On varying scales, Charlottesville is home to most of the cultural institutions of a much larger city: theater, opera, art galleries and film. Now we can add fashion shows to that list. On Saturday, Rag Trade brings fashion, music and art downtown to the IX Art Park. Three local designers will be featured amid choreographed […]
People & Style
A new boost for the Charlottesville Mural Project
If you walk or drive past the Corner in the next few weeks, you may be surprised to see people suspended from the top floor of the Graduate hotel. These aren’t aerialists or stunt doubles for a local action movie; they’re muralists painting the latest installation of the Charlottesville Mural Project. Using a swing stage, […]
Tom Tom Festival is all grown up
As Tom Tom Founders Festival Director Paul Beyer sits in the audience during Founders Summit talks and hears fellow entrepreneurs and creative visionaries speak about the early days of their startups, the successes they celebrated and obstacles they faced, he can’t help but draw a parallel to the festival itself. The ideas for the festival […]
The Young Men’s Shop’s final farewell
The Young Men’s Shop—opened by Henry Reuben on the Downtown Mall in 1927—is closing its doors after nearly 90 years of selling tailored suits and brightly colored ties. “It’s been here basically for 89 years and I guess it’s just a part of Charlottesville,” says current owner Harry Marshall, [...]
Future focus: What’s in store for Charlottesville?
What does the future hold? We examine what has happened in Charlottesville’s past and present to make some zany predictions about what could occur years down the road. But you know what they say: Fact is stranger than fiction. Developing our future Growth is always an issue in both [...]
Off the top: The Bridge weaves history and intimacy into the ‘Art of Hair’
When you woke up this morning, you probably pressed, fluffed, tucked or splashed water on a work of art—one you wear every day, whether you know it or not. “I became a hairstylist in 1991 because I wanted to be an artist, but not a starving artist. Color became my painting, and cutting became [...]
Cracking up: Kurt Braunohler likes big butts (and he cannot lie)
When it comes to making people laugh, comedian Kurt Braunohler goes big. Really big. He once hired a skywriter to scrawl “How do I land?” in the sky over Los Angeles. He has donned a tuxedo wetsuit and rode a Jet Ski down the Mississippi River, doing stand-up gigs along the way. Most recently, [...]
At home with…Christy Ford
Any list of tastemakers in Charlottesville needs Christy Ford’s name on it. The owner of And George, an antique and home store she started with her mom, designer Jan Roden, in 2001, Ford is also a co-founder of The Scout Guide, a high-end advertising publication that spotlights area businesses. [...]
Strong influence: VMDO architect David Oakland is making his mark
What does it mean to make a mark on the land? That was a question posed of VMDO principal David Oakland as a first-year UVA architecture student, and one that Oakland (and, he notes, many other architects) continues to answer as best he can. The question came from Robert Vickery, his teacher at [...]
The Power Issue: 15 under 40
From the arts to finance to farming, these young guns of Charlottesville and Albemarle are the ones to watch.
State of the art: Ix Project comes to life with Bridge PAI’s annual Revel
The Bridge PAI’s annual Revel, a “rebellious rendition of the non-profit fundraiser,” came to the Ix Project on Saturday, May 3. It was a wild night with street performers, live graffiti and art-making, and a vivacious auction featuring one-of-a-kind experiences, acted out by costumed [...]
Out of this world: Online gaming community launches UVA student on trip of a lifetime
How do you get to space without becoming a professional astronaut? If you’re Justin Bieber or Ashton Kutcher, you shell out a hundred thousand bucks or more for a seat on a space tourism flight. Or you can try to win a spot by harnessing the loyalty of a gamer army. That was UVA third-year […]
Inspired design: 20 questions with interior designer Rachel Bishop
Resides in: Charlottesville Best known for: Trawling local antique malls, refinishing furniture, and obsessing over design 24/7. 1. Antique or modern? 25 percent antique, 75 percent modern. 2. City or country? Country. 3. Which colors do you use most? Gray, white, and blue. 4. Which materials [...]
Starting over: Seeking simplicity, two empty-nesters build anew in Woolen Mills
For some folks, “downsizing” means moving from a house to a condo. Many empty-nesters relish letting go of maintenance and other work associated with the family home—in other words, simplifying. But for Joe and Lindsay Milby, an energetic couple with years of experience in real estate and [...]
Stair master: David Marshall brings the old country to new construction
There are two ways to explain how David Marshall got into the carpentry business—the short answer (“I worked on building sites for many years as a carpenter until my last boss (in 1994) recommended I go into business for myself,” Marshall said) and the long answer, which is a bit more [...]
(ARCHIVES) Being Thomas Jefferson: Reenactors impersonate the past, speak to the present
Editor’s Note: This story on Rob Coles’ life as a Thomas Jefferson descendant and impersonator originally ran in C-VILLE Weekly on June 19, 2012. According to his obituary in The Daily Progress, Mr. Coles died peacefully Tuesday. For a few minutes before he goes on stage, assuming [...]
Once a Marine: How a Charlottesville veteran is telling the story of a soldier’s transition to civilian life
When Stephen Canty watched his little brother leave on his first deployment as a Marine in the fall of 2011, he recognized the grin on Joe’s face as the same one he had worn himself three years earlier. They’d all been grinning then, the guys in 1st battalion, 6th Marines, Charlie Company, [...]
Bashir’s palace: An Algerian academic and his wife make the Downtown Mall their living room
I started hanging around Bashir’s Taverna a week before the Friday evening that Paris native and singer Jean Jacques, aka J.J., was booked to perform during the dinner service. J.J. had stopped in to drop off some flyers that featured a manipulated photo of him standing next to the Eiffel [...]
Charlottesville street style: Topped off
Hats can say a lot. They can signify ceremony, religious affiliation, nationality, rank, or, in some cases, the simple understanding that a dash of debonair in your step is a necessity to everyday life. There are quite literally hundreds of kinds of hats as well as historical stories that go [...]
Charlottesville street style: Shape shifters
The heat has arrived and the legs are out, making it time to bring out one of my favorite warm weather staples: the shift dress. Popular since the 1960s, this comfortable dress traditionally hangs loose from the shoulders with very little or no definition in the waist, making it a hit for women [...]
Free to be: Charlottesville street style
The freedom one feels when he gets dressed in the morning translates into his life every day. The medium is the message, be it architecture, nail art, or graffiti. How free can you be? SEAN was studying at Mudhouse when I approached him to talk about what he was wearing. Born in North Korea and [...]
Show me your boots: Charlottesville street style
What’s the big deal about boots? Answer: They are one of the most versatile accessories you can own. Rugged, equestrian, urban, conservative, or sometimes totally coquettish, boots dress up our jeans and give a down-to-earth feel to more delicate pieces like silk or lace. On the colder days [...]
A Tiger In Love
Although Woods and Vonn just admitted that they’re dating, it must have been going on for some time. And if you think Woods wouldn’t be able to hide that from the press, remember, this guy slept with about 473 women (not all at once...I don’t think) and no one knew a thing.