R Anthony Harris

Snow Law, Beer Runs, and a Market That Never Closed In my twenties, snow days in Richmond were not a crisis. They were a gift. You walked to the local market, and back then there were only a handful, stocked up on whatever counted as “supplies,” and then wandered off under the sacred banner of “snow law.” That meant drinks, porch hangs, maybe snowball fights, and eventually migrating as a group to whichever spot still had power for last call. Living in The Fan made it all pretty easy. Things were cheaper, people walked more, and half the night was spent randomly bumping into people you knew. Fast forward to now, with major snow and ice in the forecast this weekend, the rush is on. That is why, when I stopped by Lombardy Market for a snack yesterday, I decided to ask co-owner John Watkinson what snow days actually look like from his side of the counter. Lombardy has been holding it down near VCU since 1981, when John’s father, R.E. Watkinson, opened the place just before John was born. John is 43 now. The math checks out. The market has been here longer than most of you reading this. When snow hits, Lombardy does not close. Ever. Read more, see more. Link in bio. Featured: @lombardymkt ✏️📸: @majormajor____ • • #richmond #rva #rvamag

Rama Duwaji: From VCU Arts to New York’s First Lady This week, Zohran Mamdani won the race to become the next mayor of New York City in one of the nation’s most closely watched elections. A Democratic socialist who campaigned alongside Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Mamdani defeated former Governor Andrew Cuomo in both the primary and the general election. But beyond the political headlines, there’s a Richmond connection worth celebrating. Mamdani is married to Rama Duwaji, who will now serve as New York’s First Lady, and, as it turns out, is also one of our own. Duwaji is a recent graduate of Virginia Commonwealth University’s Communication Arts and Design program, where she studied illustration and animation. She first attended VCU’s School of the Arts in Qatar before transferring to the Richmond campus, where she held her first public exhibition. As a fellow VCU alum from the same program, it feels right to celebrate one of ours stepping onto one of the biggest stages in the country, and to take a closer look at her art. See more. Read more. Link in bio. Featured: @ramaduwaji @zohrankmamdani @vcuarts @vcu ✏️: @majormajor____ • • #richmond #rva #rvamag

Earlier: An estimated 14,000 people attended No Kings II today in Richmond, VA. Featured: @50501movement @50501virginia 🎥: @majormajor____ • • #richmond #rva #rvamag

What Virginia’s Marijuana Resentencing Law Means for Incarcerated Residents Governor Abigail Spanberger signed Senate Bill 62 into law late Thursday night, creating a pathway for courts to revisit certain marijuana-related convictions handed down before legalization. The bill, officially titled “Modification of sentence for marijuana-related offenses,” establishes a resentencing process for people still incarcerated or under supervision for qualifying cannabis offenses committed before July 1, 2021, when Virginia legalized personal marijuana possession. Unlike expungement legislation, SB 62 does not automatically erase convictions from a person’s record. Instead, the law creates a court review process that allows judges to reconsider sentences handed down under Virginia’s previous marijuana laws. Read more, link in bio. Featured: @abigailspanberger @thcjusticenow @lastprisonerproject @chelseahiggswise ✏️: @majormajor____ 📸: Jonathan Cooper • • #richmond #rva #rvamag

‘Extended Play’ Big Dipper Keeps the Conversation Going After Hours Big Dipper Innovation Summit isn’t just happening inside Main Street Station this week. The conversations are spilling out into Richmond, with a full slate of after-hours events under the Extended Play banner. From receptions and garden socials to rooftop sets, intimate performances, and a Scott’s Addition block party, Extended Play is built around the idea that some of the best connections happen after the panels wrap. RVA Magazine is part of that lineup with After The Summit, happening Wednesday, May 13 from 6–9 PM at The Library at Harry’s at The Hof + Rooftop. Our event is free to attend and designed as a relaxed landing spot after the day’s programming, with Manifesto Hour from 6–7 PM, live music from Theocles on the rooftop, and DJ sets from Elliott and Aimée Lauren inside The Library. Other Extended Play events include The Kickoff Reception at Havana ’59, The Garden Social at Agecroft Hall, Get Tight Takeover, the BDIS26 Summit Block Party in Scott’s Addition, Ant the Symbol & Friends at Common House, and Rebuild the Algorithm at Bingo Beer Co. Find out more, link in bio. Featured: @bigdipperexperience @mrchancefischer @anneliesevox , @christiantreid , @ohmy_sherashi , @billycrystalfingers , @hiphophenry_ @vasenbrewing @tbtelgallo @jonathanpbjr @isaacfriendisalive @freighttrainmgmt @caroline_scruggs_ @gettightlounge @bingobeerco @donchirashi @hoodyxx @miabroadberry @sirrome_music   @missronnieluxe @commonhouserva @antthesymbol @samreed804 @eliturite @harrysrva @elliott_us_ @aimeelaurenatelier @thebutter_co • • #richmond #rva #rvamag

After Strong Turnout, Richmond Arts Park Enters Holding Pattern Under the Manchester Bridge, what had been an idea for years turned into something tangible, at least for a day. Hundreds of people moved through the space as muralists painted, DJs played, and passersby stopped mid-bike ride or walk to figure out what was going on. By the end of the afternoon, the one-day test of a proposed arts park felt less like a trial and more like a preview. “I don’t know how it could have gone better,” said artist Ian C. Hess, an event organizer with Little Giant Society and owner of Supply Art Store. “It was crazy. People showed up from pretty much the moment it started to the moment it ended. All types of Richmond were out there.” For Hess, the scale of the turnout didn’t fully register until midway through the event, when Richmond Mayor Danny Avula stepped up to paint. Featured: @little.giant.society @ian.c.hess @dannyavula @supply.rva @catielewisart @herrsuite @elimcmullen @stachesquatchdesign @visiblyhidden_ @jerrofyx @skwheatstraw @nilsrva @stove_irwin @dan.knots @jonjarmusic @fanranfilms @profound79 @z3nki_ale @philip_meyer @jamesonthejames Find out more, link in bio. ✏️: @majormajor____ 📸: @benwhitephoto @tedikuma @penrose.projex • • #richmond #rva #rvamag

Mike Ireland of I Am The Avalanche on Faking It, Finding It, and Coming Back to Richmond Sometimes you have to catch someone at the bar and do the interview. I’ve known Mike Ireland for a while now and we had talked about doing this for months, so after a quick round, we stepped outside and spent five minutes on it. He’d just wrapped another run with I Am The Avalanche, and the first thing we talked about was the tour. “It was incredible. So much fucking fun.” Read more, link in bio. Featured: @mikeireland138 @iamtheavalanchenyc ✏️: @majormajor____ 📸: @stevelevy_ • • #richmond #rva #rvamag

Proof In The Park! Richmond Arts Park Gets Trial Run This Weekend The City of Richmond is giving organizers behind a proposed arts park under the Manchester Bridge a one-day opportunity to test the concept in real time. Scheduled for Saturday April 25 from 12-5pm, the event will serve as a live proof of concept for what supporters have described as a “vibrant arts park,” an open, artist-led space built around rotating mural walls, public programming, and community use. The response to this trial run could determine whether the project moves forward as a permanent installation. “This isn’t the permanent park,” said Ian Hess, who originated the idea and is one of the organizers. “This is to make sure the permanent park happens.” The one-day activation will feature approximately 10 invited muralists alongside a series of open walls available to the public, reflecting the broader vision for the space as an accessible, ongoing canvas. Temporary wall structures are being installed for the event, along with a small stage for DJs and music throughout the evening. The project has been in development for more than three years and has reached a point where this test is critical. “If this doesn’t push through the permanent project, there’s literally nothing else that can be done,” he said, pointing to existing partnerships, endorsements, and coordination with city agencies already in place. Read more, link in bio. Featured: @ian.c.hess @little.giant.society @benwhitephoto @falllinetrail ✏️: @majormajor____ • • #richmond #rva #rvamag

Virginia MOCA Launches New Era Before the Institute for Contemporary Art at VCU was even around, and before the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts really began to embrace contemporary work, especially anything connected to street art or artists working in the present, Virginia Museum of Contemporary Art was already doing that work. It was one of the few institutions in the state consistently engaging with the kind of ideas showing up outside of traditional museum spaces. So when the invitation came through for the ribbon cutting at their new space, I was glad to make the trip. It had been a while, and I was curious what that next version of Virginia MOCA would actually look like. The new building, located on the campus of Virginia Wesleyan University, answers that pretty quickly. The space opens up in a way that feels expansive, almost like an airplane hangar, but not in a cold or distant way. It is flexible, clearly designed for more than just exhibitions, and built with the idea that people are going to spend time there, not just pass through. More importantly, the programming out of the gate feels intentional. The opening exhibitions, Nina Chanel Abney: The Pursuit of Happiness and Seamless: Art and Design, do more than fill the space. They establish a direction. As Executive Director Alison Byrne framed it during the opening, the museum is meant to be “a place for connection, for curiosity, for learning… somewhere you can come as you are and find something that speaks to you.” Read more, link in bio. Featured: @virginiamoca ✏️: @majormajor____ • • #richmond #rva #rvamag

Vote Yes. What’s Missing From the “Vote No” Argument I had a friend ask me about redistricting. He was trying to figure out how to vote and admitted he did not really understand what was happening. He leans left, so the fact that he was unsure says something about how this issue is being presented right now. Virginia Republicans have framed it in a way that leaves out key context, which has made a straightforward question harder for voters to understand. What should be simple has been turned into something that is difficult to follow if you are only casually paying attention. As I was explaining it, I realized it did not feel great to talk through. Framing what Democrats are doing, even if it is in response to what the Trump administration set in motion, felt like a strange place to land. I am voting yes, but I did not have all the answers when I was asked, and that probably says more than anything else about how our politics are functioning right now. Read more, link in bio. ✏️: @majormajor____ • • #richmond #rva #rvamag

Today marks 21 years of RVA Magazine. We started on April 15, 2005, put together by a group of Richmond artists, writers, designers, and photographers who felt like the city’s culture wasn’t being fully seen. If you’ve contributed, supported, or spent time reading along the way, you’ve been part of it. Thank you. — @majormajor____

The Era of Straight-Up Greed (Or, Can I Live?) I stopped for gas the other day, it’s $4.19 a gallon. You swipe your card, you move on. That’s just the baseline price of existing now in Richmond. Inside, I grabbed a couple things without thinking. A two-pack of Reese’s and an iced tea. The kind of purchase made a thousand times from muscle memory. $3.45 for the candy. Four bucks for the tea. I stood there for a second, doing the math. Not trying to solve anything, just trying to understand how we got here. There isn’t a chocolate shortage that I know of. Tea is still leaves and water, right? But the price is the price because it can be. At the grocery store, everything feels slightly off. The same brands, the same packaging, just lighter in the hand and heavier at the register. A bag of chips that’s mostly air. A pack of ribeyes creeping over $35, with some new explanation each time, a beef shortage, tariffs, take your pick. Something… something … someone, somewhere, always justifying the number. Read more, link in bio. ✏️📸: @majormajor____ • • #richmond #rva #rvamag