Today, in our divisive political landscape, some nine out of ten Americans say they’re exhausted by our political divisions and looking for a way out. In these challenging times, StoryCorps’ One Small Step program is working to help mend the fraying fabric of our nation–one conversation at a time.

The One Small Step program is working intensively in three “Anchor Communities,” including Richmond, to bring strangers with different political beliefs together–not to debate politics–but to have a conversation about their lives. In the process, the hope is that they both discover their shared humanity.

To date, over 3,000 people across more than 40 U.S. states have participated. Anyone anywhere can be matched for a conversation. Click here to learn more.

In one recent conversation, Richmonders Jerome and Warren learned they had more in common than they thought, even though they’re on different sides of the political aisle.

Lewis Ginter has often been referenced as “the greatest Richmonder of all time.” That attribution speaks to the man’s accomplishments, having built a thriving Tobacco business after the Civil War and set the Virginia Economy on a path toward prosperity and acclaim for decades to come. Among his ‘firsts’ were the introduction of Trading Cards, the employment of women, and a cooperative mindset for local suppliers to reduce costs for both parties.

His other achievements included several infrastructure projects that created neighborhoods, parks, and churches. He was the initial investor in what became Virginia Power, and his trolley system was the first continually operating public transport of its kind in North America. He financed and built the only five-star hotel in Richmond: The Jefferson. He named it for his childhood idol.

Despite all of his successes, he refused to have any statues of himself and would not allow his name to be used for any of his projects. During his lifetime, there were no streets, buildings, neighborhoods, or parks named for him. His one tribute was the naming of a street that intersects Hermitage Road in the Lakeside neighborhood: Pope.

This simple gesture is the only public indication that Lewis was in fact head over heels in love with a younger man. After having met John Pope in Manhattan, Lewis expended a lot of effort to find the young man and convince the teenager’s family to allow John a chance of success in Richmond. From the time they connected as colleagues, they were also beginning a decades-long romantic ‘friendship’ that we now understand as love.

A new local book series is hoping to shed light on some of his more personal details. Ginter’s Pope, local author John Musgrove’s first novel, is a detailed accounting of their relationship. While it is Historical Fiction, the saga is based on the true-life events that made their love story a touching, heartbreaking tale of two men that loved one another in a time when there were no words for such a relationship. This is book one in the Reticent Richmond series.

This book is the first in a planned series of four. The next volume, Mary’s Grace will expand upon Grace Arents (Ginter’s Niece and heir) and her girlfriend, Mary Garland Smith. Book three, Garland’s Legacy details the forty years of patronage that Garland lavished on Richmond. The last book, George’s Race, tells the story of George Arents, a racecar driver that left his wife for a man that stole his heart on the racetrack. All are based on real-life people, events, and sagas from the same family.

The author, John Musgrove, is an information security analyst at the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond. He has graduated five times from VCU, holding a BS and MS in Information Systems, and Post Baccalaureate Certificates in Instructional Technology, Nonprofit Management, and Geospatial Information Systems. He served as a Navy Corpsman, supporting the Marine Corps and did a tour of duty for Desert Storm. 

Ginter’s Pope is available through most retailers in paperback, eBook, and audiobook formats. Click here to learn more.

For the first time since early spring 2020, University of Richmond Museums is presenting three new exhibitions, all of which are open to the public. Museums reopened to the community in March 2022.

“We’re delighted to welcome the campus and the greater Richmond communities back to our spaces, with a slate of exhibitions and programs that showcase student scholarship and creativity and artistic innovators of our time,” said Elizabeth Schlatter, interim executive director. “We will also welcome numerous faculty and students to our exhibitions this semester as part of their course work in our continuing efforts to advance the educational mission of the University.”

The three new exhibitions, which open to the public next week include:

• Duane Michals: The Portraitist
• Therefore I Am: Portraits from the Joel and Lila Harnett Print Study Center
• Annual Student Exhibition

University of Richmond Museums are free and open to the public, no appointment necessary. Hours of operation are Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday from 11 a.m.-3 p.m. and Thursday from 1-7 p.m. For more information about directions, exhibitions, and programs, visits museums.richmond.edu.

Exhibition details include:

Duane Michals: The Portraitist is on view in the Harnett Museum of Art, located in the Modlin Center for the Arts, Aug. 24 through Nov. 18.

The exhibition presents the first comprehensive overview of inventive photographic portraits by one of the medium’s most influential artists. Best known as a pioneer who broke away from established traditions of documentary photography in the 1960s, Michals is widely recognized for his ability to navigate between imposing his style and allowing his sitters to express themselves, and for the sequences he assembles to convey personal visual narratives, often adding handwritten messages and poems on the photographic print surface.

More than 125 portraits are included in the exhibition, many of which were recently discovered in a workroom in his brownstone building in New York City. Frequently commissioned to create portraits of actors, writers, musicians, and others, among the wide-ranging selection for the exhibition are images of artist Andy Warhol with his mother Julia Warhola, musicians Benny Goodman and Branford Marsalis, the original cast of “Saturday Night Live”, and actors Meryl Streep and Tilda Swinton.

Therefore I Am: Portraits from the Joel and Lila Harnett Print Study Center is on view in the Modlin Center for the Arts Atrium and Booker Hall Aug. 24 through July 7, 2023.

The exhibition presents a selection of portraits spanning six centuries and examines the various roles that portraiture has played in portraying the identity of the sitter. Historically, portraiture has been used by society’s elite to communicate messages of power, prosperity, and beauty. With recent advances in technology such as digital cameras and smartphones, portraiture has become omnipresent in society today. The exhibition encourages the viewer to think about how we consume and interact with portraiture in our everyday lives, whether it be scrolling through group photos on social media or taking a selfie.

Highlighted artworks include Reigning Queens (Queen Beatrix) by Andy Warhol, a portrait of Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands that belongs to a screen print series featuring four ruling queens of the 1980s. Reigning Queens, with its bold color blocks and larger than life composition, exemplifies the allure of the celebrity portrait in a Pop Art style.

The Annual Student Exhibition will be on view Aug. 24 through Sept. 22 in the Harnett Museum of Art. Selected by the visual arts faculty, the exhibition features work by visual media and arts students during the University’s 2021-22 academic year. About 30 artworks are in the exhibition, which range from mixed media and video to sculpture and printmaking.

Exhibits that remain on view include:

Gee’s Bend Prints: From Quilts to Prints is on view through July 7, 2023 in the Modlin Center Booth Lobby.

The prints in this exhibition are inspired by the quilts of Gee’s Bend, Alabama. African American women of this remote community have created hundreds of quilts for more than a century. The quilts have been recognized as “some of the most miraculous works of modern art America has produced,” as noted by Michael Kimmelman, The New York Times art critic.

Several of the younger generations of quilters have made etchings based on small-scaled maquette quilts. Collaborating with master printers at Paulson Fontaine Press in Berkeley, California, the artists used innovative techniques to transfer the quilt design to an etching that highlights the strong patterns, textures, and compositions of traditional Gee’s Bend quilts. The artists featured in the exhibition include Louisiana Bendolph, Loretta Pettway, Mary Lee Bendolph, and Essie Bendolph Pettway.

Cabinet of Curiosity Reimagined: Museum Studies Seminar is on view through May 5, 2023, in the Department of Art & Art History.

Cabinets of curiosity, or “wunderkammer,” were the primary mode of displaying collections among European royals and aristocrats from the mid-16th through mid-18th centuries, showcasing natural specimens, cultural artifacts, and works of art. These cabinets fell out of fashion with the advent of scientific classification and museum development in the 18th and 19th centuries. In response to the resurgence of the cabinet display format in the modern museum world, this exhibition examines the purpose and power of museums –– their developing methods of collection and curation over time, often controversial acquisition of objects, and ability to inspire and influence audiences.

The cabinet features selected works of art and natural specimens from the collections of the Lora Robins Gallery.