Artsline: Virtual Edition || April 11, 2022
"Earth laughs in flowers...." ~Ralph Waldo Emerson
This week finds our community in the midst of three religious and cultural festivals: Ramadan, Passover, and Easter. Just for the celebration, the earth laughs in colorful bouquets, spring green grasses, and budding trees. As we and our neighbors celebrate holiday rites and rituals, we look to landscape art and storytelling to bring joy to the season. Check out what our arts and culture community offers this week!
To list your events on Artsline, go to vpm.org/artsline.
1. M&T BANK POLLINATOR POWER
Landscape Art
April 16 – October 10
Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden, 1800 Lakeside Avenue, Richmond, 23228
Admission: $8-$17
Experience the wonderful world of butterflies! Butterflies LIVE! is an indoor exhibit in the Lewis Ginter Botanical Gardens Conservatory and is geared for all ages. Get up close and personal as hundreds of tropical butterflies feed, flutter and take flight all around you. Explore their origins, preferred habitats and life cycles. Free with garden admission. Purchase tickets online.
2. BAROQUE SPRING: PACHELBEL AND VIVALDI
Music
Monday, April 11, 7pm
Church of the Holy Comforter, 4819 Monument Avenue, Richmond, 23230
$5 - $30
Travel back in time with Chamber Music Society of Central Virginia to enjoy a program you might have heard at Leipzig’s most famous and elegant coffeehouse, Café Zimmermann, where famous composers like Bach and Telemann ran their own concert series. The CMSCVA Baroque musical evening includes sonatas and concertos by Pachelbel, Fasch, Pisendal and Vivaldi, performed by a complete 15-piece orchestra of period instruments. Purchase tickets online.
3. JAMES AND THE GIANT PEACH
Theatre
April 15 – 24, times vary
W.E. Singleton Center for the Performing Arts, 922 Park Avenue, Richmond, 23220
$5-$25
VCUarts Theatre presents Roald Dahl’s James and the Giant Peach, a delightfully offbeat adaptation of the classic Roald Dahl adventure where a boy and his insect friends take an amazing journey across the ocean. Featuring a wickedly tuneful score and a witty and charming book, Roald Dahl’s James and the Giant Peach is an adventurous musical about courage, self-discovery and finding your true family. Purchase tickets online.
4. KRISTEN GREEN | THE DEVIL’S HALF ACRE
Literary Arts
Thursday, April 14, 6pm
Library of Virginia, 800 East Broad Street, Richmond, 23219
Join The Library of Virginia for a talk by New York Times best-selling author and journalist Kristen Green on the inspiring true story of an enslaved woman who liberated an infamous slave jail and transformed it into what became Virginia Union University, one of America’s first Historically Black Colleges and Universities. In The Devil's Half Acre: The Untold Story of How One Woman Liberated the South's Most Notorious Slave Jail, Green draws on years of research to tell the extraordinary and little-known story of young Mary Lumpkin, an enslaved woman who blazed a path of liberation for thousands. A book signing follows the talk. This in-person event will also be live-streamed on the LVA Facebook and YouTube pages. Registration required for this free event.
5. GREATER TUNA
Theatre
Through April 30
Thursdays – Saturdays, 8pm
Sundays 2:30pm
Swift Creek Mill Theatre, 17401 Emancipation Highway, South Chesterfield, 23834
$49
The long-running off-Broadway hit plays at Swift Creek Mill Theatre and features two actors creating the entire population of Tuna, Texas in a “tour de farce” of quick-change artistry, changing costumes and characterizations faster than a jack rabbit runs from a coyote. Two actors, 20 characters, and a barrel of laughs, y’all. Purchase tickets online.
6. ACOUSTIC CONCERT SERIES: L.P. KELLY
Music
Thursday, April 14, 7pm
Perkinson Center for the Arts & Education, 11810 Centre Street Chester, 23831
The sound of L.P. Kelly comes broadly from the early days of American roots music, when bluesmen sang from front porches on hot afternoons. Kelly plays original music that demands the listener dig deeper to find its roots in geography and time. Presented by Chesterfield County Public Library. Register online for this free event.
7. DEAR JACK, DEAR LOUISE
Theatre
Through Sunday, April 17, times vary
Hanover Tavern, 13181 Hanover Courthouse Rd, Hanover, 23069
$48
Virginia Rep presents Dear Jack, Dear Louise, telling the joyous, heart-warming story of Ludwig’s own parents’ courtship during World War II. When two strangers meet by letter during the war, a love story begins. U.S. Army Captain Jack Ludwig, a military doctor stationed in Oregon, begins writing to Louise Rabiner, an aspiring actress and dancer in New York City, hoping to meet her someday if the war will allow. But as the war continues, it threatens to end their relationship before it even starts. Purchase tickets online. (Video used with permission.)
8. APRIL’S WRITERS WEDNESDAY - IN-PERSON
Literary Arts
Wednesday, April 13, 5:30pm
Hardywood Park Craft Brewery, 820 Sanctuary Trail Drive, Richmond, 23238
James River Writers hosts this month’s Writers Wednesday IN-PERSON at Hardywood West Creek, in RVA. Writers Wednesday brings together writers of every experience level and genre in a casual atmosphere to connect, laugh, and revel in a well-deserved break. JRW staff will be in attendance to answer any questions about James River Writers or writing in general. This is a great entry point for those that are new to the James River Writers community. Registration required for this free event.
9. DOMINION ENERGY FAMILY EASTER
Culture, Landscape Art
Saturday, April 16
Maymont, 1700 Hampton Street, Richmond, 23220
Free (optional $2 tickets for games)
Bring the whole family to Maymont for an Easter eggs-travaganza and all that spring has to offer. Enjoy games, activities and crafts, as well as live entertainment from Bach to Rock and other performers, jugglers and adorable animals, and of course, appearances by the Easter Bunny! Bring a picnic blanket and make a day of it with local food trucks and 100 acres to “eggs-plore.” Entrance to Dominion Energy Family Easter is free, plus optional $2 tickets for activities and games. Each ticket redeemed earns an Easter egg and “eggs-tra” rewards! No registration required.
10. GELLMAN ROOM CONCERT: AMERICA ON THE ROAD TO FREEDOM
Music
Saturday, April 16, 2pm
Main Branch, Richmond Public Library, 101 East Franklin Street, Richmond, 23219
The Richmond Public Library "America on the Road to Freedom" through music of the 20th and 21st centuries by composers Florence Price, Aaron Copland, James Erb, John Winn, and Donovan Williams. Presented Donovan Williams on violin and Hope Armstrong Erb on piano. No registration required.
If you are an arts or cultural organization with lectures, exhibitions, performances, or even book readings, submit your events to Artsline here.
If you are an artist or an arts or cultural organization in need of resources and tools, check out the list of local and national resources from Richmond CultureWorks.
The Library of Virginia, Swift Creek Mill Theatre, VCU School of the Arts, and Virginia Rep are sponsors of VPM.
