NEWS: Hermitage Museum’s Rapid Capital Campaign
Staff Report The Hermitage Museum and Gardens has begun a rapid capital campaign with the goal of raising $3.5 million for needed renovations to its Visual Arts School, a Tudor England-styled building, and for enhancements to its grounds. “The preservation and...
ESSAY: Powerless
By Tom Robotham On the morning of September 30, when hurricane Ian started to make its presence felt in Norfolk, I was watching CNN’s coverage of the devastation in Florida. Since my oldest friend lives in Fort Myers—ground zero, as it turned out—I was worried...
NEWS: Lynne Seagle Has Been a Transformative Leader
(Lynne Seagle. Photo by Mark Edward Atkinson) By Jeff Maisey After more than 40 years, Hope House Foundation Executive Director Lynne Seagle will step aside on New Year’s Day upcoming. During the past four-plus decades, Seagle has been a transformative leader, a...
ART NEWS: Shooting Stars
By Jeff Maisey Award-winning international celebrity/fashion photographer and director Markus Klinko is best known for capturing some of the most iconic images of the stars. Klinko’s extensive portfolio includes captivating images Beyonce, Lady Gaga, David...
NEWS: Diana Blanchard Gross Lands in Hampton
(Diana L. Blanchard Gross preparing for the 2022 Virginia Artists Juried Exhibition.) By Betsy DiJulio Coming under the umbrella of Hampton Arts—aka the Hampton Arts Commission, which was created by Hampton City Council in 1987—together with The American Theatre and...
ESSAY: Young and Free
(My childhood home, shortly before my family moved in, in 1959.) By Tom Robotham During this summer’s heatwave, when I stayed home as much as possible, I spent a few afternoons binge-watching The Andy Griffith Show. I loved the program when it aired in primetime,...
BUSINESS: Matthew Stewart Rides into Retirement
(Matthew Stewart hits the retirement road) By Jeff Maisey After 43 years, Coastal Import Repair founding owner Matthew Stewart has decided to ride off into the sunset of retirement. To many in Hampton Roads, and especially in Norfolk, Coastal Import Repair has been a...
LECTURE: Rick Steves Returns Through the Back Door
(European travel guru Rick Steves kicks off Norfolk Forum’s 90th season. Photo by Zachary Scott) By Jeff Maisey When Rick Steves returns from his European vacation — he’ll be in Burgundy and the Swiss Alps in August — one of the first work-related duties he’ll be...
ESSAY: In My Travels
By Tom Robotham This summer, for the first time in a long while, I haven’t ventured outside of Hampton Roads. There are a number of reasons for that, a tight budget chief among them. If all goes well, I’ll wander farther afield in 2023. Meanwhile, I’m moved to reflect...
Elizabeth River Project begins expansion on North Colley
(A rendering of its Knitting Mill Creek boardwalk.) By Jim Roberts The Elizabeth River Project has spent 30 years transforming its namesake waterway. Now it’s preparing to transform Norfolk’s North Colley business corridor and adjacent Knitting Mill Creek. The...
Electric Bass Superstar’s Symphonic Lesson
By Montague Gammon III Virginia Symphony hosts one of the world’s greatest electric bass players, Newport News native, Denbigh High grad and former Busch Gardens teen instrumentalist, quintuple Grammy-winning Victor Wooten, to conclude a three piece program with his...
Ambient Music Showcase at The Z
Matt Wallace performs, records, and composes as Crash Mosaic. By Jeff Maisey During a conversation with Liz Terrell, program director at Zeiders American Dream Theater in Virginia Beach, I suggested a showcase of local, independent ambient music composers. To...
MUSIC: Still Drivin’ N Cryin’
By Jim Morrison By the time Kevn Kinney moved to Atlanta from Milwaukee in 1982 he was an old young man. He'd been working since he was 16, hard labor, jobs most nobody else cared to do. In Georgia that was working as a form carpenter building sewage plants. For...
ART REVIEW: Nature Comes to Light
(Sand Dunes, Sunrise, Death Valley National Monument, California, 1948, printed 1974, Ansel Adams (American, 1902-1984), Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Gift of Andrea Gray Stillman, 2018.584, © The Ansel Adams Publishing Rights Trust) By Betsy DiJulio Landscape...
Top 5 King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard albums of 2022
By Nate Sacks Australian Psych-rockers King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard had yet another prolific year in terms of official album releases. The band previously released 5 albums in 2017, and now 5 years later they repeated the madness. There's plenty of smaller...
London Calling and Gourmandizing NEON
Artist Matthew McGuinness By Betsy DiJulio Look beneath the surface of most community murals and there you will find a rich backstory—a stew if you will—of historical context and contemporary perspective. The newest mural in Norfolk’s NEON district boasts that...
A Magical Paradox: When Students Become Teachers
By Kate Mattingly Learning a dance is a lot like playing a game of telephone: movement leaves one body and is passed to another, transformed by that person’s anatomy and style, and then transmitted and transformed again, and again. For Eli Motley, a...
Romantic Christmas with Dave Koz
By Jeff Maisey Smooth jazz saxophonist Dave Koz has made a successful seasonal career hitting the road for the past 25 years in the month leading up to Christmas Eve with his critically acclaimed Dave Koz & Friends Christmas Tour. When the Silver...
The Nigerian Connection
By Jerome Langston While a fellow at the Newark Museum of Art back in 2015, curator Kimberli Gant, PhD, discovered a significant connection between African-American painter Jacob Lawrence, regarded by some as the most celebrated black...
PREVIEW: Mummenschanz
(The avant-garde mime troupe has a distant connection to Norfolk) By Jim Roberts Mummenschanz, the avant-garde mime troupe celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, has a distant but meaningful connection to Norfolk: Floriana Frassetto, one of the group’s founders,...
Tea is Just One Jewel in Prince Tea House’s Crown
(Afternoon tea, anyone? Photo courtesy of Prince Tea House VB.) By Marisa Marsey When someone says tea house, what do you picture? A stiff upper-lipped British parlor, fine bone china, crustless watercress sandwiches and clotted cream? Perhaps your thoughts race to a...
BEER: Crossing the Thin Brew Line
(Beer-tender Cara and Thin Brew Line’s new brewer, Raf Corredor. Photo by Chris Jones.) By Diane Catanzaro & Chris Jones There you are in Virginia Beach, looking for a place to get a libation, a sip of suds, a beer. You’d like something fresh, delicious, and...
The Grey Goose Turns 40
(The Grey Goose now serves brunch six days a week. Photo by Grey Goose ) By Marisa Marsey “That was really tasty,” said Phillip Epstein as he and his wife Dana exited The Grey Goose Tea Room in Downtown Hampton. “But I don’t need to go back again.” The year was 2007....
Mexican-Inspired for Cinco de Mayo
By Jeff Maisey Mexican lagers have been a favorite amongst local beer lovers, especially on Hampton Roads’ notoriously humid, hot days of spring and summer. Beer brands from South of the Border like Modelo, Dos Equis, Tecate, Cerveza Pacifico Clara have...
REVIEW: Crudo Nudo is a Delight
(A vegan’s dream come true dish. Photo courtesy of Crudo Nudo.) By Betsy DiJulio Sadly, I was late to the Crudo Nudo party. Until recently, I was under the mistaken impression that the storefront restaurant, open for four years, was charcuterie-heavy with little to...
DINING: Comforts of Ireland
(Robert McGregor Wallace, the general manager at Grace O’Malley’s, displays the house-made fish and chips. The Scotland native said, “That’s the real thing.”) Local pubs serve fish and chips and other traditional dishes By Jim Roberts There may be a friendly rivalry...
Chef Jae in Your Kitchen
(Jae Sinnett prepares everything from scratch in your kitchen. Photo by Mark Robbins By Jeff Maisey Let’s say you enjoy the good things in life and within your social circle are likeminded friends who equally appreciate the sounds of jazz, savor a select bottle of...
Twin Restaurant Weeks
(Restaurant Week is a great way to explore creative culinary creations at Mermaid Winery on Shore Drive. Photo courtesy of Mermaid Winery.) By Jeff Maisey Restaurant Weeks serve as a promotion for dining establishments during what would otherwise be a slow period and...
Benchtop Brewing Wins 2021 Golden Tap Award
(Benchtop Brewing celebrates its 3rd Golden Tap Award) Staff Report Norfolk’s Benchtop Brewing Company took home 10 medals and earned the most cumulative points to make it Veer Magazine’s 2021 Golden Tap Awards overall winner. Gold, silver and bronze medals were...
TRAVEL & DRINK: Sixteen Days in Belgium
(Wife and husband beer writers Diane Catanzaro and Chris Jones at Cafe Den Obelix in Hall, Belgium. Photo by Kate Keese.) By Diane Catanzaro and Chris Jones When you’re sitting there in your silk upholstered chair and thinking about your next beer-focused “Vayca,”...
