This abandoned bulletin board at the bottom of Oregon Hill Parkway receive some attention this morning as someone added a yarn lattice to it. This artist was different from the one who had originally made and put the bulletin board in place.
Though All the Saints Theater Company may be best known for founding the annual Halloween Parade that goes through Oregon Hill, they are Richmond’s one and only premiere subversive puppet theater.
On Monday, September 13th, they will performing with Rumput, a local group, at the Firehouse Theater, on Broad Street.
The Rumput performance will include traditional and experimental stringband music by Indonesian composers, newly commissioned scrolling artwork by Javanese artists, and original cinematic shadow theater.
Using their larger than life puppets blessed by the paper mache gods, All the Saints will perform their “Moon Shadow Cabaret,” an exploration of the darkness that seeks the light of the sun. This performance is for all ages, made with adults in mind.
All proceeds go to supporting artists in Indonesia, now the epicenter of the COVID pandemic.
Neighbor Todd Woodson shared this sketch of Pine Street, done by his late family friend, mentor, and fellow music educator, Hunter Purdie. Woodson says Purdie grew up in Oregon Hill, taught at Freeman High School for decades, and contributed singificantly to the VCU Jazz Department.
Excerpt from Virginia Living magazine article:
A documentary about Richmond’s thriving art scene was the winner in the Best Special Interest Film category at the 2020 Art is Alive Film Festival. The Builder is a story about friendship and the powerful way the interconnectivity of people living and moving throughout a city can help to build culture, with a focus on Oregon Hill native and contractor Don Childress, curator of an incredible contemporary art collection, including work from Francesco Clemente, Ron Johnson, Heidi Trepaneir, and Bill Fisher.
The film was produced by Shockoe Artspace, a community supported, artist-run, large-scale, nonprofit gallery founded in 2011 in Richmond. “It really is an honor to win this award in a field of such fantastic films as the ones we saw at the festival,” says Ryan Lauterio, the director of Shockoe Artspace and one of the co-directors of the film, alongside Nicholas Seitz. “We thought we had a great story to tell, and this award is an affirmation of all of the people, relationships, and hard work that made this possible.”
Trailer:
The Builder from Shockoe Artspace on Vimeo.
Click here for film website.
Oregon Hill neighbors have known for a while, but the Walking Dead is here in the neighborhood, filming beneath the Lee Bridge.
If you need to catch up on the show, click here for link.
The angel in middle left is from the tomb of the uncle of Grace Arents, Lewis Ginter.
UPDATE: With national and international concerns rising over surges in COVID-19 cases, the annual All The Saints Halloween Parade has officially been cancelled by organizers.
While disappointed, most if not all the Oregon Hill neighbors seem to appreciate and understand the decision.
Message from the All The Saints Theater Company:
The 15th Annual Halloween Parade: “A Funeral March for the Plague of Now!” will take place on Saturday October 31st, All Hallow’s Eve.
This year is a very different year. We take COVID-19 very seriously and urge everyone to take all safety precautions should you decide to join us.
Please read the following to understand how this year will be different!
THIS YEAR’S ROUTE WON’T BE MARCHING THROUGH OREGON HILL.
Please come with your COVID Pod who you are prepared to carry a puppet with or march alongside! MASKS ARE REQUIRED TO PARTICIPATE! We will have masks to spare if you forget yours! If you would like to decorate your car and be at the back of the parade that is allowed as I am picking a route that allows for vehicles.
We are meeting (per usual) at Monroe Park 7pm sharp on 10/31! Due to the nature of this year, in order to keep the people usually on the sidelines out of the equation we are NOT announcing the route until we march, and it will be slightly shorter than our usual route. It is a year to participate, not to be a bystander (in all ways, not just for the parade).
15 ft Plague Doctors, Vultures schlepping the refugees of the Humanity System, the celebratory skeleton puppets, Grandma Elder, the Hawk of Resistance that defeated the Atlantic Coast Pipeline, Black Lives Matter and the Confederacy is Dead Puppets, and King NoOne and his Fascist Empire will be there and they must be defeated this November with the Vote!
Music by members of NoBS as Tyrannis Bass, and many other amazing local musicians!
All the protection from COVID-19, the police state, and the fascist empire to you and your people. Please stay safe.
As always, this parade is in honor of the dead. Thank you.The Puppets Protect,
Lily Lamberta and the All the Saints’ Family.
Filmed in Oregon Hill by Wes Parker.