Gosh, you've certainly kept us hopping here at The Work Factory where we produce Urge. Between your phone calls, emails and even—“Well, hello to you too!”—impromptu visits, the staff has furiously chased down leads and typed up stories to keep pace with your suggestions for documenting this town's creative vibe. We've found ourselves all over the region.
First, we admired stunning cityscape views and the tony spaces of the Downtown Loft Tour (Lofty Ambitions), and then we rolled out to Manakin-Sabot to experience the chic and innovative launch of Elements 2008 (The Elements of Style)—an interior design show with a decidedly fashion flair.
And of course, we wouldn’t miss a First Friday Artwalk. As usual, the evening tour was full of surprises and impressive exhibitions, including a snazzy rig of a gallery on wheels (VagaBox). We cruised down to Petersburg and were warmly welcomed into their creative community. You’ll note the expanded Gallery Guide as the arts in Old Town Petersburg are just bustling.
Back on Broad Street, we were thrown in the midst of elves, wizards,“Filk” and “Larping” in the unlikely venue of the Crowne Plaza West at the inspired RavenCon 2008. Don’t worry, I had no idea what the terms meant either (or if they were even legal). I was a little leery when I heard the guest speaker was called “Filthy Pierre.” But nonetheless, it was a real blast.
Speaking of blasts, we launched Urge with a party at the glave kocen gallery in Uptown (Bright Ideas). Quite frankly, we were pleasantly startled by the huge turn out of folks. Much thanks goes out to R. David Ross, Jennifer Glave and BJ Kocen for their help in the occasion’s success.
Somehow in this busy Spring, we’ve managed to shop and go to galleries, to the theater, the opera as well as see a lot of local music—and we have a loads of ideas for you to try. We spent time talking fashion with Heidi Story in Carytown (Summer Dresses in the City: A Love Story) and got Muzi and Plunky Branch’s take on local jazz, art and their creative process (Work in Progress).
On the business side of publishing, our circulation has grown in leaps and bounds with over seventy distribution locations in Ashland, Richmond and Petersburg. If you have a business and would like to be a distributor of Urge drop us an email, call, or heck, just step into The Work Factory and say hello. |
