Official poster commemorating the 2017 Richmond Folk Festival revealed

The official poster commemorating the 2017 Richmond Folk Festival was revealed Wednesday night at Glave Kocen Gallery in The Fan.

Chris Milk Hulburt, a celebrated Richmond-based artist, designed this year’s poster. Instead of his usual approach to art—going with his heart and seeing where it leads—Hulburt saw the 2017 Richmond Folk Fest poster as an enormous responsibility, and one he wanted to handle a little differently, according to the “Folk Fest Insider” newsletter:

With dozens of performer names and group acts to fit on the poster, he really wanted to make sure the art complemented the names without overpowering them. “I just wanted them to be the stars.” Putting more work into the planning process meant that some ideas ended up crumpled up in the trash, but that’s OK with him.

Hulburt’s colorfully painted pieces are famous for their nontraditional canvas—that is, the pictures themselves are usually painted on scrap wood. He got his start as a painter, but the kind that painted the interior and exterior of houses. When he found himself with some extra paint and wood one day, a star was born. But now he’d like the limelight to shine on the performers of the festival he loves more than any other Richmond event.

“I go every year,” he says. “It’s a wonderful thing.” Last year in particular, Hulburt remembers, the beatbox showcase brought him to tears, “about nineteen times.” And it’s that spirit of awe and gratitude that we can expect to see channeled into this year’s Richmond Folk Fest poster.

“I see it as this figure who is singing the praises of all these wonderful talents that alight on our town every year,” he describes. “This sort of humble figure that’s just sort of saying ‘Look at this giant list of just wonderful people who come and do this amazing thing…and we get to wander about and see them. For free!'”

A limited quantity of signed prints will be available for sale at this year’s festival, which runs October 13th through the 15th on the Downtown Richmond riverfront. Signed posters and festival merchandise are also available at Plan 9 Music in Carytown.

Click to see all past years’ poster artwork:

• 2008 – Ed Trask
• 2009 – Laura Marr & Jason Smith
• 2010 – Wes Freed
• 2011 – Matt Lively
• 2012 – Kelly Alder
• 2013 – Brianna Bevan & Jason Frank
• 2014 – Leslie Herman
• 2015 – Bizhan Khodabandeh
• 2016 – Katie McBride