Montpelier’s curatorial team checks out the new wallpaper. Left to right: Grant Quertermous, Cheryl Brush, Lynne Dakin Hastings.
PHOTO COURTESY THE MONTPELIER FOUNDATION

In May, Monticello unveiled a dining room redo in eye-popping chrome yellow. This week, another presidential house, Montpelier, announces that the dining room of the Father of the Constitution will be transformed from “drab to fab” with period wallpaper— and says the makeover has nothing to do with keeping up with the Jeffersons.

“We all admire Monticello,” says Montpelier VP Lynne Hastings. “We’ve been working the past year and a half to restore this wallpaper. It’s much more of a detective story.”

On Constitution Day two years ago, Montpelier unveiled a $24-million architectural restoration that stripped away the pink stucco exterior added by a 20th-century owner and returned the house’s look to what James and Dolley Madison knew.

“Now we’re in the refurnishing stage,” says Hastings.

Historians don’t know exactly what pattern the Madisons might have chosen, but they do know the couple were “very enamored of the French taste,” says Hastings. That led the restoration team to Henri Virchaux, a Philadelphia designer popular among the swell set in 1815, the year the Madisons bought wallpaper for Montpelier.

Another ah-ha moment that swung the swatch choice toward this particular pattern of floral swags across a green background: an 1836 list of the dining room furnishings of Montpelier revealing— ta-da— green chairs.

The reproduction wallpaper, dubbed Virchaux Drapery, has been made by (more)

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Behind the Lewis & Clark statue, the Mooney Oldsmobile building, which is now an antique shop on the corner of Ridge-McIntire and West Main, survived; but the UR Next Hat Shop, The Midway Druggist, and the Quality Retail Store Grocery weren’t so lucky.
PHOTO COURTESY VINEGAR HILL PROJECT

Just as the City mulls a master plan to redevelop its public housing stock, which could cost an estimated $115.5 million over ten years and increase available units from 373 to 558, digital history students at UVA have created a dynamic visual archive of another redevelopment project— the demolition of the Vinegar Hill neighborhood, which eliminated 29 businesses, 154 dwellings, one church, and ran a four-lane road through the middle of the predominantly African-American neighborhood.

Once the center of African-American business and social life in Charlottesville, the neighborhood was razed under the federally funded Urban Renewal program of the 1950s and ’60s by a largely white, poll-tax-paying voting class that narrowly approved destroying the “blighted” neighborhood and relocating its residents, many to the public housing developments, such as Westhaven (which the city now wants to redevelop.)

Using deeds, maps, photos, oral histories, and other archives, students have painted (more)

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“At first, I hated Cabell Hall,” said UVA architectual history professor Richard Guy Wilson, “But the purpose of the big building, I finally realized, was to keep students on the Lawn.”
PHOTO BY DAVE MCNAIR

When visiting dignitaries tour The Lawn at UVA, says Richard Guy Wilson, Chair of the University’s Architectural History Department, they are often struck by how “wrong” everything looks. Indeed, as Wilson points out, the Lawn’s Pavilions are a clash of architectural styles that are perhaps more noticeable to those unfamiliar with Thomas Jefferson’s brand of genius.

“Sorry, I have to say. This is the way it is,” says Wilson. “Jefferson knew the rules of architecture, but he broke the rules.”

And he broke them, Wilson explains, to create an architectural experience for students that would teach them as much as their professors did.

“The experience of the buildings around them was as important as what was being said in the classes,” Wilson says. “It is a matter of how the space it used. It is a public communal space.”

Recently, Wilson and University Architect David Neuman discussed the (more)

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Still from Kevin Everson’s Erie.

One thing I look forward to during the Virginia Film Festival is the chance to view edgy, experimental pieces that usually only screen in urban centers like Chicago or New York. But this year the arty offerings are few and far between. Two exceptions are Kevin Everson’s new feature, Erie, and a group exhibition by Everson’s art students at the former C-Ville office on the Downtown Mall.

Erie contains elements familiar to Everson fans: a focus on middle-class African-American labor and leisure, an ambient soundtrack, and indications of the filmmaking process, such as scratched ends. Nevertheless, it’s a departure from the UVA art prof’s previous features. Shot in northern Ohio and Buffalo, NY, the 81-minute black and white film is a series of single takes, lasting between 10 and 11 minutes— the amount of time a film spool moves through a camera’s magazine- that are unrelated narratively.

Everson says he’s been thinking about one-take filmmaking for some time, but when he was in Europe last year he began to conceive of a piece that would string together disparate scenes, connected only by their subjects’ focus on a task at hand. Alternating between static shots and ones involving action, interiors, and exteriors, Erie is a meditative visual poem.

Opening on workers putting up a Volkswagen billboard intended to appeal to African Americans, the film cuts briefly to Niagara Falls, and then settles into a prolonged shot of a young girl in a white shirt staring at a flickering white candle. The composition is beautiful, but as the minutes tick by, with next to nothing happening, the small things— the twitch of the girl’s mouth, a drip of wax, the sound of a dog barking— become enormous.

And so it goes for the rest of the film, slow and ponderous. Which is not to say there aren’t breathtaking moments. In one memorable shot, Everson’s camera pulls back from a vocalist and pianist practicing a sentimental song on a tinny upright to follow a dancer krumping to music blasting from a CD player in another part of the warehouse-like room.

Erie screens on Thursday night, but 18 of Everson’s University of Virginia students carry the filmic art torch through the weekend with a series of video installations at 106 E. Main Street. According to fourth-year student Vashti Harrison, the eighteen pieces “are made for people to walk in and of,” and several are site-specific.

Erie, screens at 10pm on Thursday, November 5, at Regal 3 on the Downtown Mall.  For more information, call 1-800-UVA-Fest. Everson’s UVA art students’ video installations are on view Friday and Saturday, 9am-10pm, at 106 E. Main St. (former office of C-Ville). 434-242-4211.

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Painting by Anne de Latour Hopper.

Art Upstairs shows the paintings of Anne de Latour Hopper in the exhibition, “Real or Faux.” A First Friday opening, featuring live music by harpist Virginia Schweninger, is scheduled for March 6, 6-8:30pm. 112 W. Main St. (York Place) on the Downtown Mall. 923-9300.

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Detail from Lindsey Mears’ installation, “Whistling in the Dark.”

The Garage presents “Whistling in the Dark,” an installation by McGuffey artist Lindsey Mears. A First Friday opening is scheduled for March 6, 6-8pm. 1st St. (across from Lee Park). For more information, visit www.thegarage-cville.com.

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Sarah Hasty Williams, “Spirit of the Mountains/American Bald Eagle.”

Fellini’s #9 displays painter Sarah Hasty Williams‘ exhibit, “Mixed Water Media.” A First Friday opening is scheduled for March 6, 5:30-7pm. 200 W. Market St. 979-4279.

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Andrew Shurtleff, “Clouds.”

The C&O Gallery presents “Seeing Red,” an exhibition of Daily Progress photographer Andrew Shurtleff’s digital infrared B&W images. 511 E. Water St. (next to the C&O Restaurant). 971-7044.

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The Garage sans dress. PHOTO BY MATTHEW ROSENBERG

In what promises to be one of the most innovative exhibitions in the ‘ville, The Garage will be outfitted in a giant form-fitting, vintage-inspired dress, designed and implemented by Garage co-founder and artist Kate Daughdrill (who knows a thing or two about fashion). A First Friday unveiling is scheduled for November 7, 6-8pm, followed by musical performances by Dusty Brown and Joe Pollock. N. First St. (next to the funeral home parking lot and across from Lee Park). Call 985-630-1466 for more information.

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Andrew Hersey, “Brush.”

Mudhouse presents “Nocturnes,” an exhibition of mixed-media works by local fave Andrew Hersey. A First Friday opening is scheduled for November 7, 6-8pm. 213 W. Main St. on the Downtown Mall. 984-6833.

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“Randy Sights Baskerville, “Auvillar Jardin.”

BozArt Gallery displays “Virginia (and France) are for Lovers,” an exhibition of Randy Sights Baskerville’s oil paintings depicting scenes from Charlottesville, Albemarle, and Auvillar. A First Friday opening is scheduled for November 7, 5-9pm. 211 W. Main St. 296-3919.

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Piedmont Virginia Community College’s Art Club presents a “Day of the Dead Candy-Thon,” during which participants will create artworks honoring  Dia de los Muertos using only candy! The festive culminates in a sugary feast! Bring sweets to contribute to the arty altars. V. Earl Dickinson Building, Room 117. 961-5362.

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“CLAW Family Reunion”
PHOTO BY BILLY HUNT

The Bridge presents photographer Billy Hunt’s wonderful and fun “A CLAW to Remember: The 2008 Charlottesville Lady Arm Wrestling Retrospective,” an exhibition documenting the entertainment phenomenon that in warm weather raises money for charity once a month behind the Blue Moon Diner. Definitely make time for the First Friday opening on November 7 at 6pm, which will feature music by Straight Punch to the Crotch, a film about CLAW, an arm wrestling match by the women of CLAW, and some “secret surprises.”  209 Monticello Road (across from Spudnuts). 984-5669.

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Sage Moon Gallery shows work by three regional students who have received recognition for excellence from the National Society of Arts and Letters: University of Virginia student Rachel Singel, and Virginia Commonwealth University students Stanley Rayfield and Tim Rusterholz. 420 E. Main St. 977-9997.

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Leah Bailis, “Fence.”

Dragana Crnjak, “At the Table.”

Corey Drieth, “Seed.”

Second Street Gallery offers “The Slow Reveal: Leah Bailis and Dragana Crnjak” in the main gallery. Bailis uses disposable materials to explore sculptural aspects of overlooked objects, and Crnjack creates site-specific transitional moments on the walls. In the Dové Gallery, SSG shows “Corey Drieth: Small Scale Abstraction,” an exhibition of Drieth’s minimal and meditative geometric abstract paintings. A First Friday opening is scheduled for November 7, 6-8pm, with artists’ talks at 6:30pm. 115 Second St. SE. 979-9793.

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Rose Csorba, “Death by Burning.”

Ben Lock, untitled.

Margaret Embree, “Carter’s Mountain House.”

This month the McGuffey Art Center features five exhibitions: Rose Csorba presents “Alchymetikal Tranzmutations” in the main gallery; Ben Lock presents “Recent Sculptures” in the north downstairs hall gallery; inmates from the Albemarle Charlottesville Regional Jail show work in “Beyond the Bars” in the south downstairs hall gallery (half of all sales benefit Literacy Volunteers of Charlottesville/Albemarle); Michael Clark displays “Old Things  Odd Places” upstairs; and Margaret Embree’s “The Orchard House” is also on view upstairs. A First Friday opening is scheduled for November 7, 5:30-7:30pm. 201 Second St. SW. 295-7973.

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Stained glass by Vee Osvalds.

During November, Spring Street shows “Creations in Stained Glass,” an exhibition of colorful vitreous work by Vee Osvalds. A First Friday re-opening is scheduled for November 7, 6-8pm. 107 W. Main St. on the Downtown Mall. 975.1200.

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Painting by Robin Hoffman.

Virginia Artists in Action, a new organization founded to promote artists who donate work and a portion of their sales to Virginia nonprofits, presents its inaugual exhibition featuring work by Ellen Moore Osborne and Robin Hoffman. A portion of sales proceeds will benefit The Nature Conservancy of Virginia. 1924 Arlington Boulevard, Level A (across from Wild Wings). 295-4080.

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McCrea Snyder Kudravetz, “Warm Stones.”

Through the end of December, Angelo features “McCrea Snyder Kudravetz: New Grid Collages,” a show of quilt-like digital compositions. A First Friday opening is scheduled for November 7, 5:30-7:30pm. 220 E. Main St. on the Downtown Mall. 971-9256.

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Richard Crozier, “Afton Mountain.”

Spruce Creek Gallery presents “Albemarle and Nelson: New Landscapes,” an exhibition of paintings by noteworthy local plein air artist, Richard Crozier. 1368 Rockfish Valley Highway, Nellysford. 434-361-1859.

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John Ogden, “Central Australia, Northern Territory,” 1984
© 2008 John Ogden.

The Kluge-Ruhe Aboriginal Art Collection presents “Australienation: Portrait of a Bi-cultural Country,” an exhibition of photographs by John Ogden. Since the 1970s, Ogden has explored the contrast between indigenous Australians and cultures that arrived later on the continent. 400 Worrell Dr. 244-0234.

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