(Artist Kat Tines sits proud with her street art contribution. Photo by Lori Golding Zontini for ViBe Creative District. )
VB Street Art Festival
By Betsy DiJulio
Like a person’s identity, a city’s distinct character looks, feels, sounds, and smells like no other. But it is far from static. This amalgamation of distinct elements—geography, built environment, arts and culture, history, heritage, and people—shifts over time. Even aspects that seem immutable—like the natural environment—respond to forces seen and unseen. Sometimes the changes are unintentional as with sea level rise, but sometimes, they are highly deliberate
Such is the case with the changing face of the ViBe Creative District at the Virginia Beach oceanfront. In 2015, the organization was a nascent dream of neighborhood revitalization and support for creative businesses. With roots stretching back to the 2008 launch of the Old Beach Farmer’s Market, it wasn’t long before these few blocks became a vibrant cultural hub known simply as the ViBe.
This year, the New York Times named the ViBe one of their “52 Places to Go in 2026.” Leading the charge for the last decade is visionary Kate Pittman, executive director. Right off the bat, Pittman set about working with businesses and neighbors to transform derelict spaces into meaningful places. Over the course of the last year alone, 200 artists and small businesses have benefited from the support of the ViBe, including the addition of more than 100 works of art.
The fifteen newest works took shape over the weekend of May 29-31—which coincided with Jackalope—under the (beach) umbrella of the VB Street Art Festival. This, the third annual iteration of the Festival, was presented by The Runnymede Corporation with support from MEB and in partnership with the City of Virginia Beach Arts & Humanities Commission. In addition to interacting with artists in the wild during daylight hours, festival-goers were encouraged to dine, shop, and enjoy evening performances.
From an open call, some 75 submissions from 16 states and three countries rolled in. Fifteen artists—11 from Hampton Roads—were selected by the Virginia Beach Public Art Committee to paint one of the sculptural pillars at intersections within a 1.5-mile area. The pillars, originally designed by Clark Nexsen, are part of the streetscaping plan that rendered the area more beautiful and more walkable.
Because of the somewhat complex geometric shape of the pillars, artists scaled their designs to a template for submission. With no overarching theme, the sky was the limit for subject matter. The selection committee leaned into takes on the denizens of the deep along with our state bird, non-objective patterns, and people. Stylistically, most skirt a line between realism and abstraction with vibrant color unofficially de rigueur. Pittman matched artists with pillars, creating thematic connections with nearby businesses where possible.
For their efforts, the artists were paid $1,250 to cover materials—spray paint and exterior acrylic—and their honoraria. Though visiting artists were responsible for their travel, once in Virginia Beach, they were hosted by ViBe at various Airbnbs. And Pittman checked on all of them every hour or two to ensure they were not getting overheated or under-hydrated.
Everyone will likely have their favorites among these eye-popping neighborhood way finders that as Pittman says, “bring the art right out to street level.” A couple of examples of what to expect include Fernando Hernandez’s cardinal. Hernandez is an artist and licensed tattoo artist based in Virginia Beach. Taught to draw by his father at the age of two, Hernandez describes his style as “Graffiti mixed with bright colors, realistic hints of value, humor, video game/geek culture, and a mesh of abstract elements used to speak bold statements.” His design features a muscular and feisty cardinal perched on a tree limb beside a spray paint can, having seemingly just tagged the trunk with “VA is for Lovers.”
Kate Nesbitt, a contemporary painter, muralist, and creative educator based in Virginia Beach, embraces accessible art that celebrates everyday beauty. Bold color and layered textures characterize her work which, in this case, is an explosion of berries and citrus fruits, appropriately situated just outside a spot known for its smoothies and coffee.
The only seeming downside to the Festival art is that its time on view is fleeting at just one year. And some locals hate to see their favorites whited out each May. But, as with most things in life, there is an upside: every year provides an opportunity to fall in love with new favorites.
For artist bios and statements, audio files, images of their submissions, a map, and more, visit: VB Street Art Festival, https://vibecreativedistrict.org/vb-street-art-festival/, 757.202.9533, 611 18th Street, VA Beach (office). — Betsy DiJulio