Hannah Barefoot

At the end of every year, the art building explodes. As summer break gets closer the graduating studio art students must prepare and assemble a final show. The shows display the students’ highest level of work. Their goal remains, throughout the spring semester, to compile a body of work that cohesively represents their interests and, sometimes, their thesis.Read more...

The Albemarle-Charlottesville County Jail seems an odd place to find an inspired group of art instructors and a thriving art program. It is odd even to imagine a jail scene beyond inmate brawls, dusty exercise fields, and sullen meals in cafeterias. This miserable, media-saturated perception of a jail environment is precisely the opposite of what seems to happen each week in Phyllis Back’s art program at our local prison.Read more...

Hey y’all, I have a giant confession to make. The best thing on the
planet—to me—is that fifteen minute period directly before a feature film. I know, you say you hate it; you decide that, “Oh, we can be late” to a movie because that fifteen-minute period means nothing to you. NOTHING. Well, gentle movie-goers, it is awesome. I am in love with movie trailers.Read more...

In a world of thinning wallets and pragmatic budget adjustments, U.Va. Art Museum’s plans for an extensive revamp were slashed rather unceremoniously last spring. The $118 million Arts Gateway project planned will no longer help fund major Bayly building changes. It seems that the UVa Art Museum attempted to take this massive cut in stride. With renovations, they have also shifted the focus of the gallery spaces slightly. Whether this change has enhanced the Art Museum’s aesthetic and approachability remains to be seen.Read more...

Next Saturday morning, button up your flannel, strap up your Chacos, roll up those canvas Carhartt pants to about mid-calf, and come on down to the Charlottesville City Farmers Market! Actually, you know what? It’s probably a better idea to wear your Flaming Lips concert outfit—the Market is getting to be a bit of a mosh-pit these days. With about a hundred vendors setting up each Saturday, bumping butts in the tight-knit community has become pretty regular. I always have a great time people watching, picking up tiny amounts of produce, and joshing with vendors. The City Market is great!Read more...

A couple of weeks ago, I sat down to drink some tea and read feminist theory in my room. You know, the usual; it’s my Monday night thing. I really like it—it’s so calming and enlightening! I’m a fan of the quiet reading parties I throw in my room, so I get a bit cranky when, all of a sudden, I come to some greater realization that distracts me from my task. My reading party becomes a brain-war. I want to read for Tuesday’s class, but my smartass of a brain wants me to do “research” on topics like “stratospheric layer deterioration.” Hey brain, this is what I have to say: shut up!Read more...

Adriana Atema has created a lovely group of portraits in “Bright Face (People You Should Know).” When I strolled into The Bridge on Friday evening I immediately felt an incredible comfort. I don’t think I had even begun to really notice or examine the portraits, but it was clear from the general group’s demeanor that the exhibit fosters a sense of home, intense and honest friendship. I felt more inclined to hug and gab with friends than to quickly scrutinize the art. I think this friendly relaxation is precisely what Atema intends her exhibit to encourage.Read more...

Long-distance relationships are hard enough. But when the couple is separated by time as well as distance, things get even tougher. That’s why no one could have predicted the success of throwing together the work of a sixty-years-dead Bolshevik artist and a contemporary Japanese-American born after the death of his muse. El Lissitzky’s work consists of two lithograph portfolios. Hideyo Okamura has transformed a one-room gallery at the U.Va. Art Museum into a recreation of a 1923 Berlin exhibit of Proun-one of Lissitzky’s portfolios.Read more...

Out of the multitude of pedestrians on Rugby Road, it seems like a small percentage turn from their daily stroll into the U.Va. Art Museum. And this is sad. I’m starting to sound a bit like a broken record, but little old Bailey Art Museum is a gem. The most recent exhibit, “Matisse, Picasso, and Modern Art in Paris: The T. Catesby Jones Collections” is a stellar example. We have hanging on the walls of our museum and Special Collections Library Picasso, Matisse, Klee, Lipchitz etc. Come on people, come on. A trip to the museum wouldn’t kill you.Read more...