“It’s Only Drowning”

Fran Withrow 10.2025


Hollywood Cemetery

Fayeruz Regan 10.2025

 

Rasputina AKA Alane Ford

Alane Ford—the woman who became Rasputina—has been in bed with Death for about three decades now, has spooned with this grimmest of reapers more than ten thousand times. That can take a lot out of a body, and it can even force a sort of transformation and cleave a personality in halves. And though they’re still joined at the hip, and presumably elsewhere, when Rasputina takes center stage, Alane exits. This woman is about as hard to parse as Molly Bloom’s one sentence soliloquy. The lowly scribe of this profile wrestled with three different titles: The Dying of the Light, Leaps of Faith, or Unorthodox Orthodoxy, but finally settled on Rasputina, AKA Alane Ford.

By Charles McGuigan 09.2025

 
 


Happening now in the community:


Kirana Stover Will Be Signing Her Book at Ginter Park Library

10.2025

Kirana Stover, who grew up in Bellevue, will be signing her book, “Mom’s in There,” at Antennae Gallery from 5 pm till 9 pm on October 24, and at the Ginter Park Library from 10:30 am till 11:30 am on November 8. 

“The book is about the months I spent with her (Kirana’s mother, Virginia Carpenter) while she was dying,” says the author. “It wound up being a Richmond story, and particularly a Bellevue story.”

 

 

Giants: Art from the Dean Collection of Swizz Beatz and Alicia Keys
Coming This Fall to the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts

This fall, the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts (VMFA) welcomes the exciting exhibition Giants: Art from the Dean Collection of Swizz Beatz and Alicia Keys, an exploration of the profound and prolific contributions of Black artists to the field of contemporary art. Giants will be on view at VMFA in Richmond from November 22, 2025, through March 1, 2026.


Bellevue Blocktoberfest

10.2025

For what’s sure to become an annual event, Blocktoberfest hits the 1200 block of Bellevue Avenue from noon till 4 pm on Saturday, October 25. The commercial strip from Lamont to Brook Road will be closed to traffic that day.

It will be a full day of music, vendors, along with fine foods provided by Chef Andrew of Little House Green Grocery, Enoteca Sogno, Northside Grille and Up All Night Bakery.

 

 

58th Annual Gallery at First UU October 22 Through October 26

09.2025

From October 22 through October 26 you can get a head start on your holiday shopping at the Gallery at First UU, an annual fine art and craft show held for more than half a century at First Unitarian Universalist Church at 1000 Blanton Avenue, not far from The Carillon.


Laura Ann Singh's Fracas Quintet Vinyl LP “Mean Reds” Coming Soon

09.2025

Laura Ann Singh, Richmond’s dynamic vocalist, has an LP coming out on October 24 with an official album release show on October 30 at Révéler. The vinyl album, “Mean Reds”, features Laura’s band, Fracas Quintet with Scott Clark on drums, John Lilley on sax, Bob Miller on trumpet, and Adam Hopkins on Bass. These are original compositions by Laura Ann, and Scott co-wrote a few of the songs with Laura Ann.

Check out this link to listen to “Before You’re Gone”:https://lauraannsingh.bandcamp.com/album/mean-reds

 

Faith and Resilience: The Legacy of Black Catholics in Virginia

08.2025

This special exhibition—on view until November 29 — celebrates the deep-rooted faith and enduring strength of Black Catholics throughout Virginia’s history through personal stories, historical artifacts, and community reflections.

“Faith & Resilience” is presented by the Office for Black Catholics of the Catholic Diocese of Richmond and explores the unwavering resilience of Black Catholics in shaping their parishes and schools, highlighting how faith served as both a refuge and a force for empowerment, celebrating all those who helped nourish and sustain the faith of Black Catholics.


 

Antique Village Celebrates 54 Years

10.2025

Antique Village in Hanover County opened Thanksgiving Day 1971. It was the inspiration of the late W. N. “”Billy” Fulwider. Patterned after the antique malls in Pennsylvania, Antique Village was the first multi-dealer antiques and collectibles mall in Central Virginia. It continues to lead the way—54 years later—under the ownership of Joan Rucker and Manager Joe Lipscombe.


Pink Chair Open Canceled: Consider Bowling For Chairs

09.2025

Due to a lack of participation the Pink Chair Project RVA has canceled this year’s Pink Chair Open, a golf tournament that had been slated for tomorrow.

“Unfortunately, we did not reach the required number of participants this year to make the tournament possible,” the Pink Chair RVA Team wrote. “While we are disappointed, we are committed to building on the momentum and excitement we’ve seen and will work toward hosting the event in 2026.”

 

Monthly Music Lineup At Northside Grille 

Here’s a monthly list of bands and events hosted by Northside’s premier music venue—Northside Grille.

September 23, Memphis Lightening and John Brown; September 24, Ramona Martinez; September 25, Roger Carroll; September 26, Jimmy Rushing; September 28, Paulo Franco; October1, RVA Song Swap with Makenzie Roark, Benjamin Shepard and Cieli Galante; October 2, McVizzy; October 4, Lucky Stiffs; October 5, Mike Lucas; October 8, J Candeed; October 9, Biologics; October 11, Flea Bops; October 12, Susan Greenbaum plus late show with Prabir Trio (7pm Patio show); and October 19, John Bradberry.


 

CVWMA Will Host Region's First Recycling Fair on October 18

10.2025

The Central Virginia Waste Management Authority will host a Recycling Fair and Circularity Celebration from 10 am till 3 pm on Saturday, October 18 in Richmond’s Northside at 2100 West Laburnum Avenue.

The fair will feature free drive-through recycling opportunities, such as electronics recycling, document shredding and used clothing drop-off.


Confluence: Latest Exhibition At the Branch Museum of Design

08.2025

Confluence, recent works by Kenny Nguyen, a Vietnamese-American artist, will be on display from September 10 through December 10 at The Branch Museum of Design.

Kenny grew up on a coconut farm in a rural area near the Mekong Delta in southern Vietnam. He worked as a fashion designer in his native country, and then in 2010 moved to the United States to join his family here. He gradually moved from fashion design to fine arts, earning a BFA in painting from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.

 


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