Clips

Downtown comes alive on First Fridays

2009-04-27T11:39:00.003-04:00

Produced by Kelsey Radcliffe

First Fridays artwalk takes place in downtown Richmond, Virginia along Broad Street. The event draws thousands as the area buzzes with people who visit galleries, restaurants, and stores. In its 8th season, First Fridays continues to expand and currently hosts 39 participating businesses.

Local galleries, VMFA take hit in recession

2009-04-26T20:39:00.012-04:00

Jackson Ward's historic Gallery 5 is in danger of shutting down if it cannot raise a minimum of $175,000.

The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts has been impacted by the recession, but some local galleries face larger struggles

By Kelsey Radcliffe

Raising $175,000 in a recession seems nearly impossible, but Gallery 5 must accomplish this to keep its doors open.

According to Executive Director Amanda Robinson, Gallery 5 is in dire need of repairs.

“People don’t understand that when we started, we started in efforts to save the life of a historic landmark,” Robinson said. “I also took over two enormous mortgage payments of debt.”

The building has been owned by Robinson’s family for 100 years, first serving as a fire station and later as the Virginia Fire and Police Museum, which received no funding from the state, despite its nationally-awarded education programs.

“The reason we are trying to raise the $175,000 is strictly to fix the space up, it has nothing to with exhibitions, programs, staff salaries — nothing,” Robinson said. “Of course, we’re an all-volunteer organization.”

The gallery has recently made the community aware of its financial situation by adding a section to its website asking for donations and hosting several benefit shows.

“We finally said we’re going to close unless we receive help, and we’ve had people recently giving donations,” Robinson said. “A guy volunteered to do the whole side of our building, to try to fix the damage and keep any more leakage from happening — a lot of great things have just happened for us recently.”

In the past few months, the gallery has raised more money than ever, according to Robinson, but that amount is still only a couple of thousand dollars — far from the $175,000 needed just to keep the building in working condition.

“People who want to give money will probably not have the funding available to donate the way they’d like to,” Robinson said.

Gallery 5 recently applied for a grant from the New York-based Andy Warhol Foundation to cover two years of exhibitions.

“If we get the Andy Warhol grant we are only asking for something like 86 thousand dollars for two years of exhibitions,” Robinson said. “I think the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts asks for that much for one exhibition.”

While the VMFA may have access to more funding than other art institutions and galleries, according to Suzanne Hall, VMFA associate director of communications and marketing, the museum has made budget cuts.

“We’ve taken the full 15 percent cut this fiscal year and next fiscal year, which is the max that the governor can impose,” Hall said.

Despite these cuts, the museum still plans to open its $150 million expansion in May 2010. Nearly half of the museum’s budget is state-funded, but local galleries like Gallery 5 receive no state funding and struggle to receive grants.

“It’s sad that there are so many arts organizations and grassroots groups responsible for giving funding in this city, and unfortunately the funding always goes to the same top 3 or 4 arts organizations,” Robinson said.

Gallery 5 spent years trying to recover from massive debts and to establish itself financially.

“Finally when we are at a point to ask for money from foundations already three of the foundations we asked have said ‘we have no money left to give,’” Robinson said. “And they’re not giving money this year.”

Mary Eisendrath, VCU’s director of sculpture and extended media, has noticed similar struggles among art programs and organizations.

“I know schools that were already living so close to the bone that to cut back, I don’t know how they are keeping their lights on,” Eisendrath said.

VCU’s own Anderson Gallery is funded through university sources that include student art fees, tuition, and the school’s state-supported budget. According to Ashley Kistler, Director of Anderson Gallery, other forms of sponsorship are also needed to keep the gallery running.

“Particularly for specific projects, we will rely on corporate sponsorship, grants, and individual contributions,” Kistler said.

According to Kistler the gallery is in the process of reducing its budget, like many other VCU programs have to do.

Still, Eisendrath is confident that artists will find ways to get by until the economy bounces back.

“I think artists early on learn to be like weeds and just grow between the cracks in the pavement, find creative ways to live off of nothing,” Eisendrath said. “I think they are particularly resilient, because they’re used to finding ways to make things work that otherwise couldn’t.”

Donations slow in recession, museum pushes forward

2009-03-22T20:40:00.006-04:00

A wall display within the museum thanks individual and corporate supporters of the past

Some supporters of the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts may be donating less money, but the museum is still pushing for new programs

By Kelsey Radcliffe

The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts has taken a hit during the economic recession, despite its status as a state-funded institution.

The VMFA also relies on corporate and individual donations for support. While some aspects of this funding have remained steady, the museum has felt the impact, according to Suzanne Hall, VMFA Associate Director of Communications and Marketing.

“It would be inaccurate for me to say that these are not difficult times for the museum,” Hall said.

According to Hall, about 45 percent of the museum’s yearly operating budget comes from the state, and the VMFA was able to reduce budgets in anticipation of the recession due to state forecasting.

“We were able to plan our budget reductions earlier so that it was a little bit less of a shock to our operations budgets,” Hall said. “It’s a shock nonetheless.”

The museum has taken the maximum governor-imposed budget cut — 15 percent.

The VMFA also relies on endowments for support. Donors contribute money to the endowment, which is then invested in the stock market. These funds are worth less money as a result of the recession.

“Our endowments are down, which is the case with endowment investments nationwide,” Hall said.

The museum relies on its corporate and individual donors for support, as they provide more income to the museum than the state. Individuals contribute a much larger percentage of money to the museum's overall budget than corporate donors - in the 2007-2008 fiscal year, corporations donated $476,273 while individuals contributed $3,153,280.

Individuals are still donating to the museum during the recession but their habits have changed, according to Marcia Collier, VMFA fund manager.

"I've seen a drop in individuals from what they've donated in the past year to what they've donated this year," Collier said. "We see a lower gift amount, but maybe more gifts - more smaller gifts as opposed to fewer larger gifts."

The museum's fiscal year ends in June. The museum can still check its daily figures, but a comparison to previous years and the full impact of the recession will remain unknown until the annual report is published.

According to Collier, individual donations have slowed, but still remain steady.

"In this economy, it's been tough, but usually something comes through," Collier said. "We still get gifts every day; we just don't get as many per day."

Corporate donations have fared differently, according to Elizabeth Lowsley-Williams, VMFA corporate relations manager.

“On the corporate side, there have been no immediate effects in terms of reduced or eliminated contributions to the VMFA Fund, but I expect we’ll see changes next year,” Lowsley-Williams said.

Lowsley-Williams has noticed a few factors that are likely to impact the museum.

“Some of our past major benefactors are disappearing—Wachovia, Circuit City,” she said. “Sponsorships are harder to come by, corporate giving budgets are smaller, plus I think there is an overall air of caution about sponsorships in light of public scrutiny of business spending.”

While it may experience more of a hit as the year progresses, the museum continues to push forward as an educational and cultural resource for the community, and Hall is confident the museum will persevere.

“We are a public-private partnership, founded at the height of the Great Depression,” Hall said. “Our ongoing success and resilience in good times and bad have reinforced confidence in this institution as a leader.”

The Richmond Philharmonic Orchestra Presents: “Dance With Me”

2009-03-14T14:19:00.006-04:00

The RPO returns for its first concert of 2009

By Kelsey Radcliffe

The Richmond Philharmonic Orchestra brings its first concert of 2009, “Dance With Me,” to Virginia Commonwealth University’s Singleton Center for the Performing Arts at 4 p.m. on Sunday, March 15.

The RPO is completely member-run — the board members who control the orchestra also play in it — and aims to present music to the Richmond community at an affordable cost. According to Heather Fairbanks, vice president and viola player of the RPO, the orchestra does not charge a set ticket price for concerts.

“Admission is by donation at the door, so that individuals and families who may not be able to afford full-price tickets still have the opportunity to enjoy live performances of the world’s great music,” said Fairbanks.

Not only does the RPO perform at VCU, it also plays area high schools and other venues around the Richmond area. According to John Carroll, secretary and trombone player of the RPO, these concerts greatly impact both audience and performers.

“The enthusiastic reception we get in concerts for retirement communities is a source of real satisfaction for me as a musician,” said Carroll.

Carroll also said the orchestra’s regular concerts entertain a modestly-sized audience and even a few regulars, but he wants the concerts to have a broader impact.

“I’d like to see more people enjoying this cultural resource for the community,” Carroll said.

In addition to being member-run, the orchestra is also unique in the age and experience level of its members.

“The orchestra draws together experienced, very seasoned musicians, some of whom have had lengthy careers as professional musicians or music educators, and young musicians who are just getting started as serious orchestral musicians,” Carroll said. “A very nice thing, in my view.”

“Dance With Me” will feature a performance by Tommy Carpenter, winner of the RPO’s Concerto Competition for local youth.

“Tommy was one of nearly 30 excellent young musicians who participated in our competition this year and won in a very competitive field,” said Fairbanks.

A pre-performance lecture will take place at 3 p.m. and the concert itself will begin at 4 p.m.

“The performance will open with Johann Strauss’s most famous waltz, ‘On the Beautiful Blue Danube,’ and close with Hector Berlioz’s masterpiece ‘Symphonie Fantastique,’” said Fairbanks.

The concert marks the halfway point in the orchestra’s 36th season, and the RPO continues to offer a unique opportunity for the Richmond community to enjoy music played by those with a passion for their art.

“It offers orchestral musicians of various ages an opportunity to continue to experience the deep joy and satisfaction of music-making,” Carroll said. “For those of us who love music passionately but participate in music-making avocationally rather than professionally, RPO is a wonderful gift.”

VCU Students Struggle for Jobs, Internships

2009-02-09T12:54:00.017-05:00

Published in the Commonwealth Times

The economic recession is proving to be difficult for VCU students in their search for jobs and internships. Several business students and administrators weigh in on their thoughts about the current job market, the opportunities available to students graduating this year, and the benefit of having a business degree in the current market.

New Year, New University – Where We Stand Today

2009-02-08T21:29:00.013-05:00

VCU’s pursuit of a carbon-neutral campus has come a long way, but there is still plenty of work to be done.

Biology major Brent Mayer recycles in one of VCU's newly-implemented outdoor recycling bins

By Kelsey Radcliffe

Much progress has been made toward VCU’s goal of a more environmentally-friendly, carbon-neutral campus nearly 10 months after President Eugene P. Trani signed the American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment.

The goal of carbon-neutrality is to reduce or offset the amount of greenhouse gases released into the atmosphere, which contribute to global warming. Recycling, waste reduction, and composting are key steps on the path to sustainability and greenhouse gas reduction. Waste material — more commonly referred to as Municipal Solid Waste — would otherwise go to landfills, which generate methane, a type of greenhouse gas.

“The Department of Environmental Conservation has been working very hard to encourage more recycling at VCU,” said VCU Recycling Coordinator Steven Heinitz. “We still have a way to go — 10 percent — to get to our goal of diverting 35 percent of Municipal Solid Waste from the waste stream to recycling.”

Public universities are required by a regulation of the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality to recycle 25 percent of their waste stream. According to Heinitz, VCU’s overall recycling rate through December 2008 was just above this requirement at 25.16 percent, which is 983.52 tons of Municipal Solid Waste.

To encourage more recycling, VCU installed 25 outdoor recycling stations in high-traffic areas throughout both MCV and Monroe Park campuses at the end of September. Students are becoming increasingly aware of VCU’s efforts to encourage recycling, begin composting, and to incorporate other methods of offsetting greenhouse gas emissions.

“I think they did a pretty good job getting at least a good start,” said junior Nicole Fisher.

According to Michael Martin, associate district manager of Aramark Higher Education, the company in contract with VCU’s Dining Services, the university is progressing toward composting scraps and surplus food from Shafer Court Dining Center.
“We’re about halfway through,” Martin said. “We were making some significant progress towards that and some mechanical infrastructure issues have held us up at this point.”

According to Martin, the university is in the process of correcting these issues to begin the composting procedure. Shafer Court already has a machine to remove the moisture from the food waste which reduces the weight and prepares the material for compost. All other disposable materials used in Shafer Court are compostable, including napkins, straws and waffle cups.

The compost is expected to be fully-functioning soon, according to VCU Dining Operations Coordinator Yvonne Jones.

“Basically the equipment that’s needed — the motor — that takes probably four weeks to get, but because it’s so costly we didn’t want to say ‘Okay, put the motor in’ if something else was wrong in the infrastructure, so we’ve had all of that researched,” said Jones, who expects the compost to be functioning around the end of March.

While the compost has been somewhat of a challenge to initiate, Martin remains confident that the outcome will be successful.

“We’ll see our way through it,” Martin said. “We’re pretty determined to do that.”