Academy Center of the Arts

Serving our Community Through Arts and Culture

Archives for April 2017

The Youngest Fan

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In April, Jad Abumrad visited the Academy Center of the Arts for a behind the scenes talk about his work at Radiolab. Fans had the opportunity to meet and greet with Jad, a unique chance for listeners to actually converse with someone they’ve heard speak many times before. One fan in particular stood out among the rest. Parker Chapman, an eleven-year-old from Franklin County, may very well be Jad’s youngest fan. A frequent listener to NPR, Parker says he first heard Jad when he was only nine or ten years. The Chapman family doesn’t have a television, so Parker has grown up listening to WVTF Radio IQ. “[NPR] is primarily what we listen to” his father says. “There’s a bunch of good programs on there and the RadioLab one really caught Parker’s attention.” Parker had been listening to NPR for a while when he first heard Jad speak on RadioLab. “I started hearing him and just wondering what it was, so I figured out what it was and started listening” Now Parker downloads podcasts from RadioLab quite often, and listening to Jad has become part of his daily routine. “Before I go to bed every night I usually listen to […]

National Juried Art Awards 2017

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The Annual National Juried Art Exhibition at the Academy Center of the Arts opened on Friday, April 7, and includes 23 artists from 10 states. The exhibition of 43 pieces encompasses a wide variety of: including oil paintings, clay, mixed media paintings and sculpture, wood, fiber, woodcuts, collage and gouache. Over $3000 in cash awards was presented to ten artists and the winners are as follows: Best in Show: $1000     John Shuptrine – “8mm” #1 Sponsored by the Academy Center of the Arts 2nd Place Award: $700     Jon Lundak (White Marsh, MD)     “Aerodynamics of a Carry On” Sponsored by the Academy Center of the Arts 3rd Place Award: $500     Doni Guggenheimer – “City Birds” Sponsored by the Academy Center of the Arts Juror’s Choice Award: $300     Kevin Chadwick – “Summer Night” Sponsored by the Cary and Robert Roberts Juror’s Choice Award: $200     Chatham Monk – “Jack Mask” Sponsored by the Academy Center of the Arts Juror’s Choice Award: $125     George Radeschi (Bedford, Pennsylvania) – “#161” Sponsored by Royal County Arts Juror’s Choice Award: $100     Chris Motley (San Francisco, CA) “Red” Sponsored by Lynn Shapiro @ […]

A Raisin in the Sun

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Next month, join the Academy in bringing Lorraine Hansberry’s classic A Raisin in the Sun to our stage. This landmark drama was one of the first stories on Broadway to examine African-American life on the cusp of the civil rights era. For a more immersive experience, performances will be conducted in the round, rather than the traditional proscenium style.   “I think it has a lot of importance, especially with everything that has been going on lately in the media and the news around our nation right now. There are a lot of black men who are crying out and saying ‘hey I want to be heard.’ I think this story, even though it’s set back in the 1950s, here it is 2017 and it still resonates.” -Walter Heilig, who plays Walter Lee Younger   History A Raisin in the Sun debuted on Broadway in 1959. With a mainly African-American cast, A Raisin in the Sun was considered a risky investment, and it took over a year for producer Philip Rose to raise enough money to launch it. It was the first play written by a black woman to be produced on Broadway, as well as the first with a […]

A Recipe for Success

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  We are extremely proud to announce the success of our ninth annual Empty Bowls event benefiting the Lynchburg Daily Bread on March 18. The Lynchburg Daily Bread is a local non-profit that has provided hot meals for the hungry 365 days a year, for the last 35 years. In 2016 alone, they served 60,485 meals to the homeless and hungry of the community. During Empty Bowls, attendees were able to select and keep a beautiful ceramic bowl that were hand made and donated by local potters. They then enjoyed a delicious soup tasting with bread and beverage, all donated by local restaurants and individual donors. This year a portion of the bowls were made by men and women from the Continuum of Care’s event Share the Love. Each bowl was selflessly made by these individuals knowing they wouldn’t get to keep their handiwork, but instead they would be used to raise funds for the cause.  We are always so excited to see such altruistic acts, including the many service providers and resource workers who stopped by to make a bowl to contribute as well. Last year’s Empty Bowls event enabled us to give a $5617.71 check to The LynchburgDaily […]

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