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Tim, the reporter

If you’ve lived in Charlottesville for very long, you’re probably familiar with the Daily Progress, The Hook, and the C-Ville Weekly, but what about Cville Tomorrow? Have you ever read it?

I had heard about Cville Tomorrow but didn’t really know much about it until I met Tim the other day. He was on the Downtown Mall to publicize their Kickstarter campaign, which represents their attempt to expand their news coverage of local events. At this point, they focus on growth and development issues, as well as local politics, and they’re hoping to add education news to their offerings. If they meet their fundraising goal, Tim will be the reporter covering that beat.

Tim has been on staff at Cville Tomorrow for a little while now, but he’s been a writer for a lot longer. After getting an undergraduate degree in English, he went on to get an MFA in Creative Writing. He’s a published poet, and he told me that his poetry is typically about the relationship between people and the land, so his reporting on land use issues dovetails nicely with his creative work. You can read some of his poetry here and here.

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Nia, the Sweet Lolita

There are all sorts of subcultures in Charlottesville, from the much-maligned hipsters to the more old-school preppies and even the occasional goth. Today I saw something new on the Downtown Mall: a pair of Lolita girls. Lolita fashion, for those of you who don’t know, is a Japanese import, and a quick trip to Wikipedia informed me that it began in the 1970s but really solidified as a street style in the 1990s. There are various subsets within Lolita fashion, all of which share a love for Victorian-era clothing. Nia was dressed as a “Sweet Lolita,” which differs from the “Classic Lolita” or “Gothic Lolita” styles in that Sweet Lolitas wear lighter colors and often have a more fantasy-inspired look.

Nia, a student at Charlottesville High, doesn’t dress as a Lolita too often, but she donned her outfit to go out with her good friend Amy, whose birthday they were celebrating. Nia is a Charlottesville native, and when she’s not in school or out sharing her friend’s love for Japanese pop culture fashion, she dances with the Chihamba African dance troupe. She told me that Chihamba will be performing at the African-American Cultural Festival in July, and I’m looking forward to checking it out.

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Lauren, the permaculture pro

I had never been inside the Main Street Arena until the other day, when there was an event held to celebrate Earth Day. There were a number of different vendors and organizations, and one of the most interesting was a local outfit called Cville Foodscapes. Billed as a “worker-owned edible landscaping collective,” the folks at Cville Foodscapes have a unique mission: they turn lawns into low-maintenance gardens; in other words, they will come to your house, evaluate your space and talk to you about the sorts of things that you could grow easily there, and then transform your yard into a well-designed and efficient garden that is fairly close to self-sustaining.

Lauren told me that the driving philosophy for their work is the notion of permaculture. I’d heard the word before but had no idea exactly what it meant, and she gave me a good explanation. The idea, she said, is to be aware of the environment and to design a diverse group of plants that can thrive together in that environment. In other words, it’s all about interdependence and sustainability, so that a carefully constructed ecosystem is created that produces food without the need for lots of work on the part of the home-owner. She told me that she and her colleagues have made gardens out of even the tiniest urban backyards, as they design each project individually in concert with the land.

The more she talked about it, the more it became clear that the permaculture philosophy extends beyond simply gardening. As they write on Cville Foodscapes website, “Imagine your yard as part of an urban patchwork of perennially abundant and vibrant gardens that enrich, enliven, and enchant the lives of neighbors, children, elders, poor folks, rich folks, pets, wild animals, and the grand collective “y’all”.” What a lovely image! It makes me wish that I had a yard that I could cultivate.

Lauren is originally from Western Pennsylvania, and she first came to the area back in 2006, when she spent some time as a caregiver at Innisfree Village, a residential community for individuals with intellectual disabilities located in Crozet. The company has been around for three years, and she joined their team about a year ago.

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Abby, the musician

In my last entry, I talked about Will, a member of a newly-formed trio that was playing some acoustic music on the Downtown Mall. They met each other after being competitors in the Mockingbird open mic finals, in which winners of each week’s contest faced off against each other for some pretty nice prizes. None of them ended up winning that competition, but they did meet each other, and now they’re starting to make music together.

Abby is another member of that group, and she plays the guitar and ukulele, as well as singing. When I approached them and asked about taking a photo of one of them, Abby quickly demurred. After I photographed Will, though, she said that she’d be willing to participate in my project, so I made a portrait of her, as well. Abby is from Staunton, and she’s currently a student at Robert E. Lee High School. She told me that she likes all kinds of music, although their group plays mostly folk and bluegrass.

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Will, the musician

Now that the weather is so nice, the street musicians have started popping up all over the Downtown Mall like wildflowers after spring rain. One trio that I hadn’t seen before was made up of Will, Abby, and another friend. Will told me that they met at the Mockingbird, a restaurant and concert hall over in Staunton that closed its doors back in January. The Mockingbird used to hold open mic competitions every Wednesday, with weekly winners going on to face off for a substantial cash prize and the opportunity to have a concert there. Will was one of the weekly winners, as was Abby. Unfortunately, neither one won the big prize, but they got to talking and decided to team up to form a band. They haven’t been playing together for too long, and they haven’t even picked a name for their group, but I thought that they sounded pretty good.

Will is from Waynesboro, and he’s studying English at Blue Ridge Community College. He told me that he’s hoping to transfer to the University of Virginia once he finishes his associate’s degree.

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Hector, the former rap star

One of my regular stops when I’m spending some time on the Downtown Mall is the Market Street Market. They sell some of the best bread in town, their ham biscuits are very tasty, and I often pop in for a sarsaparilla soda to take with me down to the Cville Smoke Shop, which is only a few doors down. One of the best things about the Market Street Market, though, is the staff: a number of friendly and interesting young people work behind the counter, and some of them know about my project; Hector, for example, asks me about it almost every time I see him.

Hector is from New York, originally, but he and his family moved down to Virginia in 1996. He has lived in Richmond, Goochland, and now Charlottesville, and he told me that he likes Cville quite a bit. Like a lot of folks I’ve met since I started this project, Hector is a musician. As a teenager, he established quite a reputation regionally as a freestyle rapper, and he was even featured in Vibe and the Source. He said that he still raps and is active as a musician, but these days, he’s more interested in web design and making videos.

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Hannah, the Harry Potter fan

I’ve heard about folks who are devoted Harry Potter fans, sometimes going so far as to attend parties dressed as their favorite character to celebrate the release of the latest volume of the saga. With the series now complete, it’s pretty rare to see someone walking around looking like they just popped in for a visit from Hogwarts. Today, though, there were a group of University of Virginia students in Harry Potter garb on the Downtown Mall; they were members of the UVa Book Club, and they were trying to publicize their annual philanthropic event, a Harry Potter Festival hosted at the Library just off the Downtown Mall.

Hannah told me that her favorite character from the Potter books is Hermione Granger, as she likes the fact that Hermione is both intelligent and in touch with her emotions. Hannah is a third-year computer science major from Northern Virginia, and she said that she is quite happy at the University. Like her fictional hero, Hannah likes spending time at the many libraries on campus or in town, and she told me that she also shares my love for the Downtown Mall.

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Rachael, the robot designer

It’s not every day that I spend a few minutes watching a robot play tic-tac-toe, yet that’s just what I did the other day, as Rachael and her teammates on the First Teach Challenge (FTC) Robotics team had brought their robot out to the Downtown Mall to publicize their participation in the upcoming World Championships. Rachael has been involved in various technology competitions since she was a middle-school student. She has competed in First Lego League (FLL) teams, both as a team member and as an adviser, and this year she’s the head of the FTC team..

Rachael’s FTC team won the Virginia state-level contest, and they are one of two teams from Virginia that will be competing in the World Championships. She told me that thousands of teams around the world began the competition, but only 123 have made it though all of the round to compete in St. Louis for the title of World Champions. You can learn more about their team, Defying Gravity Robotics, by clicking here or by “liking” them on their Facebook page.

Rachael is a senior at St. Ann’s Belfield School. She told me that she wants to study industrial engineering in college, and she’s considering Virginia Tech and RIT as potential options.

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Alex-Zan, the motivator

I’ve met a number of accomplished and talented people since I started this project in May of 2012, but today I had a unique experience: I met a man who played an important role in local history. Charles Alexander is a member of a group known as the Charlottesville Twelve, a dozen young men and women who were the first African-Americans to attend an all-white school in Charlottesville back in September of 1959. He was seven years old at the time.

The experience of the Charlottesville Twelve was depicted in the PBS documentary Locked Out: The Fall of Massive Resistance, and the Daily Progress featured them in an article that was published on the occasion of the dedication of a plaque commemorating their role in integrating local schools.

It probably says something about him that he didn’t mention anything about being one of the Charlottesville Twelve until the end of my conversation with him, as he was focused on telling me about what he is doing now. The history of the African-American community in the area is obviously of great importance to him, but he is more concerned with helping young people today than reminiscing about past personal triumphs. Charles often goes by the nick-name Alex-Zan, and he has become an educator, author, and motivational speaker. He has developed a series of initiatives and tools meant to encourage young men and women to achieve their full potential, and I met him as he was on his way to hold a workshop entitled “Gettin’ Locked In: Character. Choices. Creativity.” for a group of children and their parents. In all of his workshops, Alex-Zan brings a positive, uplifting message that seeks to motivate and empower young people and encourage them to become involved in their communitiy.

Since he was in a bit of hurry to make it to his presentation, I didn’t have as much time to talk with him as I would have liked. I’m just honored that he took a few minutes to chat and to let me make a portrait of him.

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Taikia, the canner

The Charlottesville Farmer’s Market opened this past weekend, and as usual, there were lots of interesting people wandering through row after row of vendors selling all sorts of produce and craft items. One small section of the Market is known as “Non-Profit Row,” and that’s where I met Taikia and some of the other women involved in the Women’s Canning Co-operative, which is part of the Vinegar Hill Project. The Co-operative is a group of women who can surplus locally-grown fruits and vegetables, which means that they can acquire the food at little or no cost. In other words, it’s good for everyone: less high-quality produce goes to waste, and the Co-operative has access to inexpensive local fruits and vegetables for their canning. Taikia is one of the younger generation of canners, and she has been involved in the group for the past two seasons. She spent the first season learning about canning, since she didn’t know anything about it at the outset, and she began taking her products to the Market last year. Taikia said that the women in the Co-operative have created a “loving atmosphere” in which she feels that she’s “building the community and myself.” You can read an article that originally appeared in the Daily Progress here.

The Co-operative received help securing the grant that allowed them to get started from the Healthy Food Coalition. To learn more about the Coalition, click on the link above or check out their Facebook page here.

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Elder Corbain, the missionary

As I was strolling along the Downtown Mall the other day, I saw a group of young men and women, nicely dressed, all wearing name tags. It was a group of Mormon missionaries. They had just finished a chalk drawing on the Free Speech Wall and were chatting with the folks who were walking by. Elder Corbain came up to me to share his message, and we had a nice discussion. When I explained my project to him and asked him if he’d be willing to participate, he quickly agreed.

Corbain has been a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints his whole life, and he is one month into a two-year mission to share his faith with Mormons and non-Mormons alike. He told me that his goal isn’t to convert people to Mormonism; instead, he explained, he wants to engage people in conversations about Jesus Christ. He is based out of Richmond and was spending the day in Charlottesville with his fellow missionaries.

Being a missionary has its ups and downs, of course, but Corbain said that his faith has only been strengthened by the experience. He asked me to share with you a link to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints webpage, and if you’re interested in learning more about the church, click here.

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Stephanie, the physical therapist

March was Brain Injury Awareness month, and in order to shine some light on the issue, a number of different groups held an event in the amphitheater on the Downtown Mall. Stephanie was a co-organizer for the event, and she was kind enough to let me make a portrait of her wearing one of the “brain helmets” available at the event..

Stephanie works as a physical therapist at the University of Virginia Medical Center. While she doesn’t treat brain injury survivors exclusively, she told me that she finds working with them to be a especially rewarding. “I am super passionate about helping these patients,” she told me, since so many of them face such difficult challenges and are capable of making huge gains in functioning through physical therapy.

Stephanie is quite involved in the field, serving on the board of Directors of The High Street Clubhouse, “a program for persons with brain injuries to participate in meaningful, satisfying, and purposeful activities in a community environment.”

Originally from Pennsylvannia, Stephanie moved to Charlottesville about a year ago to work at the UVa Medical Center. Before moving to the area, she spent a couple of years as a travelling PT, working for periods of a couple of months at a time in Washington, Texas, and Arizona, among other places.

For those interested in learning more about brain injury resources in Virginia, I encourage you to check out the Brain Injury Association of Virginia website.

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Wes, the marriage equality supporter

While I was walking around talking to people at the rally for marriage equality, I noticed Wes, who seemed to have a smile and a handshake for everyone there. It turns out that connecting with people is something that Wes does well, as a teacher at a local high school, as a community organizer, and now as a candidate for the Charlottesville City Council.

Wes first came to the area to participate in a teaching fellowship program and then decided to settle here when he was offered a teaching position at Albemarle High School. He became involved in the community almost immediately, and his efforts have been noticed by local media outlets, such as the Cville Weekly, who have profiled him in a couple of articles: “The Youth Movement: Under 45’s top players” and “Brothers: How four young black men found their mission to change our city, starting now”

Last year, Wes started a non-profit called H.Y.P.E., which stands for Helping Young People Evolve. The mission of H.Y.P.E. is to mentor youth through teaching them how to box, and as a former boxer who has a string of achievements to his name, Wes is the perfect advocate for this approach.

When I asked Wes why he decided to come to the rally, he told me that although he isn’t gay, he sees the fight for gay rights as a fight for human rights. As he put it, “It wasn’t that long ago that people who look like me didn’t have the right to marry whomever they chose. We all have a stake in this.” I couldn’t agree more.

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Melanie, the marriage equality supporter

I have to admit that I was a little bit surprised to see someone with a clergy collar at the rally for marriage equality, since in my experience, many devout Christians are not particularly tolerant of homosexuality. Melanie, however, is not only tolerant, she is affirming of the LGBTQ community. She is the pastor of the Sojourners United Church of Christ in Charlottesville, a post she assumed about a year-and-a-half ago, She told me that one of the reasons why she was happy to accept their job offer was precisely because it is an “open an affirming” church, which means that one of their basic principles is to welcome people of all ages, races, genders, and sexual orientations as full members of their community.

Melanie has been serving churches for almost twenty years, and she knew that she was called to do so even as a child. She told me that when she was a little girl, she would go out into the pastures on her family farm in Nebraska and preach to the cows, occasionally scolding them for their behavior and exhorting them to lead more righteous lives. Social justice issues are very important to her, and in addition to supporting the local LGBTQ community, she has a strong commitment to reproductive justice.

One thing that I would add is that in this portrait, she might look a bit severe, but in our conversation, she was quick to smile, and she seemed positively full of joy. I haven’t seen her preach, but I would imagine that she is really good at connecting with her congregation.

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Amy, the marriage equality supporter

One of the most interesting people I met at the rally for marriage equality was Amy, who spoke quite movingly about some of the challenges she has faced in her life due to her sexual orientation. Amy told me that she realized that she was a lesbian when she was fifteen and fell in love for the first time, with another girl. She faced a lot of opposition from her family, since their religious views couldn’t, and still cannot, accept homosexuality. “You can’t be a lesbian,” many of her friends and family said, “because you’re so feminine!” Her mother still has not come to grips with Amy’s sexual orientation, and their relationship has been seriously damaged because of it.

Like many young people struggling to find their way, she tried to be straight. She married a man and tried to make the marriage work, but it failed. She tried again with another man, with the same result. They had a child together, and Amy told me that she is grateful that her second husband is a kind man who has learned to accept her as she is. She said that they get along well, which is a very good thing for their child. Finally, after their divorce in 2008, she was able to embrace her sexual orientation and stop trying to fit into a mold that just didn’t work for her. I can’t imagine how difficult her journey has been, and I can only hope that a day will come when people like Amy will feel that they can be who they were made to be without having to spend decades of their lives trying to be someone they simply aren’t.

Last March, Amy formed the Charlottesville Pride Community Network, an organization whose aim is to provide support and advocacy for the local LGBTQ community. Shortly after its creation, her group held the first ever Charlottesvile Pride Festival. Followers of my project will have already seen some of the portraits I made that day, including one my personal favorites, the portrait of Reigna Beaux, the birthday girl.

Downtown Mall in Charlottesville, VA