Arts & Entertainment
VMFA announces upcoming exhibition “Isaac Julien: Lessons of the Hour — Frederick Douglass”
“We are thrilled to have Lessons of the Hour — Frederick Douglass in VMFA’s collection,” said Cassel Oliver. “Frederick Douglass’ powerful orations and the innovative and captivating cinematography of Issac Julien will help visitors better understand Douglass’ legacy and the relevance to our contemporary experience.”
The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts (VMFA) this week announced the multi-screen film installation Isaac Julien: Lessons of the Hour — Frederick Douglass, on view at the museum in Richmond from December 10, 2022 through July 9, 2023. The installation is organized by Valerie Cassel Oliver, VMFA’s Sydney and Frances Lewis Family Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art.
“The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts is delighted to present this compelling work about Frederick Douglass, one of the most significant figures in American history,” said Alex Nyerges, VMFA’s Director and CEO. “Through his advocacy in abolition and women’s suffrage, he called on the nation to make important reforms and embrace human rights, regardless of race or gender.”
The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts will present the film as an immersive ten-screen experience as envisioned by its creator, internationally renowned London-born artist and filmmaker, Sir Isaac Julien. The work is a poetic meditation on the great abolitionist and features a series of vignettes from Douglass’ life prior to and during his travel to the United Kingdom in 1841. Using arresting visuals and sound, Julien brings the historical figure to life and collapses time and space to bridge history with the persistent concerns of our day.
“We are thrilled to have Lessons of the Hour — Frederick Douglass in VMFA’s collection,” said Cassel Oliver. “Frederick Douglass’ powerful orations and the innovative and captivating cinematography of Issac Julien will help visitors better understand Douglass’ legacy and the relevance to our contemporary experience.”
Douglass is portrayed by Shakespearean actor Ray Fearon in a series of fragmented scenes that are woven with spoken word, photography and contemporary footage to make the historic figure’s modern-day relevance and resonance undeniable. The 25-minute installation, which appears on multiple screens where images converge as a whole and then fragment into a montage, can be watched repeatedly, welcoming visitors to sit in the meditative space for a nonlinear viewing experience that makes each encounter with the work unique.
The installation also includes three tintype portraits — a collaboration between Julien and photographer Rob Ball — of the film’s subjects, Frederick Douglass, his wife Anna Murray Douglass and prominent African-American photographer J. P. Ball. Douglass was aware that words and images had powerful meaning. He used media, specifically photography, to counter the misperceptions of Black people in 19th-century America. Through a lifelong collaboration with Ball, Douglass had portraits taken of himself, portraying the Black body as noble and beautiful, and became the most photographed individual of the century.
The world premiere of the rare ten-screen film installation of Isaac Julien: Lessons of the Hour — Frederick Douglass took place in 2019, at the Memorial Art Gallery at the University of Rochester, which commissioned the film and partnered with VMFA to acquire the work for both museums’ permanent collections.
For more information about Isaac Julien: Lessons of the Hour — Frederick Douglass and programs related to the exhibition, visit www.VMFA.museum.
Arts & Entertainment
Richmond Flying Squirrels to host summer movie series in the Diamond outfield
The Richmond Flying Squirrels will host Summer Movie Series presented by Woodfin at The Diamond with three chances to watch movies at The Diamond, the team announced recently.
The Richmond Flying Squirrels will host Summer Movie Series presented by Woodfin at The Diamond with three chances to watch movies at The Diamond, the team announced recently.
Movies will be shown on the video board at The Diamond on Friday, June 30, Sunday, August 27 and Saturday, September 16. Admission is $10 per person (children ages three and younger are admitted free). Tickets are available now at SquirrelsBaseball.com/Movies.
The three-night movie series begins on Friday, June 30 with a showing of the classic Pixar film, “WALL-E.”The gates open at 6:30 p.m. and the movie will start at 7:30 p.m.
On Sunday, August 27, the Flying Squirrels will host a showing of “The Goonies” at 7 p.m. The gates will open at 6 p.m.
The movie series concludes on Saturday, September 16 with “Encanto.” The gates will open at 5:30 p.m. and the movie will begin at 6:30 p.m.
Seating will be located on the field or in the first-base lower bowl. Guests are encouraged to bring blankets or pillows, but chairs are prohibited.
Concessions will be available for the Summer Movie Series at the first-base lower stand on the stadium’s concourse. No outside food and drinks are allowed. Only credit or debit cards will be accepted at the concession stands.
Parking for the Summer Movie Series will be available for free in the Blue Lot at The Diamond, located off Arthur Ashe Boulevard across from the bus station. All guests should enter the stadium through the right-field gate located near the Cross Timbers Roofing Party Pavilion.
Attendees are asked to apply any sunscreen and bug spray before entering the field.
Tickets and more information are available online at SquirrelsBaseball.com/Movies, by phone at 804-359-3866 (FUNN) or in person at the Flying Squirrels ticket office.
Arts & Entertainment
Richmond Triangle Players announces 2023-2024 season shows
Five plays, including a new production of one of RTP’s biggest holiday hits, will take the stage at Richmond Triangle Players for its 2023-24 season, as the company celebrates its 31st year.
Five plays, including a new production of one of RTP’s biggest holiday hits, will take the stage at Richmond Triangle Players for its 2023-24 season, as the company celebrates its 31st year.
“Last year’s 30th Anniversary Season included some of the largest and most ambitious productions we have ever attempted,” said RTP artistic director Lucian Restivo. “This new season, we will take an in-depth look into the LGBTQ+ experience with some intimate and edgier works, alongside a fantastical musical and the return of one of our favorite holiday hits.”
As always, the focus of every RTP is rooted in staying true to its mission, presenting unique — sometimes provocative, sometimes challenging, and sometimes simply hilarious –- works of theater.
For over three decades, Richmond Triangle Players has transformed the community’s conversations about diversity and inclusion through the production of LGBTQ+-themed works A nonprofit, professional theatre company founded in 1993, RTP takes pride in being the leading performing arts company in the region that produces high-quality transformational programming rooted in queer experiences and supports the development of queer artistry.
RTP is the only professional theatre company in the Richmond area – and the longest continually operating one in the entire Mid-Atlantic region — which expressly and regularly serves the LGBTQ+ community. While other local theatres occasionally produce plays with LGBTQ+ content, only Triangle Players has made an ongoing commitment to queer artists, issues, audiences, and community support.
The 2023-24 Season will Include:
A defiantly embracing call to action
One in two by Donja R. Love
September 20 – October 14, 2023
The raucous holiday treat returns in a brand-new production
Scrooge in Rouge, book and lyrics by Ricky Graham, additional material by Jeffery Roberson, other interesting bits by Yvette Hargis, original music composed by Jefferson Turner
November 15 – December 23, 2023
A new look at a ground-breaking comedy
Torch Song by Harvey Fierstein
February 14 – March 9, 2024
Forgotten women who are not easy to forget
Airswimming by Charlotte Jones
April 10 – May 4, 2024
The musical that will roll right into your heart!
Xanadu book by Douglas Carter Beane and music and lyrics by Jeff Lynne and John Farrar, based on the 1980 film of the same name
June 5 – July 13, 2024
Plus, on our Spotlight Cabaret Series (a separate subscription), we will feature:
Georgia Rogers Farmer: Re-Butter My Biscuit! October 19 – 21, 2023
Darienne Lake: Altered Boy, January 19 – 20, 2024.
Dan and Jim: A (Sorta) Love Song, March 15 – 16, 2024.
Nicholas Rodriguez: Sincerely, Sondheim, May 10 – 11, 2024.
Arts & Entertainment
Author Sadeqa Johnson discusses The House of Eve on June 8 as part of the Library of Virginia’s 2023 Carole Weinstein Author Series
Johnson is an international best-selling and award-winning author of five novels. Her novel Yellow Wife, which won the Library’s 2022 People’s Choice Award for Fiction, follows an enslaved woman forced to barter love and freedom while living in the most infamous slave jail in Virginia.
The Library of Virginia’s 2023 Carole Weinstein Author Series continues with a talk by best-selling author Sadeqa Johnson on The House of Eve, the historical fiction follow-up to her award-winning novel Yellow Wife. The free talk will be held at 6:00 p.m. on Thursday, June 8 at the Library of Virginia, 800 East Broad Street, Richmond. A book signing will follow the talk.
The House of Eve continues Johnson’s tradition of confronting timeless questions that have no easy answers. In this moving work of historical fiction set in 1950s Philadelphia and Washington, D.C., the stories of two women collide in unexpected ways as they both make decisions that shape the trajectories of their lives. The book explores what it means to be a woman and a mother, and how much one is willing to sacrifice to achieve her greatest goal. The House of Eve was an instant New York Times best seller and was selected by Reese’s Book Club as the February 2023 pick.
Johnson is an international best-selling and award-winning author of five novels. Her novel Yellow Wife, which won the Library’s 2022 People’s Choice Award for Fiction, follows an enslaved woman forced to barter love and freedom while living in the most infamous slave jail in Virginia. Johnson is a Kimbilo Fellow, a former board member of the James River Writers and a member of the Tall Poppy Writers. She also teaches fiction writing for the MFA program at Drexel University.
The Carole Weinstein Author Series supports the literary arts by bringing both new and well-known authors to the Library of Virginia. Free and open to the public, the series focuses on Virginia authors and Virginia subjects across all genres and is made possible through support from the Carole Weinstein Endowment for Virginia Authors. This year marks the Library’s 200th anniversary, a special occasion for spotlighting the Library’s role in bringing attention to talented Virginia writers and fascinating Virginia subjects.
To see the series schedule and register for events, visit www.lva.virginia.gov/public/weinstein. For more information, contact Elizabeth Kaczynski at [email protected] or 804.692.3536.
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