This November, the Academy is partnering with Virginia Museum of Fine Arts to host the VMFA Artmobile in the courtyard of the Historic Academy Theatre during a weekend of events on our campus. This incredible mobile museum features art from acclaimed artists who all have a connection to Virginia in some way. Artists include Ann Chenoweth, Esther Worden Day, Emmet Gowin, and Benjamin Wigfall, among others. The very first Artmobile opened in 1953 and in just three weeks attracted over 5,000 visitors. Through the years, the traveling exhibit was well received by Virginians in all corners of the state, but unfortunately the program ended in 1994 due to budgetary constraints and concerns about protecting the art on the road. In 2015, the museum was able to resurrect the Artmobile in an 18 wheeler that features a 640 feet temperature controlled display space that comfortably holds the art and visitors. The VMFA on the Road program was created with the mission of reaching as many people in Virginia as possible with stops all over the state. The Academy is the VMFA Artmobile’s second to last stop on their 2019 tour. They will be staying November 15-17. Join […]
Archives for October 2019
Looking Forward to Ain’t Misbehavin’
This coming November, Community Through Theatre will be presenting the 1978 Tony Award winning musical, Ain’t Misbehavin’. This jazzy show won 4 Tony Awards in its prime, including Best Musical, and is a musical celebration of legendary musician, Fats Waller. Joshua Carter will be directing our production, which will be performed in the Warehouse Theater. “I think that this show is a perfect balance of sugar and spice,” he says. “It is a celebration of simpler times and a reminder of what good music sounds like.” This will be the most intimate show yet, with a small cast of 11 actors. Carter’s vision for the staging of the production is to immerse the audience in the Harlem club scene. The audience will be arranged to surround three-fourths of the stage, seated right in the thick of the performance. “I want to bring the Harlem Renaissance to life,” says Carter, “not only to revue the timeless music of the era, but also the stories, lives, and people of that time.” We invite you to join us for this incredible production. Showtimes are at 7:30pm November 1, 2, 7, 8, and 9, and 2:00pm November 2, 3, and 10. […]
Painting Without Brushes
by Morgan Yeatts Currently on display in the back room of the Ann White Academy Gallery is a collection that is perhaps one of the most unique features yet. Hailing from Baltimore, Maryland, Lavely Miller-Kershman is an artist who pushes the norms of painting technique in an extraordinary way; she paints with her fingers. “I began painting with my fingers when I ran out of brushes in college and didn’t have enough money to replace them,” she says. “Luckily for me, I found painting with a finger to be easier than using a brush. Basically anything is possible; a finger really isn’t that much different from a brush when it really comes down to it.” Lavely has been painting since childhood and can’t remember a time when she wasn’t a painter. Her father’s side of the family is strewn with artists, so it was natural for her to follow the fold. “I guess I have a genetic inclination towards artistic expression and also I grew up in a household where that sort of thing was valued and appreciated.” Lavely believes that the quality of a piece is not found in the materials used, but in […]
