Meet Erin Frye, this week's guest editor! Erin is a local musician, yoga and meditation teacher, and the Director of Programs and Outreach with CultureWorks. At CultureWorks, she helps the Richmond based nonprofit strengthen the impact of artists and arts and culture organizations throughout our region. When she's not working, you can find Erin bringing hope and healing to communities worldwide through accessible music and wellness experiences. Her travels as a volunteer musician have included orphanages, refugee camps, juvenile jails, and more from Africa to Europe, and across North America. She is also the founder of Gals for a Cause RVA, a former Big Sister through BBBS, and a former Teaching Artist/Performer in SPARC’s inclusive LIVE ART program.
Take it away, Erin ...
Freedom
Constellation Tour
Freedom Constellations is a powerful, interactive public art project that imagines a world without youth prisons; where all youth have the support and resources they need to grow, thrive, and stay free. This fall, Richmonders can join a series of FREE interactive tours and experiences led by Performing Statistics educators featuring Freedom Constellations. The project includes an interactive mural on 3rd & Broad, a recently launched GRTC bus wrap, and 160 ft tall portraits of Richmond youth leaders covering City Hall (the largest interactive installation on a municipal building in the country). As viewers hold their phones up to these powerful portraits, they become animated through augmented reality. Each tour will provide three immersive stations for visitors to experience this one-of-a-kind reality animation that was co-designed by Richmond youth. In addition, tour participants will have an opportunity to engage with historic artifacts at John Marshall House and travel to the top of City Hall observation deck with a guide from The Valentine. Take a tour, and have a mind- and heart-opening experience while imagining a better future for Richmond.
Rosette is a Richmond-based string quartet comprised of Ellen Cockerham Riccio (violin), Treesa Gold (violin), Kimberly Ryan (viola), and Steph Barrett (cello). All members are professional musicians who balance teaching private lessons with performing in the Richmond Symphony, Classical Revolution RVA, and other ensembles. This October, Rosette launched their newest concert series called So Hot Right Now in eight different venues. The last of the eight popular performances happens to be TONIGHT, Thursday, October 28th, at Candela Books & Gallery. So Hot Right Now highlights the music of Caroline Shaw, a New York-based musician and the youngest winner of the Pulitzer Prize in Music. Personally, I can’t wait to experience this – hope to see you there!
Food resiliency advocate and urban farms activist, Duron Chavis, recently announced the grand opening and ribbon cutting ceremony for his newest urban gardening project, Sankofa Community Orchard, at 12:00pm on Friday, October 29th. Attendees will be able to tour the beautiful orchard and learn more about this two-acre green space that is dedicated to food justice and climate resiliency. The garden, located in Richmond’s Southside, consists of over 80 fruit trees and features an outdoor kitchen, a curated space for special events, and numerous mural walls courtesy of local Richmond artists. Sankofa Community Orchard is a member of The Jackson Ward Collective, a hub for Black business owners that provides connections to services, programs, technical assistance and financial support to help Black business owners learn, grow and own. My hope is for the community to wrap its arms around the Sankofa Community Orchard, and support Duron’s continued initiatives around urban agriculture and local food systems. His work is creating meaningful, lasting change in our community.
Catch our guest editor, Erin Frye, along with other inspiring leaders from across the country at Rebelle Con, a multi-day experience for women influencing the business world of the future. November 3-4, 2021.
