There's some great art here in Richmond, Virginia

Since I had time here in my unplanned "layover" in Richmond, Virginia, I looked for a local art scene here.  After a few years in and around Winston-Salem, NC, I've been used to a mid-sized city with a really small town feel.  Winston had a great art scene for a city of its size, but it just wasn't that big.   That limits the number of local buyers of art, the number of people running the show in the area, and everything else.

Richmond definitely has a much more urban, big city feel, even though the city itself is about the same size.  But it extends out right into the suburban areas.  The Piedmont Triad/Winston-Salem area is three separated cities of around 200,000+ people each, with rural areas between.  So here in Richmond it's a much different thing.  It's more gritty here, the downtown is much bigger, threr are some empty buildings, stores, and the kind of places I loved exploring as a BMX street rider years ago.

There are also A TON of great murals, and some pretty good true graffiti here.  I took a weird bus yesterday, one that kind of circled through the city, in and out of different neighborhoods.  There were murals all over the place.  My goal was first to find a library, which turned out to be small, low budget, and in the hood.  But it was being well used, and full of people reading and on computers, making the most of it.

Then I walked about ten blocks  through an old, partially run down merchant district, still part of the hood, to one part of the Yuppie loft/art district area.  My destination was the huge studio/gallery complex above, Art Works.  Despite my sweaty, sketchy appearance, the woman in the sales office let me set my bags there and I wandered around the place alone.  It's freaking HUGE.  It just went on and on, one hallway full of studios leading to another one.  The artwork had a lot of painting, some photographers, some mixed media and more.  And nearly everything was really high caliber work.  All kinds of styles and mediums, no one's work seemed to copy anyone else's.  If you travel to this area and like checking out art from very talented people you probably haven't heard of, definitely put Richmond, VA and Art Works on the agenda.  The work of two photographers really grabbed my attention, Doug Turner, and Robert Papas.  I love photos of outdoors and animals and places where you look at the photo and think, "I want to go there." Or maybe it's just me jonesing to see the wide open spaces of the West again.

I definitely want to come back here and really dig into the creative scenes at some point.  There's another, better known Art District right downtown on Broad Street, which I got a quick glance at on the "Pulse" bus riding through downtown.  There are small clubs, vintage shops, and all kinds of creative nooks and crannies to explore here.

I showed the woman in the office my Sharpie art, pulling it out of my trusty trash bag covered sketch pad.  She seemed pleasantly surprised, which is always good to see.  I know I look like hell, and people don't expect much when I ask to show my stuff.  I didn't manage to sell anything here (yet), to finance my trip onward, but for two city bus fares I saw some great stuff, in the gallery and on walls around the city.

Winston-Salem Art District Murals #7

 These are more pics from the mural wall at the back of the Art Park on Liberty.  These were all painted in June 2018. 

Liberty Street/Winston-Salem Art District Murals #5

 All of these murals are freshly done, and on the back wall of the art park on Liberty, next to the Red Dawg/AFAS Gallery.  When they were being painted, everyone kept telling me, "You have to check out the dog.  They were right, this chihuahua mural was airbrushed, and it's just plain off the chain. 

 The eyes have it.

 Insert spooky music here.

 These 'shrooms probably look better if you're on 'shrooms.  But I don't do that stuff, and they still look pretty dang cool.

 More Shelob than Charlotte.

I don't know who Dumptruck is either.  Photos by me (Steve Emig)

Trade Street/Winston-Salem Public Art #4

 This monolith of art stands at 6th and Trade, and the pieces change once or twice a year, I think.

 It's easy to walk right by this critter without noticing.  Art's everywhere around Trade and Liberty Streets in Winston-Salem, so stop looking at your damn phone.

 Here's the other steampunkish mechanical insect thingamajig.  You may not notice it, but it sees you.

 A little lower on the art monolith.

 This is one of the oldest murals in the Winston-Salem art district, and is at 6th and Trade, right by the art monolith thingy.

When not blogging, I'm Winston-Salem's premiere (and pretty much only) Sharpie marker artist.  You can check out several of my pieces at Designs, Vines, and Wines, which is located in Studios at 625 on Trade.  There are eight different artists that have studios there, plus a few featured artists, like myself.  Rachel at D,V,&W paints and does a bit of everything.  She also does create and sip projects ($25 to make your own art; supplies, laughs, and wine included).  Tammy Ballard does these amazing ink pieces.  That sounds lame, but they're really cool, just hard to describe.  Donell is a painter and muralist, and is there often.  There a couple more painters, an amazing fine art photographer, a travel photographer, and also a bunch of jewelry in there.  625 is also open more than many of the shops on Trade, which are closed a lot for some reason.  Check it out. 

Tradee Street/Winston-Salem Murals #3

 These pieces are up and down Trade Street in the Winston-Salem (NC) Art District.  The chalk board at what used to be outside cafe seats, is now a Do-It-Yourself mural spot. 

 I'm gonna count to a million, you go run and hide...

 Since I come from Southern California, which has a deep sticker culture, it's always cool to see a band sticker slapping spot.

 Say aaaaaaah.

 This little painting is the most obvious, but many people walk by and don't notice it.