By Pete Humes
pete.humes@insidebiz.com
According to the Farmer's Almanac, Virginia's peak season for fall color is still a few weeks away. But head out this weekend, and you'll see that Downtown Norfolk is ahead of schedule.
While Mother Nature takes her time turning the leaves, the local arts community has been busy transforming every blank canvas, clay pot and bare brick wall in sight.
Autumn has always been a busy time for Hampton Roads fine artists. Last October, Norfolk Mayor Paul Fraim made it official when he christened the first Norfolk Visual Arts Week. This year, the city's creative celebration returns from Oct. 10 to 18.
"Norfolk is proud to be the arts and culture hub of the region," Fraim said. "The city seized the opportunity to tie together the highly successful arts festivals in Ocean View and Ghent to create a Visual Arts Week, highlighting it with public art tours, individual community and neighborhood events, as well as displays at various private galleries."
The mayoral designation frames a week packed with art-related events.
Some of the week's main attractions have been drawing crowds for decades (the Ocean View Art Show and the Stockley Gardens Arts Festival), while some new additions have emerged to add their own splashes of color to the communal canvas (the NEON Festival and a public art walking tour).
"By combining all of these events into one celebrated week," Fraim said, "it brings excitement, vibrancy and some of the best local, state and national artists to our city."
The Ocean View Art Show
The 53rd Annual Ocean View Art Show kicks off Visual Arts Week on Oct. 10 and 11 in Ocean View Beach Park.
One of Hampton Roads' longest- running art traditions, the show traces its roots back to 1961, when 15 Norfolk artists met to form an art guild. They created the Chesapeake Bay Art Association with the intention of bringing together local artists and helping them promote and exhibit their artwork.
Organizing the annual show in Ocean View was a way to connect art with art lovers. But along the way, they also discovered a way to give back to the artists themselves.
It happened when one of the CBAA's original members, John Tenney, auctioned off one of his paintings and gave away the proceeds as a scholarship. Every year since then, the CBAA has awarded scholarships to local art students.
The Ocean View Art Show is one of the group's biggest events of the year and raises the most money for scholarships. Additional funds are raised throughout the year, and scholarships are presented at the CBAA's annual Spring Members Show.
In May of this year, the CBAA gave away $2,500 in scholarship money to five art students headed to college.
In 2014, the CBAA awarded Natasha Levandoski a $1,000 scholarship. Now a graphic design major at Virginia Commonwealth University, she used the money to buy a computer.
"Because of how difficult it can be for students to finance their educations, awards like this really make a world of difference," Levandoski said. "I'm very lucky to have come from a place that celebrates the arts the way Norfolk has."
This year's Ocean View Art Show will feature work from close to 100 artists, including students. An exhibition space for students will be provided at no charge, and they are welcome to sell their work.
Show director David Hinde said the outdoor event attracts artists from all over Virginia and up and down the East Coast. Finding enough painters, photographers, sculptors and craftspeople is never a problem.
"Our biggest challenge is getting the art seen," Hinde said. "Anything we spend on advertising takes away from the scholarship money."
That's why, for Hinde, the designation of Visual Arts Week is more than a symbolic gesture - it's a validation for local artists. For an arts organization on a budget, even the slightest boost in marketing momentum that comes along is a welcome bonus.
"It's nice to be recognized," Hinde said. "It's great to know that the city acknowledges the impact of art and art shows."
The NEON Festival
Downtown Norfolk's emerging arts district launches the first NEON Festival on Oct. 15 and 16 from 5 to 10 p.m.
The free festival is a sort of unveiling for the New Energy of Norfolk (NEON) District.
The revitalized section of Granby Street - just north of Brambleton Avenue - is enjoying a second life as an arts destination and will come alive for two days with an extensive collection of public art projects and performances.
The NEON Festival is co-chaired by Rachel McCall, special projects manager with Downtown Norfolk Council, and Jesse Scaccia, editor of AltDaily, a Pilot Media publication.
"Not only have we reinvented a portion of Downtown that was underdeveloped," McCall said, "the NEON District is now a true arts and entertainment destination for the region."
Art exhibitions, large-scale murals and neon and light installations will complement the existing arts and performance venues.
On Friday night from 5 to 10 p.m., Granby Street, from Virginia Beach Boulevard to Brambleton Avenue, will be closed to vehicular traffic.
Local and national performers and musicians will appear at various venues, including the Chrysler Museum of Art and Glass Studio, Work | Release, The Parlor, Push Comedy Theater, and Zeke's Beans & Bowls.
"The NEON District has led to new businesses and jobs and increased tax revenue for the city of Norfolk," Scaccia said. "This is a thrilling moment of transformation."
The Stockley Gardens Arts Festival
Visual Arts Week finishes strong when thousands of art lovers converge in Ghent for the Stockley Gardens Arts Festival on Saturday, Oct. 17, and Sunday, Oct. 18.
The free event takes place in Stockley Gardens Park in the Ghent neighborhood of Norfolk.
Held twice a year, the outdoor celebration of art and music is the year's biggest fundraiser for Hope House. Funds from both the spring and fall shows help pay for housing, transportation, medical care and more for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
In addition to showcasing work from more than 100 artists, there will be plenty of activities for the kids and a full schedule of live music.