OOTD

Today I styled my roommate Somer Witherow, a Fashion Design major, for a family wedding she is attending this evening. 

Dress, Madewell

Belt and Jewelry, J. Crew 

Shoes, Steve Madden 

Incoming Fashion Students, Emily and Amanda!

Future roommates and Fashion Merchandising students, Amanda (left) from Roanoke and Emily (right) from Martinsville, ventured to RVA this week for their New Student Orientation. Excited to have them here in the Fall!

LAKE STREET DIVE

Formed at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston, Lake Street Dive injects their sound with jazz, pop, and soul influences. The 4 piece band killed it at The National this past Thursday night with their incredible harmonies and jazz riffs. Rachel Price glues the band together with her roaring jazz vocals. 

Meet NiuNiu!

NiuNiu is a Junior studying Art History at VCU. It has been so interesting hearing her speak about her Chinese culture in our Asian Art History class this Summer. This casual, simplistic, and monochromatic look is perfect for an early morning class. 

The Head and The Heart take RVA

The indie folk band played The National this past Monday and Tuesday, June 2nd and 3rd, with opening band Lucius. The band started off in RVA at Plan 9 Music in Carytown for an intimate acoustic set that was free and open to the public. As much as I wanted to catch this set, I decided to just head over to The Nat for their full show...which I'm so glad I did! They share a similar sound with popular bands such as The Lumineers, Blind Pilot, and the Civil Wars but have their own unique Americana sound with the two lead male guitarists/vocalists and female violinist/back up vocalist. I left the show with their set list in hand that featured songs from their self titled 'The Head and The Heart' album as well as their successful sophomore album, 'Let's Be Still'.

opening band, Lucius 

Ran into THaTH member, Josiah Johnson, walking down Broad after the show

Ryan McGinness: Studio Visit

Ryan McGinness is a contemporary artist from VA Beach who currently works and lives in NYC. His work, Art History Is Not Linear, was commissioned by the VMFA and shows his inspiration from pieces within the museum. McGinness creates 200 icons from these works and features them in a series of pop art paintings. The exhibition has three parts that bring his creative process to life. It is separated between a visual of his studio and a section showing a few of the specific objects he chose to feature from the museum and his icons alongside them. The last portion contains a few of his early works he drew while growing up in Virginia.
It was exciting to see how a contemporary artist blends both the past and present. The exhibition will be at the museum until October 19. It is definitely worth the trip to see the collections at the VMFA and how McGinness incorporates them into his paintings.

studio space 

Serpent King (Nagaraja), 15th- 16th C and inspired icon by McGinness

process of creating his Serpent King icon

VCU Fashion Show: Impact 2014

A few of my favorite looks of the 142 garments that walked the runway last night at the VCU Fashion Show, Impact 2014, held at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts.

#OOTD with SGA President, Brandon Day

vintage Levi's jacket with oxfords: classic street 

The Orwells spotted in Carytown

I first saw the punk rock band, The Orwells, when they opened up for the Arctic Monkeys at the Nat back in February and really loved their sound. Although the attention seeking lead singer pulled some outrageous stunts at the show, the band had very talented musicians with good energy. I couldn't believe it when I heard their music blasting from Plan 9 Music in Carytown. Check them out! https://soundcloud.com/the-orwells

Sunday by the river

We ventured to the river yesterday to enjoy this Spring time weather. Such a fun and beautiful day with friends. 

Interview with AFO student Jordan Kantor

M: How does VCUarts compare with other nationally ranked art schools?
J: VCUarts is ranked the #1 public arts university in the US.

M:What was the most challenging obstacle you had to face in AFO?
J: Time management. I had to decide whether or not I had time for certain social activities in order to    complete my assignments on time.

M: What class, assignment, or project did you most enjoy working on?
J: Oil painting in my surface class last semester, because it was what I was used to working with and I hadn't used oils in a while at the time.

M: What major did you get into? What are you most looking forward to in your future within VCUarts?
J: Painting + Printmaking. I'm most looking forward to learning how I can manipulate different mediums in the best way and learning how creative skills can apply to my studio work and other endeavors in the future.

M: Endeavors?
J: faux finishing, murals, micropigmentation: permanent makeup and scar modifications.

-oil painting

-most recent piece, charcoal

Thank you Jordan and congratulations on your acceptance into painting+printmaking!!

1st Annual VCUarts AFO Parade

AFO students marched down Broad showing off their amazing and creative work in yesterday's parade.