All the right moves: Ike Anderson started crafting his own dance routines in middle school, connecting moves to build confidence and battle stress. In recent years, he’s prepared dozens of teens for step and hip-hop dance competitions through his classes at the Music Resource Center. Anderson’s free online HipHop Dance WorkShop series couldn’t come at a better time—it’ll get stay-at-home butts of all ages movin’.
Sometimes, when you hear the name of a well-known local chef, you think of him only for his culinary exploits. You may recognize Harrison Keevil for his corner store in Belmont, Keevil & Keevil, where he offers great sandwiches, salads, and desserts, and prepares meals for home delivery. If you’re into the Charlottesville restaurant scene, you might also know that Keevil once ran his own place, Brookville, on the Downtown Mall, and recently helped to create the concept of “modern Virginia cuisine” that informs the menu—and serves as the tagline—at Commonwealth Restaurant & Skybar.
All of these things are impressive, and Keevil certainly cuts a figure in the local food landscape. But he also plays a mean bass guitar. We discovered this in July, when Keevil posted a photograph of a black Höfner 500 four-string—the signature instrument of Paul McCartney—on his Instagram feed. We knew right away that Keevil is more than a casual bassist, otherwise the photo wouldn’t have also shown a daisy chain of effects pedals on the floor.
“I have wanted this bass for over 30 years (since my mom and dad introduced me to the Beatles), and @jpkeevil made it happen on my 37th bday,” he wrote. “So awesome!”
The awesomeness was a gift from his wife, Jennifer (@jpkeevil). It struck a profound chord for the chef, whose aunt, a Long Islander, was present at the 1965 Beatles concert at Shea Stadium that solidified the British Invasion. Keevil’s mom was the younger sister, not old enough to attend the show. But back in rural Goochland County, she and her husband made sure that young Harrison (after his grandfather’s surname, not George Harrison) got an earful of the Fab Four from an early age.
“The first album I got was Revolver,” Keevil says. “That one definitely opened the door.”
His next move was to get the Beatles songbook and learn to play their songs on his Dean bass. (Mind you, the kid was still in grade school at the time.) That was what he calls his “cheap and cheerful” bass—nothing compared to the Hofner that Jennifer bought for him.
Keevil went on to perform in a band in high school, and in another group in college. Neither was established enough even to have a name, but they scratched the itch that Keevil first felt when he heard Revolver. Come to think of it, the fact that that album marked the beginning of the Beatles’ psychedelic phase may partly explain why Keevil’s college group was a trippy jam band and not a pop band.
Not long after college, Keevil found his way to the French Culinary Institute, in Manhattan, which propelled him into his career as a chef. But the Beatles—and especially, McCartney—remained an inspiration to him, even after the ex-Beatle started Wings. “I was really into James Bond at one point, so I loved Paul’s music, you know, ‘Live and Let Die.’”
Today, Keevil plays his bass daily, just noodling around or perhaps playing a song or two. He’s practicing for the Party Like a Rock Star event October 18 at the Music Resource Center. Jennifer is on the MRC committee organizing the event, and Keevil will play a favorite song, the Foo Fighters’ “My Hero.”
Playing the Hofner is the equivalent of working with just the right knife in the kitchen. It feels good in your hands and is easy to use.
“The Hofner makes a big difference for me,” he says. “I love the bass and its association with McCartney, but there’s also something great about the fretboard. You can play it more like a guitar, you know, multiple notes at once as opposed to just one at a time.
We get it. Why be “just” a chef when you can be a bass player, too.
“Playing the Hofner is the equivalent of working with just the right knife in the kitchen,” he “It feels good in your hands and is easy to use.”
By Sean McGoey
It’s easy to miss the Music Resource Center, hidden in plain sight inside the former Mount Zion Baptist Church, on Ridge Street at one of Charlottesville’s busier intersections.
The MRC is one of the city’s best-kept secrets, and this week you’ll have a chance to see what you’ve been missing out on when the center opens its doors to the public for its 12th annual Party Like a Rock Star benefit.
The event is based around a “bandaoke” competition in which singers from the community get up on stage with a backing band and battle to see whose performances can bring in the most money for the center.
The MRC, which opened in 1995 in a rehearsal space above Trax, is a nonprofit organization that places a high priority on making music accessible and affordable to local teens. Students pay an annual membership fee to use the center’s resources, as well as its summer camps and workshops, and that fee covers unlimited access to studio time, lessons, and the like.
“Party like a Rock Star is a great way to support what the MRC is doing, but also it’s a very unique party,” says Megan Carter, who is chairing the event this year. “Where else are you going to go and see really fun people be willing to get up on stage in costume, sing at the top of their lungs, and maybe make a fool of themselves for a good cause?”
This year’s theme is the ’90s, and singers will be backed by local alt-rock cover band Superunknown. Last year’s winner, Hobby Cole, will be back to defend her crown with a cover of the Red Hot Chili Peppers song “Give It Away.” She will be joined by, among others, author Adam Nemett and chef Harrison Keevil, who will perform songs by Blackstreet and the Foo Fighters.
“There’s a couple of artists who asked for some hip-hop and some R&B, so not what we normally do,” says Superunknown frontman Cory Teitelbaum, who worked at the MRC for more than 10 years. “But it’s a fun challenge, and I think it’s gonna work out really well.”
The MRC provides after-school opportunities for sixth- to 12th-grade students to dance, learn instruments, write songs, and produce and record music with help from professionals. It’s also a collaborative space for students to meet other kids their age in a safe, creative environment.
“I think the MRC is pretty valuable in the way that it opens up its doors and brings kids in to spark creativity in them,” Carter says. “It’s this vibrant, communal gathering place for the teenagers.”
With a sliding scale based on household size and income, most members pay $10 or less for the year, but according to the MRC’s website, the average cost of the services provided is roughly $550 per member. Equipment donations and hundreds of hours of volunteer time certainly help, but Party Like a Rock Star—the center’s biggest annual fundraiser—makes up a significant portion of the MRC’s yearly funding.
“Outside of the MRC, a recording studio session costs at minimum $60 an hour,” says MRC Executive Director Alice Fox. “And when students come in here, there’s no additional cost.”
Both Fox and Carter were introduced to the MRC through Party Like a Rock Star, while Teitelbaum first heard about the organization when he was working at Bodo’s shortly after moving to Charlottesville. All three of them cited a strong culture that leads former members to return and share their gifts with new generations of teens.
One of those alums is Ike Anderson, who started as a member in the early 2000s and currently serves as membership coordinator and dance instructor.
“When I started working there, Ike was in high school—he was an incredibly talented dancer, a phenomenal producer,” Teitelbaum says of Anderson. “He’s an integral part of that program now. I couldn’t imagine that program existing right now without him.”
The MRC’s roots are also intertwined with Charlottesville’s unique music scene. It was originally the brainchild of John Hornsby, and Dave Matthews and his band members helped secure the location on Ridge Street. Those connections are undoubtedly part of the center’s appeal.
“Like many things in Charlottesville, I don’t know that you can really get this experience elsewhere,” Carter says. “People talk about Charlottesville being this very cool music town, and it is. …That trickles down. The effect of that is that we have this really awesome resource for teenagers in our community who are interested in music and want to learn more about it.”
Ultimately, Fox hopes that those who are curious will stop in for a visit.
“It’s one of those places where to come in and see what we’re doing, I think, has a bigger impact than just hearing about it,” she says.
The Music Resource Center’s Party Like A Rock Star fundraiser takes place Friday, October 18.
Nathaniel Star gets most of his ideas in the shower. It’s where he ruminates on a beat, hums melodies, and devises lyrics.
When he knows he has something good, he’ll hop out of the shower, wrap himself in a towel and dash, water dripping all over the floor, into his studio to record it.
“I’ll be recording wet,” he says over pita-wrapped falafel, a cup of Moroccan stew, and a mug of “Soul Soother” tea at Twisted Branch Tea Bazaar.
He laughs while describing his song-making process, noting that while other musicians might use candles, incense, or lush fabrics to create a certain in-studio mood, all he needs is “a microphone, my computer, and some software. I don’t need candles.”
Star (a moniker, not his real name), who will play his first local live show in about a decade at The Front Porch on Saturday, grew up on South First Street and has been making music his entire conscious life. At first, he harmonized on gospel songs with his mom and sister; then he wrote country-esque songs with titles like “Hey You” on an electric guitar; and as a home-schooled teen, he snuck over to the Music Resource Center, back when it was on the UVA Corner, to rap.
Those raps, Star says, were “good from a lyrical standpoint” but also “extremely violent,” and he felt it wasn’t music he could put out into the world. If it wasn’t something his religious mother’s ears could hear, he wouldn’t release it.
Inspired by singers and songwriters like D’Angelo and Bilal, Star later sang and played guitar in local neo-soul act Acoustic Groove Trio. “Everyone [in] the audience making out, because it was real sensual music,” he says, laughing. Acoustic Groove Trio broke up about 10 years ago when the percussionist and bass guitarist moved out of town. Star stopped performing, but he continued making music.
Star released his debut solo album, Collide-A-Scope, in December 2016, and two EPs, Nat-Blac Presents: EH-SUH-TER-IK and C.R.A.C.K., this year. He works with Vintagebeatwitsoul, making beats for other artists, and he writes music for documentary films, including Tanesha Hudson’s forthcoming A Legacy Unbroken: The Story of Black Charlottesville, directed by Lorenzo Dickerson and produced by Sarad Davenport. Star has also written music for Maxine Jones (a founding member of En Vogue). By day, he’s an elevator mechanic.
All the while, he’s waited for the right moment to return to the stage. “It’s time, it’s time. It just felt right again,” he says.
“I breathe music and bleed lyrics. You can’t live without breath and blood,” Star says of his songs about life and love, songs that are influenced by black culture and by African culture, by the potential of music to heal.
“Ghetto Physics,” off of Collide-A-Scope, is a song about overcoming, and “Via Dolorosa” is a song that compares Jesus’ walk to his crucifixion to black people’s walk through life. “Everything imaginable, in a wicked way, was done to Jesus right before they killed him. Everything imaginable, in a wicked way, has been done to black people the world over,” says Star. “But in the end, of course, it’s triumphant.” Jesus rose, says Star, and in the song, he and others will, too. “Stab me, shoot me, do whatever you can, but ultimately, I will rise again,” he says.
Star plays with genre on all of his records, oscillating between neo-soul, 1980s and ’90s R&B, funk, go-go, soul, and rap, sometimes blending the closely related genres together. He likes to make people think, including double, even triple meanings in many of the record and song titles, and in the lyrics, too. On the C.R.A.C.K. track “Respect the Shooter,” Star could very well be singing about shooting a gun, or shooting drugs. But he’s actually talking about a guy who’s taking a shot with his girl.
“You need to make people feel,” says Star. “A lot of music now just gets you amped. There’s nothing wrong with that, but I like a full scope of emotions—get hyped, but feel vulnerable, too. Feel like you wanna go march down the street. Feel emboldened to do.”
Star records lyrics on the fly so he can capture that full scope of feeling, and he doesn’t mess with the words much after the fact—he might switch parts around, or lay down some harmonies. “If you can create from that place, that’s the purest form,” he says. “How do you refine that?”
And while that purity, that genuine reflection of a moment, is important to Star as a musician, there’s more to it. He looks down at his bowl of Moroccan stew, chock-full of vegetables, then looks back up, inspired.
“Music should be an onion,” he says earnestly. It should be of the earth. It should be strong and sharp and robust. It should taste good, and it should make you cry. There should be layers in layers in layers. “It’s seasoning,” says Star. “And even when it’s gone, it lingers.”
Nathaniel Star and Kinfolk play The Front Porch Saturday, October 6.
Last April, A’nija Johnson walked into the Jefferson School African American Heritage Center auditorium ready to speak her truth at the Nine Pillars Hip Hop Cultural Fest’s freshman class competition. Wearing a floor-length skirt, a Tasmanian Devil “I need coffee” T-shirt and a pair of sunglasses, the local high schooler found herself in a room full of peers ready to take the mic—all of them boys.
“What are you doing in here?” asked one. “You’ll see,” she told him. By the end of the competition, Johnson, who goes by the moniker Legendary Goddess, had impressed the judges enough to nab second place.
The self-described “girly-girl” loves proving that she can rap—and about everything, from broken friendships to sexual violence. Legendary Goddess takes the mic on Thursday at the all-female Rugged Arts hip-hop showcase at the Music Resource Center as part of the weeklong Nine Pillars Hip Hop Cultural Festival.
The Rugged Arts series began in summer 2013, but organizers Cullen “Fellowman” Wade and Remy St. Clair are confident that this showcase is the first of its kind in Charlottesville, featuring five female artists (Legendary Goddess, MrsAmerica, Juice, Littlebird and Bonnie Cash), a female DJ (DJ Tova) and a female host (Destinee Wright).
“Hip-hop has a reputation for its misogyny and its disregard for women’s agency,” says Wright. “This showcase is a sort of reclamation. I’m hoping that this show will inspire a sense of sisterhood for the hip-hop heads in the community who are woman-identifying, and hopefully inspire other women artists to continue their work and participate in events such as this.”
It’s rare to see a woman on stage at a hip-hop show, says Lamicka “MrsAmerica” Adams. She suspects it’s because many women put their music on the backburner as they build a career, raise a family and take care of elderly family members. So, to shine a spotlight on female artists, “I think it’s really dope,” she says.
MrsAmerica was going through a lot when she wrote her 2017 album, Pain and Pageant—she was pregnant with her third child while taking care of her father, who was dying of cancer. MrsAmerica’s husband encouraged her to write, to put her thoughts to music. She thought, “How can I focus on music at a time like this?” But the more she wrote, the better she felt. “It’s music that would lift me up when I was going through” hell, she says, and she hopes it’ll motivate others, too.
Sierra “Juice” Stanton shares many of MrsAmerica’s reasons for making music. “I only write about what I know, what I’ve been through, what I go through, what I’m preparing for,” says Juice.
Her song “Pain” is about an accident in which she was hit by an SUV while crossing the street. Juice didn’t feel the impact; she remembers waking up on the ground, a paramedic telling her not to move while snapping a brace around her neck. She gets chills when she recites the song. “It’s my heart pouring out in the lyrics, over a beat,” she says, adding that as a woman—and especially as a black woman—she’s very aware of the message she puts out into the world.
“Even if we live what [men] have lived and talk about, it’s different, because we are [women],” says Juice, adding that everything from what women say to the way they carry themselves is watched, and often scrutinized closely.
Harrisonburg artist Kaiti “Littlebird” Crittenden is a self-described “100-pound white girl with blonde hair, a tomboy” clad in beat-up Timberland boots and cargo pants, who says she was initially “pretty intimidated” to start performing her rhymes, in part because she’s not what people typically see in their mind’s eye when they think of a rapper.
“Princess Peach on fleek temperamental / Insecurities plaguing my mental / When ya thin as a pencil / Criticism ain’t gentle / Couple that with the fact / Folks been judgmental,” Littlebird spits in one of her songs. She likes to talk about universal experiences such as love and relationships of all kinds, but she’s keen to point out that there’s substance and feeling underneath the surface.
Long before DJ Tova Roth had DJ equipment, she made mixtapes with a tape deck and a radio. As a teenager in California in the early 1990s, she listened religiously to hip-hop and often drove an hour and a half to Los Angeles where well-known DJs sold their mixtapes. She’d listen to them over and over, noting the artists’ moves so that she could mimic them—and rival them—once she got her own gear.
“I want the industry to realize that girls can bring the heat, and that we’re up for any challenge,” says Legendary Goddess, the high schooler who brought down the house at the Jefferson School just a year ago. And a hip-hop showcase spotlighting a group of talented women is a great place to start.
“We’re making history,” says Juice. “This is major.”
On Charlie Shea’s first day of middle school two years ago, she received some words of wisdom from her father, Danny Shea. “My dad told me, ‘It’s going to suck. I’m just going to brief you,’” Shea remembers. In the past two years, she says she experienced “enough bad days to go around,” as well as fellow students who would say anything to make someone feel worse, good friends and “‘good friends’ in quotations.”
“Society makes us feel like we need to paint this picture like we’re all perfect—perfect bodies and perfect grades,” says Shea. “We’re all wound so tight to the point that it’s stressful.”
Shea found a support system through her teachers at Henley Middle School and through her love of music. She sings and plays the guitar, ukulele, piano and drums, and likes “old music” like David Bowie and Queen. She says Beyoncé—“my idol”—always lifts her up. Growing up surrounded by the “awesome, badass, fun people” in the Charlottesville music industry, Shea believes in the power of music to spread positivity.
Shea’s English teacher, Elizabeth Sweatman, recently challenged her students to identify a world issue and try to do something about it. One day later, Shea knew she wanted to manage and host a concert advocating for two issues she’s always felt passionate about—suicide awareness and prevention, and removing the stigma surrounding mental illness.
“I hear about [these issues] so much and see how horrible they are,” says Shea, who has seen many of her peers affected by stress, anxiety and depression. “There needs to be a call to action, to stop being so scared of it. When someone hears the scary S-word, no one wants to talk about it.”
On Sunday, she takes the stage at the Southern as emcee alongside Sally Rose for the Celebrate Yourself show benefiting the Suicide Prevention Awareness and Resource Council. The council is part of Region Ten and provides suicide awareness education and training, mental health resources and other health and wellness efforts like the annual SPARC of Hope Walk/Run in October.
Joining Rose and Shea in the lineup are local acts 14 Stories and Unintended Consequences, both comprised of students from Western Albemarle High School, and Nahlj Corbin and Sarah Gross, who are two soloists from the Music Resource Center. Between sets, Shea and Rose will perform together.
Gross, a freshman at William Monroe High School in Greene County, plays acoustic and electric guitar, and recently performed her original song “Yellow Sweater” at the MRC’s album release party. It’s a raw, honest acoustic piece that showcases Gross’ vocals and storytelling capabilities. She is excited to perform on a stage bigger than anything she’s played on before, and to be doing so for Shea’s cause.
“I personally have known friends with depression and anxiety, and wouldn’t want anyone in that situation to not have access to help when they need it,” says Gross.
Shea’s father says the experience of coordinating an entire show has been empowering for his daughter. As a talent buyer for Starr Hill Presents and Red Light Management, Danny Shea didn’t want to make the experience easy for her.
“If we [at the Southern] do anything, it has to be viable. It’s the same for anyone that pitches a show,” Danny says. “We want to do something that reinforces the fabric of what is good about our community.”
Lori Wood, Region Ten’s Director of Prevention, Outpatient and Crisis Services for Youth, calls Shea a “go-getter.”
“When I heard about [her], I was like, ‘Wow, look at this!’” Wood remembers. She’s grateful to collaborate with students like Shea in city and county schools to increase access to mental health resources, legislation and training.
It’s that wow factor that has brought Shea the most joy throughout her project.
“I love seeing people’s reactions,” says Shea. “They’re like, ‘What? You’re putting together a concert? You’re 13. How can you do that? Something’s not right here. You’re a child.’”
The National Institute of Mental Health offers the following steps you can take when someone is contemplating suicide.
Ask them: “Are you thinking about killing yourself?” It’s not an easy question
but studies show that asking at-risk individuals does not increase suicides.
Keep them safe: Reducing access to highly lethal items or places is an important part of suicide prevention.
Be there: Listen carefully and learn what the individual is thinking and feeling.
Help them connect: Save the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline’s number in your phone so it’s there when you need it: 1-800-273-TALK (8255).
Stay connected: Staying in touch after a crisis or after being discharged from care can make a difference.
When I was a tween writing “X-Files” fan fiction, I never suspected my interest in storytelling would lead to an actual career as a writer. But then I enrolled in the creative writing program at a performing arts high school—and discovered my creative power.
Dozens of local arts organizations offer Charlottesville children and teens opportunities to unlock their potential. From classes to summer camps to year-round workshops, the vast majority also provide financial support in the form of reduced costs, scholarships and free programming. Area arts organization leaders share what motivates kids to get involved in the arts—and why it really matters.
Light House Studio
“Children and teens are not afraid to make mistakes,” says Deanna Gould, executive director of Light House Studio. “They understand the importance of learning from the process. As long as you establish a safe environment for young people to express themselves, they readily share ideas and are not afraid to take creative risks.”
As the only dedicated youth film center in Virginia, Light House Studio teaches approximately 150 workshops to 1,200 students from 70 schools every year. Many student films are accepted to national festivals and even win awards, including a Peabody, a Gold World Medal at the New York Festivals World’s Best TV & Films and a CINE Golden Eagle.
Gould explains that while older students recognize the potential for building their college and professional résumé through Light House, that isn’t the only goal.
“Our objectives [include] encouraging self-expression [and] giving disadvantaged youth an opportunity to express their diverse perspectives,” she says. “By giving young people a voice, we are empowering them to become leaders and influence change.”
Four County Players
“When you have high expectations, kids and teens will excel and often outperform adults,” says Four County Players board of directors member Tres Wells. “Children and teens seem more willing to try and put themselves out there.”
Four County Players offers two summer camps, one that focuses on production of a single youth-focused show, and another that offers multiple classes on topics like singing, dancing and improvisation, as well as a Friday showcase of student work. During the school year, young people participate in regular-season programming. A youth director program has produced two full-scale productions run by teens. And even the board of directors includes a youth director position “to represent the youth voice.”
According to Wells, teens and kids have a natural love of the theater because, he explains, they bond more quickly than adults.
“You just can’t explain the feeling of opening night after months of hard work and rehearsal,” he says. “The sense of pride and accomplishment with the thunderous applause of the opening night crowd is like nothing else.”
Music Resource Center
At the Music Resource Center, students in grades six to 12 stay motivated by a points system that rewards members for accomplishments like taking a lesson or recording an album.
According to Membership Coordinator Ike Anderson, the MRC gives tweens and teens access to musical instruments, studio equipment, artist support and lessons on topics like digital music composition, audio engineering, radio, songwriting and dance, regardless of their musical experience.
“Everything done here can start at a beginner’s level,” says Anderson. “We’ve had a bunch of students graduate and join performing arts colleges.” Others go on to become recording artists, radio DJs, directors, instructors and choreographers.
“Students aren’t just getting guitar lessons and a bag of chips,” Anderson says. “It is the vision of Music Resource Center to create a vibrant community through vibrant teens. When you walk through our facility, you can feel that excitement and electricity.”
Live Arts
“We create a lot of performances that involve young performers and crew members,” says Mike Long, director of education at Live Arts. “When they are given the chance and the training, they are every bit as capable of making great theater as adults.”
In addition to casting school-age actors, Live Arts offers a mentor/apprentice program as well as a chance for teens to write, devise and perform their own original plays every fall. In the summer, students ages 4 to 20 participate in theater camps and productions, including Broadway musicals and Shakespeare plays.
He sees kids and teens who are drawn to theater as a way to make friends become part of a theater community. “Many young people have been doing shows and camps at Live Arts for years, and when they get older it is common for previous campers to become Live Arts theater camp counselors and adult volunteers.”
The Paramount Theater
Thanks to youth education programming at the Paramount, more than 158,000 students and teachers have taken field trips downtown to experience live theatrical and musical work as audience members since 2004.
While the Paramount provides study guides, Standards of Learning connections and lectures, Education and Outreach Manager Cathy von Storch says feedback from local teachers reveals an impact beyond academics to include social and cultural enrichment.
“It’s the overall experience of getting outside their comfort zone, learning manners and theater etiquette, being in public in a historic space with kids from all districts,” she says.
“You bring an entire grade level together, from students whose parents bring them to shows all the time to those who only watch TV together as a family,” von Storch says. “But on that day, during that one hour at the Paramount, everyone shares the experience.”
For students who want to have informed conversations, she says, “it levels the playing field.” Much like the arts themselves.
Four County Players
fourcp.org/education
Light House Studio
lighthousestudio.org; lighthouse studio.org/summer-film-academy- 2018
Live Arts
livearts.org; summeratlivearts.org
Music Resource Center
musicresourcecenter.org or drop by the studio for a tour
The Paramount
Sperryville artist Adam Disbrow isn’t interested in mimicking realism; after all, “a camera can do that,” he writes in an email. Instead, he communicates with his audience through abstract, minimalistic images, using layers of objective symbols to create a wholly subjective piece of art.
His latest exhibition, opening at the Music Resource Center on August 4, approaches a concept that’s as subjective as it gets: the perception of beauty. “A Portrait of Beauty” is a series of starkly simple paintings that explores the superficial draw toward beautiful things that defines us as humans.
The first portrait in the series, the show’s namesake, pares down a female profile to just thick black hair, an extended hand, a single eye and a pair of red, red lips. Even with just these basic features, she still has something to say to the viewer. “I believe in the power of symbols as a medium to convey feelings and information,” says Disbrow. —Julia Stumbaugh
Art on the Trax 5784 Three Notch’d Rd., Crozet. “An Exhibition of Chair Drawings,” featuring chair sketches from local craftsman Joe Sheridan. Opens August 12, 4-6pm.
FF Central Library 201 E. Market St. “Gone,” featuring photographs of businesses, buildings and local landmarks that were lost to disaster or development and now remain only in photographs and memories. 5-7pm.
FF CitySpace Art Gallery 100 Fifth St. NE. “Rio+29 Small Area Plan,” a placemaking exhibit of maps and diagrams. 5:30-7:30pm.
Crozet Artisan Depot 5791 Three Notch’d Rd., Crozet. “The Light Chaser: Plein Air Paintings of Virginia,” an exhibition of plein air landscapes celebrating the beauty of everything from Monticello to Skyline Drive. Opens August 12, 2-5pm.
FF C’ville Arts Cooperative Gallery 118 E. Main St. “Birds and Bees, Flowers and Trees,” featuring ceramic jewelery inspired by the natural world from Jennifer Paxton. 6-8pm.
FF The Garage 100 E. Jefferson St. “Recent Work,” featuring acrylic and pencil on paper and canvas by Frank P. Phillips. 5-7pm.
FF Graves International Art 306 E. Jefferson St. “Roy Lichtenstein & Company: Postwar and Contemporary Art,” featuring handmade, limited-edition prints and exhibition posters by artists such as Lichtenstein, Gerhard Richter, David Hockney, Keith Haring, Ellsworth Kelly, Josef Albers and others. 5-8pm.
FF Fellini’s #9 200 W. Market St. “Historic Downtown Mall,” featuring watercolor paintings by Lois Kennensohn. 5:30-7pm.
Jefferson School African American Heritage Center 233 Fourth St. NW. “Private Spaces,” featuring a collection of personal images—this time taken on an iPhone instead of with extensive equipment—by professional photographer Yolonda Coles Jones. Noon-6pm.
FF Les Yeux du Monde 841 Wolf Trap Rd. “Summer Perspectives,” featuring work by Isabelle Abbot, Sarah Boyts Yoder and Cate West Zahl. 1-5pm.
McGuffey Art Center 201 Second St. NW. In the Sarah B. Smith Gallery, “Visions of Woven Color,” featuring the work of seven artists who employ color and diversity in their weaving; in the Lower Hall Galleries North and South and Upstairs South, a McGuffey members show featuring more than 50 artists working in a variety of media. 5:30-7:30pm.
FF Music Resource Center 105 Ridge St. “A Portrait of Beauty,” an expressionist series of works by Adam Disbrow on the perception of beauty. 5-7pm.
FF New Dominion Bookshop 404 E. Main St. A multimedia exhibition from BozART Fine Art Collective. 5-7pm.
Shenandoah Valley Art Center 26 S. Wayne Ave., Waynesboro. “Sparks of Summer,” a mixed-media exhibition culminating in a collaborative work by seven artists. Opens August 5, 5-7pm.
FF Studio IX 969 Second St. SE. “Infinite Repeats,” featuring collage and silkscreen prints by Thomas Dean. 5-7pm.
FF First Fridays is a monthly art event featuring exhibit openings at many downtown art galleries and additional exhibition venues. Several spaces offer receptions.
The event name says it all. Locals Play Locals is a big ol’ Charlottesville music cover show. More than a dozen bands and solo artists—Tequila Mockingbird, Gina Sobel’s Choose Your Own Adventure, Genna Matthew, Phil West, Marchenko and others—will swap songs and even genres in this benefit concert for Charlottesville’s Music Resource Center.
Friday 11/18. $8, 8pm. The Ante Room, 219 Water St. 284-8561.
Step into the fantasy world of a rock star’s life for one evening while helping local youth pursue their musical dreams. The Music Resource Center’s annual Party Like a Rock Star is Prince-themed this year in tribute to the inimitable musician. Donate at musicresourcecenter.org to cast a vote for your favorite Prince cover by a local musician and celebrate his purple reign by arriving at the event in costume.
Friday, October 21. $150, 8pm. Music Resource Center, 105 Ridge St. 979-5478.