Buttermilk & Molasses

Trask Interviews Stettinius in Urge

The first issue of Urge Magazine includes a conversation between local artists Ed Trask and Gordon Stettinius, which includes a nice bit from Trask on the disappearance of his Princess Diana mural.

 Stettinius: Do you like seeing your work get old?

Trask: I adore it. It becomes thematically what I like to look at. Quite often when I put a mural up, I know it's not going to be there that long. Everybody's freakin' out about the "Princess Diana" [mural] being gone and I'm like thank god! When I first put it up there, there was a restaurant and two gorgeous billboards. You'd come off the exit and there was a Malboro man kinda looking at Princess Diana. But the billboards came down, a strip club came in, she started fading out, the shadows started coming out more. It gave joy to a lot of people as long as it could, but I'm glad it's gone. It's time for a rebirth, let's put something else up there.

Getting the Urge in Richmond

Urge Magazine has joined the blossoming ranks of Richmond's free publications (available at area Ukrop's and Krogers), delivering news and information geared mainly toward Richmond's art and shopping community. In its densely packed 54 pages of glossiness, Urge's design narrative feels a bit choppy -- at times, the flow feels like a mish-mash of stories, photos and blurbs -- but there's plenty of content to keep readers occupied.

Perhaps the most interesting and useful section of Urge is its "Imagine/Galleries" section which combines short features on local galleries and artists (Glave Kocen Gallery, Curated Culture, First Fridays Artwalk's 7th Anniversary, Ed Trask and Gordon Stettinius) with a comprehensive listing of galleries and their upcoming exhibits.

TD Redesigns Page A1?

I couldn't help but do a double-take this morning when I saw the Richmond Times-Dispatch's above-the-fold news treatment -- a "U.S. goes to war" sized headline and companion photo announcing that a diamond thief is going to jail. The rest of A1 was a fluffy assortment of photos with graphic arrows attempting to lure readers deeper into the folds of the newspaper. Either today is a real slow news day, or the Times-Dispatch has taken another step away from delivering something more than the headlines.

A New Way To Pig Out in Richmond

The folks behind RVABlogs and RVANews are now bringing Richmond a new way to find that special place to wine, dine and unwind. RVAEats has launched with its clean interface and simple search features. Right now the site is in beta, and only has six restaurants. Their self-description is pretty basic:

RVAEats.com is a restaurant directory for Richmond, Virginia Restaurants and Eateries. You can use this website to find directions, information, menus, hours of operations, and much more.

This website is in BETA format (like everything else on the web these days), so if something doesn't work you can feel free to shoot us an email, however we probably already know about it.

We are satisfying Richmond's appetite.

Sounds like it has potential -- even with a starting database of six restaurants.

VCU's Urban Transformation

On a normal weekday, I could find a dozen reasons to browbeat VCU but I'd be remiss if I didn't (belatedly) tip my hat to Ed Slipek's comprehensive look in Style Weekly at the university's impressive transformation of one of Richmond's more neglected downtown dead zones -- the stretch of land between Belvidere, Main Street and the Expressway.

Slipek starts with the neighborhood's rough history:

For some 200 years, from 1797 until its demolition in the 1990s, the Virginia penitentiary (whose walls encircled the blocks bound by Belvidere, Byrd, Spring and Second streets) literally cast a depressing shadow over the area. Geographically this is low terrain: In 1950, Richmond architectural historian Mary Wingfield Scott called Penitentiary Bottom “a veritable poor relation” and a “shabby hollow” compared with the adjacent neighborhoods on high ground that enjoyed river breezes — Oregon Hill and the once-residential and more prosperous Gamble’s Hill.

After the Civil War, train tracks laid through the area further deflated life and property in Penitentiary Bottom. In the 1870s, while grand homes were built ever westward on Franklin Street, their rear yards backed up and sloped down to Main Street.

And then he describes VCU's Eureka moment -- how to expand a landlocked campus:

The university’s options were increasingly limited. Decades ago, Fan District residents signaled: Don’t even think of crossing west of Harrison Street. The campus pushed as hard as it could against the Carver and Oregon Hill neighborhoods to the north and south respectively. But the idea of crossing Belvidere — U.S. 1 — was a stretch. If it was once conventional wisdom that VCU students would never cross West Broad Street, then crossing heavily trafficked Belvidere seemed out of the question. Attendance at the Siegel Center, enrollment at the School of the Arts and sales of grande lattes at Starbucks have dispelled that notion.

It was the opening of the new School of Engineering building at the corner of Belvidere and Main streets in 1998, facing Monroe Park, that brought academics to a side of the campus that had been mostly residential. Richmond businessman Bill Goodwin, an owner of the Jefferson, was a major benefactor of the engineering school and had obvious interest in upgrading the area. VCU already had office buildings east of Belvidere on Main Street. And best of all, few people lived in the blocks south of Main running against the Downtown Expressway.

Remarkably, in just 17 months, the university assembled 49 separate parcels of property from 28 landowners, including property given by Goodwin and two other donors. There was no need to exercise eminent domain. In November 2005, VCU broke ground for the Monroe Park Campus addition.

It's About Bloomin' Time

I've intended to post about Richmond's Tricycle Gardens for eons, and now that spring is beginning to unfurl its windy, pollen-laden leaves here we go.

It all started in a vacant Church Hill lot. Today, the folks at Tricycle Gardens are working to litter Richmond's landscape with small gardens and fresh produce -- especially in neighborhoods where access to fresh green goods is limited. There are gardens in Church Hill, Carver (pictured above), Fulton Hill and Chesterfield's Winchester Greens.

In addition to a weblog, Tricycle Gardens has a host of resources for urban gardeners -- including getting involved directly with the Tricycle Gardens initiative, resources and links on community gardening, and tips on starting your own garden (for yourself or for your neighbors).

Will Richmond and the Counties Ever Get Past First Base?

You hear mixed reports on the state of cooperation between the City of Richmond and the surrounding jurisdictions, especially the border states of Henrico and Chesterfield counties. On the procedurally invisible aspects of governance, there is some basic information and power sharing going on, and a fair amount of relationship development in some arenas. But significant, strategic cooperation -- as last year's Crupi Report pointed out -- is seriously lacking.

One has to wonder at the historic and political barriers -- not to mention the racial divides -- that have kept genuine dialog and meaningful change from sweeping the greater Richmond region. The sort of genteel, sitting room courting that has been happening for the past few decades between the jurisdictions is as staid and tired as the heavily scarred and pot-holed Huguenot Bridge.

Over at Smart Communities, Suzanne Morse briefly explains why cities matter, and wonders what an Obama/Clinton/McCain presidency might deliver in terms of urban development:

...we know that strong--smart--cities are the anchors for community and economic development according to the National League of Cities and others. There are some places to point to make the case. Boston as a city helps fuel the fire of Route 28 development as well as the entrepreneurs at Cambridge and MIT. A city that is vibrant, offers access to the arts, and has winning sports teams makes a difference. There are other cities that have not quite made the turn and their regions suffer. Having said all this I wonder where our candidates stand on an urban policy that takes us in new and different directions. An editorial in the New York Times yesterday called for the same. What can we expect from a McCain/Obama/Clinton presidency in regards to cities? Is is a retooled version of the urban policies of the sixties or something new that matches the demands of the 21st century economy with infrastructure that exists? Is a plan for urban schools that tests and invests in the next generation of workers?

We shouldn't have to wait for a new President to roll into office for those -- and many other -- questions to be addressed, much less raised.

My question: What should the residents of the greater Richmond region expect from their elected officials?

Five Years of War

On Wednesday, the nation will mark the fifth anniversary of the invasion of Iraq in a variety of ways -- chest-thumping, candlelight vigils and quiet reflection.

The Virginia Anti-War Network will mark the anniversary with a vigil outside of Richmond City Hall, followed by a public forum at a church in Church Hill.

The vigil, which is co-sponsored by the Richmond Peace Education Center, is scheduled to happen at 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday, March 19, on Broad Street outside of Richmond City Hall. The theme of the vigil will be "Bring the Troops Home Now! Money for Jobs and Education, not Wars and Occupations!"

At 7:00 p.m. on the same night, VAWN will host a forum at Asbury United Methodist Church at 324 North 29th Street, featuring a panel of community and labor activists.

The Muppets Wish You A Happy St. Paddy's Day

The Swedish Chef, Animal and Beaker ring in the annual Irish holiday with the most painful rendition of "Danny Boy" ever. (Tip o' the hat to Boing Boing for the link.)