UR leaves its mark on Richmond Street Art Festival
By Zak Kerr | September 12, 2013Along an entire block on Cary Street, University of Richmond art students will cover a wall with original murals. As part of the University of Richmond Arts Initiative, UR Downtown and the Bonner Center for Civic Engagement (CCE) collaborated with local art organizations to garner this mural and exhibition space between Davis Avenue and Robinson Street, which will be the feature attraction of the university's exhibition at the Richmond Street Art Festival this week. "After an invitation from the RVA Street Art Festival, we teamed with the Valentine Richmond History Center to showcase historical images of the Richmond streetcar system to connect the beginning of Richmond's transportation system to the future of the system, the [Greater Richmond Transit Company]," said Alexandra Byrum, the educational programming coordinator of UR Downtown. "Richmond really was the first city to introduce streetcar or trolley lines, Areflect on history and transportation as part of this unique opportunity in city history," she said. Former and current Richmond students, as well as local and national artists, will paint murals for the festival and in recurring periods thereafter, Byrum said. "In the gaps between and around the historical vinyls, Richmond art students will be able to paint murals, starting in October," Byrum said.
