The Visual Arts Center is hosting an event called ART:24 starting tomorrow, May 15th. Here’s a description from their website:
a decidedly un-stuffy celebration of hands, community, crafts, food and fun. This 24-hour whirl of funky, fabulous activities and workshops celebrates the art of everyday. ART:24 is a Main Street community collaboration and will spill out of the Visual Arts Center, onto and over the courtyard walls and into the surrounding galleries and shops, alleys, sidewalks, even the field across the street!
Workshops all day Saturday include recycling your old t-shirts, plastic bags and paper bags into new things – like more bags and t-shirts (but cooler) and books. Each workshop is $10, call to register in advance.
There will also be a full day workshop with renowned designer and textile artist Natalie Chanin on Saturday.
Paradise, maybe?
Tucked in an alley between Floyd and Grove Avenues and Allen and Vine is another Fan park–known as Paradise Park. While I’d hardly call it paradise, a few folks plan to make it a little closer to paradise this Saturday through a clean-up effort. It is a nice spot for a break, a play-date, or a cup of coffee, styled similarly to Scuffletown Park just west of Strawberry St.
Come on out and help! Paradise Park Spring Clean up Sat., May 16, 9am -12pm. Coffee and water provided.
If you’re interested in helping out, please email donnajoyce@verizon.net.
Here’s your chance to weigh-in on the whole ballpark thing. Public square meeting tonight will address that issue at 7 p.m. on May 12, at The Times-Dispatch downtown offices at 300 East Franklin Street.
Here’s an article from RTD with a primer in case you’ve been underground for the past year or so. And, here’s an article from BizSense about a potential new team for Richmond.
Judging from some of the sparring done on various websites about this issue, it’s sure to be an interesting meeting.
Here’s a great post from RVAFoodie about a new restaurant going in at Parkwood and Addison. He suggests that more is needed than just a restaurant to bring greater cohesion to these two neighborhoods, but he also outlines how development like this can be a small step toward responsible urban renewal.
But I’d just like to see the city step up and act responsibly toward it’s neighborhoods, its would-be thoroughfares, and its fledgling businesses, regardless of the demographics. Of course, input on this matter needs to come form the neighborhoods, and not just potential customers of the new businesses. This “foodie” lives at one end of that footbridge. I’d like to hear from folks on both sides as well as a the 5th District Councilperson.
RTD has this on Ernesto Sampson’s plans to seek the soon-to-be vacated House of Delegates’ seat held by Franklin Hall. Sampson has worked as a financial analyst since his 1998 graduation from VMI. There is a three-way contest for the Democratic nomination for the heavily Democratic, and majority African-American, 69th House District (which includes a tiny sliver of the Fan south of Floyd Ave.).
The Democrats vying for the seat are Antione M. Green, president of the Richmond Crusade for Voters; Betsy Carr, a Richmond School Board member; and Carlos Brown, a corporate finance lawyer. The Democratic Party will decide whether its nominee is selected in a primary or a convention.
Southside Richmond breaks down the Democratic race.
The 30th annual Strawberry Street Festival put on by the Fox Elementary School PTA is Saturday from 12-4:30. There will be food, art auctions, various items for sale, and, of course, lots of fun and games for the kids. As of now, the forecast calls for clearing skies in the afternoon. . .
The Sector 313 report has been released. The full pdf is here. The major news in the report is a huge increase in theft from motor vehicle (previously noted here).
Oh, and also, the Party Patrol is in full effect, busting up a party in the 2200 block of Floyd.
Sergeant Waite was working “Party Patrol” when he responded to a call of a loud party in the 2200 block of Floyd Avenue. He requested that the residents quiet down, however he was called back to the same address about one hour later because the noise level had not decreased. As a result, the sergeant ordered the amplified music be turned off and the lease holder was cited for violation of the City’s noise ordinance.
Busted!!
Fan Area City Council Rep, Charles Samuels, has issued a statement calling flyers being distributed by Richmond City Firefighters in the Fan (and other parts of the city) ‘misleading.’ The whole thing reads kinda ‘lawyerly’ to me (but I guess it should since Samuels is a lawyer):
The Richmond Firefighters Union is passing out flyers in the Fan District and North Richmond which are misleading. The proposed City of Richmond Budget, submitted to Richmond City Council by Mayor Dwight Jones on March 26, 2009 includes monies to fully fund the Richmond Department of Fire and Emergency Services and its 648 positions.
I guess the issue has to do with funding for overtime hours. Samuels encourages the firefighters union to discuss the matter with the Richmond City Council Finance Standing Committee, of which he is the vice chairman.
All-Star Market
Okay, so I stole the post title from a t-shirt I saw at the James River Market Saturday morning, but it seems to fit the ethos of All-Star Market and Deli, too. I must confess, we haven’t tried out All-Star (at 111 N. Lombardy St.) yet, despite walking past pretty often (and admiring their sweet star-studded bike rack). Their website boasts delivery within the Fan (by bicycle!). And word on the street (or maybe word on the tweets) is that a local produce co-op will offer pick-up from All-Star soon.
Here are some other ideas of how All-Star may be going green:
partnering with local farmers to supply/subsidize our produce; a rain water catch system for use in watering our garden and flushing the toilet; a green roof-top garden to subsidize delivered produce and to help with heating and cooling; solar panel/wind power hybrid electric system; a solar water heater; pedal-power blenders for fruit smoothies; and many other ideas!
