2023 Holiday Markets
Holiday Boutique November 17 through December 24 Virginia Beach Art Center artcentervb.org Impress loved ones with unique, hand-crafted gifts of fine art and artisan crafts. Give a gift like no other. Mistletoe Market November 18 Wells Theatre vastage.org...
2023 Holiday Lights & Parades
HOLIDAY LIGHTS & PARADES Garden of Lights Norfolk Botanical Garden Through December 31 5-9:30 PM Nightly NBGlights.org Get out and enjoy the spectacular 1.5 million lights at Norfolk Botanical Garden through New Year’s Eve. Barks & Bulbs Norfolk...
NEON Shines Bright with The Arts
(Kyle Confehr’s The Kindness of Strangers mural. Photo by Jon Abrahams of Jpixx) By Jerome Langston When urbanist and scholar, Richard Florida, first introduced the “creative class” into our popular lexicon back in the early aughts, his ideas were heralded as being...
Hoggard. Remembering Joe
By Jim Raper On a fall night sometime in the late 1980s I dined with a professional group of about 20 at Joe Hoggard’s Ships Cabin restaurant in Norfolk’s East Ocean View. Our main course this evening would be cioppino. “It’ll be the best fish soup you’ve ever had,”...
100-Year-Old Norfolk Family Business is Bringing City’s Historic Railyard District Back to Life
By Joel Rubin “To Janit…The Sweetest Little Girl I Know.” So wrote John Frank in 1958 on the wall of what was likely a bar on Hampton Boulevard at 25th Street in Norfolk. John and Janit’s relationship was lost to history until workmen uncovered the quote, part of a...
ESSAY: A Fan’s Notes
By Tom Robotham Over the years, I’ve written a lot about my love of baseball, and it’s on my mind once again as the World Series approaches. Lately, though, I’ve been reflecting on this in a broader context: Why are sports in general so captivating? I realize, of...
TCC Opens New Visual Arts and Design Center
By Jim Roberts Marcia Conston didn’t live in Norfolk in 2011—the year Farm Fresh closed its grocery store in downtown Norfolk—but she fully understands the impact of Tidewater Community College expanding into that long unused space. “I never imagined that we could...
Stockard’s 10-Year Transformation of Norfolk State Theatre Company
By Jeff Maisey Over the past decade, Anthony Mark Stockard’s passionate vision for theatrical arts has been transformational for Norfolk State University. In what was more or less an afterthought on the curriculum offerings at Norfolk State, the establishment of...
BOOK REVIEW: Homeward Bound
(Author Michael Pearson on the road in Ireland. Courtesy photo) By Tom Robotham Over the last three decades, Michael Pearson—former professor of creative writing and literature at Old Dominion University—has written seven books of nonfiction focusing on his two great...
ESSAY: An Education
By Tom Robotham Recently, I received a notice from the State University of New York at Plattsburgh that my graduating class would be among those honored during this year’s homecoming weekend. Until then, it hadn’t dawned on me that 2023 marks 45 years since I donned...
WAR Headlines Funk Fest
By Jeff Maisey Many of you know the classic hit songs from the band WAR — “Low Rider,” “The Cisco Kid,” “Summer,” and “Why Can’t We Be Friends?” What you may not recall is the musical crossover group from Southern California known for weaving elements funk, jazz,...
Come Sail Away with Styx and Foreigner
(Styx returns to Virginia Beach August 20. Photo by Jason Powell) By Jeff Maisey Styx keyboardist/singer Lawrence Gowan is marking his 25th anniversary with the classic rock band known for its many FM radio hit songs like “Come Sail Away,” “Blue Collar Man,”...
Getting in a Brazilian Groove
By Jerome Langston “John Toomey and I met Nate Najar through a mutual friend, Chuck Redd, who's been down here and played with us,” says Jimmy Masters, a highly regarded jazz bassist, during a recent phone chat about the long running jazz series that he curates at the...
Two Nights to Smile and Dance with Beres Hammond
By Jim Morrison Beres Hammond grew up the ninth of 10 children in Jamaica listening to his father's jazz and soul records, artists like Sam Cooke and Otis Redding. But ska was the sound of the moment on the island inevitably slipping into his style when he started...
New Music Reviews
King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard “Le Risqué” Australian psych-rock pilots King Gizzard and The Lizard Wizard just dropped a bomb of a first single from their upcoming record “Flight b741”. The new single “Le Risque” is a fun straight forward boogie number that...
ART: Modeled Reality
(Anthropocene Reliquary: ebonized ash, crushed coal, found bone, digital image) By Betsy DiJulio I look at my work as a distillate of experience. Life events, travel, relationships, politics and dreams all condense to varying degrees into my sculpture. I synthesize,...
Films That Move – 2024 Premieres
(Renata Sheppard) By Montague Gammon III Big art coming out of the small town of Cape Charles has made this erstwhile ferry boat stop on Virginia’s Eastern Shore known from Los Angeles to New York, at film festivals across the USA and as far flung as Ireland and Hong...
Homecoming for Missy Elliott at the Coliseum
(Ciara, Missy Elliott, and Busta Rhymes) By Jerome Langston "I feel like she is the ultimate trendsetter, but she’s also timeless,” says Nakia Madry-Smith, during a recent chat about the Hampton Roads born and reared popular music icon, Missy Elliott, who is currently...
Bullish on Wall Street Mural Fest in P-town
The cash-award winning mural went to “Bull” by Nico Cathcart. (Photo by Nikki Park.) By Betsy DiJulio “Portsmouth is dope.” You don’t hear that often, laughed Nikki Park, one of the 4-member subcommittee of Support Portsmouth Public Art (SPPA) who recently mounted...
New Generation Shines in Little Shop of Horrors
(The Urchins: Shaniya Reddy, Jalen Whitmore, Bella McKenzie, Tahtiana Crawford, Stephanie Tillman-Liggins, and Micah Lister) By Montague Gammon III It’s musical theater based on the extra low budget, black and white movie that helped set 23-year-old Jack Nicholson on...
Catching Up with Wasserhund’s Aaron Holley
(Bee-Thoven Honey Hefeweizen is one of Wasserhund's springtime special releases) BY JEFF MAISEY In this video interview Wasserhund Brewing Company owner/brewer Aaron Holley shares his viewpoints regarding operating a brewpub under state government mandated...
St George Unveils Rare Beers
By Jeff Maisey St. George brewmaster Andy Rathmann unearthed several bottle-aged Imperial stouts stored as far back as 2005. A limited number of these are available at the brewery and packaged as the St George Vertical Sampler Series. Watch our video interview below...
VIDEO INTERVIEW: Jennifer Eichert of Mermaid Winery
(Mermaid Winery's new "to-go" wine tasting glasses with plastic lids are a fun and clever way to take the winery experience home to share) By Jeff Maisey Like many Virginia restaurants and breweries, Norfolk's Mermaid Winery is getting creative to keep loyal customers...
Audacious Bold Mariner Unveils NATO Fest Beer
By Jeff Maisey The COVID-19 global pandemic has sunk many plans this spring, but it was unable to divert The Bold Mariner from completing its charted mission for this year’s Norfolk NATO Festival beer collaboration celebrating Italy. The beer is called Audace,...
Mead: The Drink of Ancient Kings & Warriors
(Glenn Lavender says everyone needs mead. Photo by Sarah Harris) By Diane Catanzaro and Chris Jones When you think of mead, what picture do you see in your mind’s eye? Some Thor-ish fellow downing a skull-chalice of mead after an epic battle? Beowulf, wolfing down...
Takeaways from VA Beer Co’s 4th Anniversary
(The crew from Virginia Beer Company celebrate curbside. Photo courtesy of the brewery) By Jeff Maisey Virginia Beer Company co-founders Robbie Willey and Chris Smith could never have imagined celebrating the fourth anniversary of their successful Williamsburg brewery...
The O’Connor Decade
(Penny & Kevin O’Connor in February 2020. Photo by Jeff Maisey) By Jeff Maisey A little luck of the Irish and a determined can-do attitude on St Patrick’s Day 2010 got O’Connor Brewing Company up and running with its first batch of beer. In our mid-March 2010...
Baladi Mediterranean Café: A Playground for the Taste Buds
By Betsy DiJulio With some 35 plant-based dishes (and still more that are vegetarian)—mezze, soups, salads, wraps, entrees, sides, and desserts—Baladi Mediterranean Café is a vegan’s veritable playground. They even offer vegan wine. In fact, Wednesdays...
Tour de ’Burg: A drinking tour of Williamsburg
(Diane Catanzaro and Chris Jones treat their out-of-town guests to a tour of Williamsburg, including this scenic stop on the deck of Billsburg Brewery.) By Diane Catanzaro and Chris Jones When you think of Williamsburg, VA, what pops into your mind? A bonny burg...
2019 Distilled
(In 2020, make it your New Year’s Resolution to tour Virginia’s distilleries. Photo by Revel Photo Co.) BY JIM ROBERTS General Assembly Increases Commission For Distillery Stores The Virginia General Assembly passed a bill in March raising the commission for licensed...
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