a job, that may have found a job, they’re not allowed to have it unless we’ve approved of what their wage is going to be.”
Hudson, who teaches economics at UVA, saw fit to respond.
“In the face of a noncompetitive market, there is scope for government to intervene and level the playing field and generate gains for the greater good of all,” she said. “That simple belief that raising the minimum wage hurts workers is an article of faith, not an economic fact.”
“You need a little bit more than Economics 101 to understand the consequences of a policy like this for the people we serve,” Hudson continued. “You see, Bio 101 isn’t enough to make a doctor, and you can’t build a bridge with Physics 101 alone. So too with economics.”—C-VILLE Staff
IX is up for grabs—or not
Eighty-four million dollars will buy you a 230-foot superyacht. Or four years of professional basketball from UVA and Indiana Pacers star Malcolm Brogdon. Or…IX Art Park?
Last week, the property, which is owned by local real estate mogul Ludwig Kuttner and Allan Cadgene, was listed for sale in two separate parcels. The two plots total 17-and-a-half acres, and cost more than $4,800,000 per acre.
“City Center” lot
“Ix Project” lot
[The property owners] have received a significant amount of unsolicited interest in the future of undeveloped portions of the IX property. Photos: Charlottesville MLS
That price far outstrips the city’s recent assessment of the property. One of the two parcels, called IX Project in the listing, is a six-acre space that contains the Three Notch’d and Looking Glass exhibit building. In 2022 the city assessed the IX Project property at $5.6 million. The listing has that same chunk of land priced at more than $19 million.
“Great opportunity for primary economic development, Tech Campus, superior mixed-use,” reads the listing for the larger of the two plots. “Various opportunities for land development/redevelopment. Infill development opportunities desired!”
The IX owners released a statement on Friday afternoon, clarifying their short-term plans for the space.
“Ix Art Park Foundation continues business as usual despite property listing misinformation,” they wrote. “Recently, [the property owners] have received a significant amount of unsolicited interest in the future of undeveloped portions of the IX property…The owners are hopeful that their decision to formally list the IX property with a broker will help generate new ideas that will positively impact Charlottesville.”
“There is no plan to demolish existing buildings or displace current tenants,” the statement concludes.—C-VILLE Staff
In brief
Rezoning begins
In November, City Council approved the new Comprehensive Plan, a broad set of goals for development in the coming years. Now, the same consultants who steered the Comprehensive Plan process must conduct a parcel-by-parcel review of the city’s zoning, to ensure the zoning matches the goals laid out in the larger plan. That rezoning began last week, and will take more than a year. The Comprehensive Plan adoption process wasn’t always pretty—many residents opposed some of the more permissive building rules the plan proposed. The zoning rewrite will surely be met with similar opposition, so watch this space for all the drama in the coming months.
Colleges can’t mandate vax, says AG
State colleges and universities can’t require coronavirus vaccines for students, says a legal opinion from new Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares. According to Miyares, the law does not say public institutions can mandate vaccinations “as a condition of enrollment or in-person attendance.” While the General Assembly authorized institutions to help administer the vaccines, institutions were not given the power to impose mandates, he said. UVA, which has already mandated vaccinations and boosters for its students, has said that it will continue to encourage students to get boosters but will not disenroll any students who haven’t yet done so.
Retreat yourself
Charlottesville’s new City Council got to know each other at a full-day retreat last Wednesday. From 9am to 4pm, the councilors discussed the annual budget process, how to work with the city staff, and proper procedures for running a City Council marathon session. Oh, the joys of local bureaucracy!
Art making, drinks, and karaoke inside The Looking Glass. Supplied photo
For art’s sake: Let your imagination run wild at Arts Underground, a night of free-flowing creativity inside The Looking Glass. Grab a drink from the colorful bar as you descend into Dripstone Cave for artmaking (materials are available for a la carte purchase). Feeling blocked? Wander through the immersive museum for inspiration, or loosen up with some karaoke at Flowstone Stage.
Thursday 1/6. 21-plus. Free, 6pm. IX Art Park, 522 Second St. SE. ixartpark.org
Studio 51: An Out of This World New Year's Eve. Supplied photo
Party on Earth: E.T.s have crash-landed on Earth just in time for Studio 51: An Out of This World New Year’s Eve party. The Studio 54-meets-Area-51 event will feature dangerous intergalactic art installations, dancing, and a champagne toast at midnight. And the evening wouldn’t be complete without alien queens emerging from a wrecked UFO to strut their space walk at the Vixen Drag Show before DJ MGM beams in the tunes.
Friday 12/31. $30–40, 9pm. IX Art Park, 522 Second St. SE. ixartpark.org
A haunting night of fun awaits at the Witch's Ball. Photo: Publicity photo
Magic gathering: Halloweekend fun awaits at the Witch’s Ball, a late-night soirée full of occult oddities and chilling curiosities. Ships in the Night celebrates a new album, Latent Powers, along with performances by Synthetic Division and Solemn Shapes. DJ Cadybug provides nonstop dance tracks, accompanied by witchcrafted cocktails and unearthly delicacies from a variety of food trucks. A tarot reader is on hand for those who dare to discover what fate has in store.
Saturday 10/30. $20-26.66, 9pm. IX Art Park, 522 Second St. SE., ixartpark.org.
Check ’em out: Barkodz: An Urban Experience features local artists working to honor hip-hop’s past while forging its future, using rhythm and words to address oppression, progression, and political expression. The lineup includes Kush Gang, Keese Allen, Equally Opposite, and more. Lights, sound, stage effects, and a “transport cube” make the event a multi-sensory experience the likes of which the performers guarantee you’ve never seen before.
Friday 6/18, $5-10. 7:30pm, IX Art Park, 522 Second St SE. ixartpark.org.
Sea it to believe it: During the day, Mermay offers underwater fun for all ages, from street performers and food trucks to beach-themed crafts and photo booths. But as evening falls, the two-part, mini festival gives way to Lore…home to selkies, sirens, and all that lurks in the deep sea. Float to music from Bro-X’s retro electronica and let Ships in the Night’s “ethereal ambient lullabies” wash over you like a wave.
Saturday 5/22, $10, doors at 7pm, show at 8pm. Ix Art Park, 522 Second St SE. 207-2355.
Positively jammin’: No matter the weather, the vibes will be sunny at Springfest, an all-reggae concert featuring Mighty Joshua and Positive Collective. Hailing from Richmond and backed by Zion #5, Mighty Joshua weaves conscious lyrics with one-love energy in classic and original tunes that elevate and uplift. Charlottesville’s Positive Collective draws influence from ska, roots reggae, and Caribbean and West African grooves, and has performed with everyone from Culture to The Wailers. It’s outside, it’s socially distanced, and it’s jammin’.
Saturday 4/17, $15-20, 3pm. IX Art Park, 522 Second St SE. ixartpark.org.
Groove moves: If you’re bummed about missing the high-energy party vibe of Mardi Gras this year, you can beat your blues with the blues at Ultramarine, a showcase featuring the Chickenhead Blues Band and Eli Cook. The Chickenhead’s five-man ensemble features NOLA’s own Aric van Brocklin on guitar, alongside Skip Haga on the keyboards, Granville Mullings on drums, Andy Rowland playing sax, and Victor Brown on bass. Organizers of the outdoor performance give the distanced audience members plenty of room to boogie, and require masks.
Saturday 3/27, $10, 4pm. IX Art Park, 522 Second St., SE. ixartpark.org.
