Visual Arts Center of Richmond

Visual Arts Center of Richmond The Visual Arts Center of Richmond celebrates and supports the creative life of all people through art-making, exhibitions, and community programs.
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Art for everyone. Creativity for life.

VisArts is proud to introduce the Spring + Summer 2026 cohort of Studio Access Artists-in-Residence!Studio Access Reside...
05/30/2026

VisArts is proud to introduce the Spring + Summer 2026 cohort of Studio Access Artists-in-Residence!

Studio Access Residencies last for six months and provide free access to one or all of VisArts’ 17 communal studios during our regular building hours. The residency concludes with a exhibition of the artists' work, free + open to the public.

Please help us make these artists feel at home by saying hello if you see them at VisArts!

🔸 Aaron Thompson
🔸 Hannah Randall
🔸 Karina Monroy
🔸 Lenny Farinholt
🔸 Malia Stisher
🔸 Mars Escobar
🔸 M.O. Cherry
🔸 Maurice Ivory Wilson
🔸 Olivia Christie
🔸 Ollie Hoffmaster
🔸 Pamela Guzman
🔸 Rayana Hill
🔸 Roberto Jamora
🔸 Ty Martin
🔸 Yasmeen Jaaber

Artists, mark your calendars 📅 Applications for our Featured Illustrator Program open June 1!We're once again commission...
05/29/2026

Artists, mark your calendars 📅 Applications for our Featured Illustrator Program open June 1!

We're once again commissioning custom illustrations for our seasonal class catalogs as a way to celebrate and support artists within our community. Swipe to see some of our past catalog covers! 👉

Selected illustrators receive a $1,500 honorarium and an invitation to lead a workshop on the topic of their choice.

Please note: at this time, we are only able to accept applicants based in the United States. Get more details at https://www.visarts.org/artist-residencies/illustrators-in-residence/?utm_source=visarts_social&utm_medium=facebook

🧚 First illustration by Jay Crilley

This past year's illustrators:
🦊 Summer 2026 Catalog Illustrations by Grace Mae Huddleston
🪁 ArtVenture 2026 Catalog Illustrations by Marcus Thomas
🍧 Spring 2026 Catalog Illustrations by Alex Luciano
🐲 Winter 2025 Catalog Illustrations by Jay Crilley

🛍️📋 LAST CALL for Craft + Design 2026 exhibitors! Applications close Sun, May 31.VisArts' Craft + Design is a contempora...
05/26/2026

🛍️📋 LAST CALL for Craft + Design 2026 exhibitors! Applications close Sun, May 31.

VisArts' Craft + Design is a contemporary craft show that has garnered a reputation for showcasing the finest in museum-quality craft. The show is held annually in the historic Main Street Station’s train shed and draws more than 9,000 guests to shop the work of 170+ artists from all over the country.

From a previous exhibiting artist: "It's always my favorite show to participate in. VisArts does a fabulous job running/managing the show. And the venue is lovely!!"

Apply now at https://craftanddesignrva.com/?utm_source=visarts_social&utm_medium=facebook&utm_campaign=2026_craft_and_design

⌛🖼️ It's your last chance to catch "Residing Between," an exhibition of VisArts' Fall/Winter '25/'26 Studio Access Resid...
05/22/2026

⌛🖼️ It's your last chance to catch "Residing Between," an exhibition of VisArts' Fall/Winter '25/'26 Studio Access Residents.

Each artist’s work holds experiences of biographies, internal worlds, and community while maintaining distinct forms. The works enter into relation with each other in a shared space, in search of an equilibrium within their own processes and content. Artists excavate their understandings of identity, resilience, and rest while considering the space between their intersections.

This show questions how we can exist within multiple realms and opposing experiences, with work that seeks to expand the artists sense of self and their communities, experiment with process, and nourish their practices.

On view through May 24. https://www.visarts.org/exhibition/studio-access-resident-exhibition-fallwinter-2025-26/?utm_source=visarts_social&utm_medium=facebook&utm_campaign=exhibitions

✴️ Hey art-makers, heads up: VisArts will be closed on Mon, May 25. Please plan your art-making accordingly. We'll be ba...
05/22/2026

✴️ Hey art-makers, heads up: VisArts will be closed on Mon, May 25. Please plan your art-making accordingly. We'll be back to regular hours (9am–9pm) on Tues, May 26.

Please join us in welcoming our newest member of the VisArts team, Director of Development Haley McLaren! 🎉With a backgr...
05/21/2026

Please join us in welcoming our newest member of the VisArts team, Director of Development Haley McLaren! 🎉

With a background in Studio Art and nearly 20 years of fundraising tenure in the Richmond community, Haley McLaren is thrilled to bring her professional experience and strategic and creative approach to fundraising to VisArts in this exciting season of growth for the organization.

Haley is a native of Tazewell County, Virginia, but proudly calls Richmond home with her husband and spirited daughter. She loves any excuse to craft or make something special for a friend or loved one. Haley is so grateful for the opportunity to rally support for VisArts in its mission to nurture the power of creative practice and arts education for individuals through all walks and seasons of life.

Be sure to say hi next time you see her around VisArts!

🏺🗣 Calling all clay artists!Every fall, VisArts hosts our annual Chili Throwdown—a fundraiser where neighbors come toget...
05/20/2026

🏺🗣 Calling all clay artists!

Every fall, VisArts hosts our annual Chili Throwdown—a fundraiser where neighbors come together to celebrate our clay program and taste-test chili from beloved restaurants across Richmond.

As we gear up for another Chili Throwdown in October, our clay community has a collective goal to make 1,000 ceramic bowls for this annual fundraiser.

To help us hit our goal, VisArts is looking for a skilled potter with a recognizable style and a love for community to join our team as the 2026 Featured Clay Artist.

BENEFITS:
🔸 Honorarium of $750
🔸 Free studio access for personal use through Dec 2025, including free firing + a shelf for your own studio practice
🔸 Artist spotlights on VisArts’ social media, website, + email
🔸 Headshot + bio featured on signage at the Chili Throwdown in October
🔸 One free VisArts class
🔸 Invitation to sell works at Craft + Design
➡️ Total estimated value: $1,800

EXPECTATIONS:
🔸 Make a minimum of 150 bowls from August – September
🔸 Comfortable working towards a semi-production level project in a community studio
🔸 Interest + availability to support VisArts staff at community Throw-a-thons on 2 Sundays in August

Apply now: https://www.visarts.org/artist-residencies/featured-clay-artist/?utm_source=visarts_social&utm_medium=facebook&utm_campaign=2026_chili

(Pictured: our 2025 Featured Clay Artist, Remy Ciuba.)

🗣️ "Clay feels like a special kind of honesty to me, like playing music."Cameron Weston Nicholson (who goes by Weston, h...
05/19/2026

🗣️ "Clay feels like a special kind of honesty to me, like playing music."

Cameron Weston Nicholson (who goes by Weston, he/him) has been an artist “since he knew what the word felt like.” He has explored multiple media over the years, but a few have stuck with him more than others. Classically trained in Media Arts and Animation, he has recently been exploring pottery.

Sitting down with him in a clay studio partway through his six-month residency, Weston provided insight into how themes of family and Blackness appear in his art, the ways clay has influenced his drawing practice, and how musical timing influences his work across mediums.

Learn more about Weston + his work in our latest blog post. https://www.visarts.org/blog/blog/2026/cameron-weston-nicholson/?utm_source=visarts_social&utm_medium=facebook&utm_campaign=exhibitions

See his work for yourself in our current Studio Access Resident Exhibition, "Residing Between," on view through May 24. https://www.visarts.org/exhibition/studio-access-resident-exhibition-fallwinter-2025-26/?utm_source=visarts_social&utm_medium=facebook&utm_campaign=exhibitions

05/14/2026

🖼️ Preview: “Residing Between,” an exhibition of works by our Fall/Winter 25/26 cohort of Studio Access Residents. On view May 14–24, 2026.

Residing Between is an interdisciplinary group show that seeks to find a commonality between opposing inner worlds. The residents’ practices and mediums span across painting, ceramics, metal, glass, fiber, printmaking, and assemblage — a true testament to the interdisciplinary environment at the Visual Arts Center of Richmond.

Each artist’s work holds experiences of biographies, internal worlds, and community while maintaining distinct forms. The works enter into relation with each other in a shared space, in search of an equilibrium within their own processes and content. Artists excavate their understandings of identity, resilience, and rest while considering the space between their intersections.

This show questions how we can exist within multiple realms and opposing experiences, with work that seeks to expand the artists sense of self and their communities, experiment with process, and nourish their practices.

More info at the link in our bio.

Artists featured here: Princess ‘PS’ Spencer (), Oscar Campos-Valle (._.art), Jas Ramos (), Niyah McGee-Hawkins (), Sofia Gadbois (.by.sofia), Keysha Rivera (), + Marquise Crockett ().

Address

1812 W Main Street
Richmond, VA
23220

Opening Hours

Monday 9am - 9pm
Tuesday 9am - 9pm
Wednesday 9am - 9pm
Thursday 9am - 9pm
Friday 9am - 9pm
Saturday 9am - 9pm
Sunday 9am - 9pm

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