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Artsline - A week filled with holiday performances, tours and family fun!

Virginia Theatre Machine Christmas Carol
Ed Whitacre is one of two actors performing The Virginia Theatre Machine's 30-minute rendition of Dickens' classic, A Christmas Carol. See below for details. (Image used with permission.)

Artsline || December 19, 2022

“May your walls know joy, may every room hold laughter, and every window open to great possibility.” ~ Mary Anne Radmacher

This week we find ourselves in the middle of Hanukkah’s Festival of Lights and the countdown to Christmas day. It is also Winter Solstice - the turning point in our season when darkness peaks and our days begin to grow a little brighter. Whatever you celebrate this season, may RVA’s amazing arts and culture experiences bring you joy and fill your heart with warmth and belonging in our fair city.

To list your events on Artsline, go to vpm.org/artsline.


1. WELDON HILL ON SHOCKOE SESSIONS LIVE! CHRISTMAS CLASSICS WITH A TWIST
Music
Tuesday, December 20, 7:30 PM
Online or at In Your Ear Studios, 1813 East Broad Street, Richmond, 23223
$10

It's the last show of 2022, so Shockoe Records is celebrating with one of their favorite jazz pianist Dr. Weldon Hill! A musicologist, composer, and pianist, Weldon Hill is active as a performer, composer, and writer. Go in person, or watch it live or later at In Your Ear’s YouTube Channel. Purchase tickets online.


2. WINTER BREAK WEDNESDAYS
History, Culture
Wednesday, December 21
Virginia Museum of History & Culture, 428 North Arthur Ashe Boulevard, Richmond, 23220
Admission: $10 adults | $8 seniors/military/veterans | $5 youth 6-17

Get out of the house during your winter break by joining Virginia Museum of History & Culture Education for a day of guided and self-guided activities! The museum presents Stories at the Museum, where educators read a winter-themed story, show off some wintertime objects in the galleries, and then guide a snowy craft! They screen Showing of Liberty’s Kids: Across the Delaware paired with a gallery walk identifying items relating to George Washington. The museum also offers crafts, Powhatan artifacts, and winter-themed scavenger hunts throughout the day. Program included with museum admission; no additional registration required. Purchase admission online.


3. CHRISTMAS CAROLS WITH HARKEN BACK STRING BAND
Music, Culture
Monday, December 19, 6 PM
North Courthouse Road Library, 325 Courthouse Road, Richmond, 23236
Free

Enjoy a selection of traditional 19th-century Christmas carols played with string instruments. Presented by Chesterfield County Public Library. Register online for this free event.


4. A POWERFUL INFLUENCE: EARLY PHOTOGRAPHS OF AFRICAN AMERICANS FROM THE COLLECTION OF DENNIS O. WILLIAMS
Visual Art
Through May 8
Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, 200 North Arthur Ashe Boulevard, Richmond, 23220
Free

Introduced in 1839, photography revolutionized how ordinary people saw themselves and others. In the two decades following its invention, photography spread rapidly across the United States and played a crucial role in shaping concepts of identity, family, citizenship, and race. Drawn from the collection of Dennis O. Williams and presented in the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts’ Photography Gallery, some 25 portraits of Black Americans—some enslaved, others free—offer a powerful and poignant way to explore these complicated histories. This installation, which includes daguerreotypes, ambrotypes, tintypes, and early works on paper made from the 1840s through the 1880s, features a small selection of work by Ball. No registration required for this free event.


5. WINTER MARKET
Visual Art
Through December 25
Studio Two Three, 3300 West Clay Street, Richmond , 23230

Does searching for the perfect holiday gift get your tinsel in a tangle? Well, look no further than Studio Two Three and give the gift of local art! S23’s Winter Market features an avalanche of artwork created by 125 local artists. With hundreds of works to choose from, there’s sure to be something for everyone on your gift list! No registration required.


6. COMMON GROUND VIRGINIA HISTORY VIRTUAL BOOK GROUP | THE AGE OF ASTONISHMENT
History, Literary Art
Tuesday, December 20, 6 PM
Online
Free

Read and discuss compelling nonfiction books handpicked by Library of Virginia staff that explore Virginia history, society, and culture. This month, we'll discuss The Age of Astonishment: John Morris in the Miracle Century—From the Civil War to the Cold War by Bill Morris. Check your local public library to borrow titles, or purchase through the Virginia Shop or other online retailers. Please check out our monthly Common Ground Book Group post on the UncommonWealth blog to view LVA collection items and other resources for each month's book choice. Registration required for this free event.


7. RVA WINTER PUPPETFEST
Puppetry, Theatre
Friday & Saturday, December 23 & 24, 10:30 AM & 1 PM
Tuesday, December 27 – Friday, December 30, times vary
Richmond Triangle Players, 1300 Altamont Avenue, Richmond, 23230
$5/performance

Six Days. Twelve Shows. Live Puppetry in RVA! Join Puppets Off Broad Street at Richmond Triangle Players' Robert B. Moss Theatre for live (and lively!) performances. Purchase tickets online.


8. THE NUTCRACKER
Dance
Through Friday, December 23
Times and dates vary
Richmond Ballet, 407 East Canal Street, Richmond, 23219
$25 - $130

Presented by Richmond Ballet with brand new scenery designed by Alain Vaës, a new Chinese dance choreographed by Ma Cong, and refreshed costumes make their much-anticipated debut this December. While these stunning designs will delight with their vibrant colors and fantastical imagery, they extend from the same storybook vision for which Stoner Winslett’s production is so beloved. Music performed by the Richmond Symphony. Don’t miss your chance to experience this next magical evolution to The Nutcracker this holiday season! Purchase tickets online.


9. VIRGINIA THEATRE MACHINE’S A CHRISTMAS CAROL
Theatre
Wednesday, December 21 and Friday, December 23, 5:30 PM
   -- at Hardywood Craft Brewery, 2410 Ownby Lane, Richmond, 23220
Saturday, December 24, 2 PM
   -- at Hardywood Craft Brewery – Westcreek, 820 Sanctuary Trail Dr, Richmond, 23238
Free

The Virginia Theatre Machine presents a 30-minute outdoor performance extravaganza as two Virginia thespians attempt the grueling and stage defying act of recreating Dickens' classic tale of redemption. The thespians transform themselves into multiple characters of all ages, gender and spectral variety, and will put themselves in psychological harm's way as they expose their inner souls to the full range of emotions needed to transport their audience from laughter to pity to shock to love to despair to hope, and will conclude with a full catharsis of all the emotions ever recorded.* Audiences will be able to gather around this outdoor stage to share in this intimate marvel of stagecraft with full production values. *Free tissues always provided in any performance by the two thespians. No registration required for this free event.


10. CHRISTMAS IN EARLY AMERICA HOLIDAY TOURS OF THE JOHN MARSHALL HOUSE
History, Culture
Friday, December 23
John Marshall House, 818 East Marshall Street, Richmond, 23219
$15

Enhance your winter holiday with a visit to the historic John Marshall House. Enjoy a 45-minute “Christmas in Early America” guided tour and see the Chief Justice’s 1790 home bedecked in period garnish and ornament. Learn about holiday customs of the period and what Christmas meant to not only John Marshall, his family, and guests, but also how holidays impacted the lives of enslaved people in Early America, as well. Purchase tickets online.


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 and the Richmond Ballet are sponsors for VPM.

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