Visual Arts Center of Richmond

LOVE LOVE LOVE this place. If only I had unlimited funds and unlimited time to take all the classes. I am currently taking a metal jewelry making class and I am having a blast. The instructor, Lynalise Woodlief, is awesome! I am looking forward to taking more classes. VisArts also offers events though out the year… art shows, etc. They also rent out their space should you need a location for your event. Again, I love this place and I am thankful they are in RVA. I am docking them one star since classes are on the pricey side.

I can not say enough about this wonderful place.
My daughter and I both take classes here and it is a source of joy in our lives.
You are never to old for Art!
The teachers here are also amazing to work with.

This is a really good place to go for recreational art classes. I take the adult classes, but I know they have kids classes, too. Most of my experience is in the ceramics section, though I have taken a figure drawing class which was helpful and informative. I have had really good experiences with David Camden, Jim Valentine, and Jeff Vick. David knows a lot about large-​scale wheel throwing and raku. Jim is good with sculptural work. Jeff is good with learning technique and is good at answering troubleshooting questions. I haven’t taken a class with Pamela, but I encountered her a few times at the studio and she was very rude to me, so for that reason I never will. Anyway, what I like about it is that the people who teach are working artists who make their livings selling their work, so I know they know what they’re doing.
As far as the actual working space at the studio goes, they have lots of wheels, and work tables, and a slab roller. They keep it pretty clean considering the material of choice is clay. They also have a lot of open studio time for enrolled students. When I took a class with Dave he told me if I really wanted to improve, to spend 15 hours a week outside of class working, and I was very thankful that in this space we were actually allowed to do that. Firings are done in a timely manner (I usually get stuff back within a week, unless it’s ^10.), and they have a really big selection of studio glazes with samples of each.

This is a review only for their services as an event rental space. I’m not super, 100% pleased with them but they’re fine, really. For large events like weddings there are three spaces you can rent. The Dominion room upstairs, a small, high ceiling, white room, the gallery commons, which is the inside concrete space out front of the gallery and the courtyard out back. They’re all beautiful spaces! The prices are reasonable, too.
I feel bad complaining about them because everyone was really nice and apparently I got a great deal on the space that I rented. The coordinator we originally had just quoted us random prices and then put them into the contract. We were given another coordinator about a month before the wedding and she was aghast at the fact that we were getting the space for 300 $ less than it was supposed to be rented for. Perhaps this is why the first coordinator we had is no longer the event rental coordinator.
The price for the rooms does not include things like tables and chairs and the sound system. We added those into the contract. About a month before the wedding we had to bump our guest list from 50 to 80 (the moms got involved) so I had to go back to our coordinator and ask her if we could rent more tables and chairs. She told me that they didn’t have any more tables and chairs than we’d originally rented. In fact, the tables and chairs that the center had only sat 25 people. We had been told by the original coordinator that the space sat 100 people and that was how many tables and chairs they had. If I hadn’t come in to bump up the guest list we would have shown up on the day of and had only enough chairs to seat half our guests. What’s more is that one of the spaces we’d been told would seat 100 people (the Dominion room) would only actually seat that many people if they were seated at cocktail tables (bar stools). They took that charge off the bill and we rented our tables and chairs from Party Perfect.
We also paid for the sound system so that we could play music. When my friends and family showed up to decorate the morning of they were told that there wasn’t a sound system for outside. Our contact who was assigned to help us couldn’t tell us why we were charged to rent the system if it was unavailable in the space we rented. Good thing someone had a portable stereo in their car! We were able to play music for the procession and recession but the battery died after that. We didn’t get to do any dancing or have any music. At this point I’m so totally over fussing with wedding stuff that I didn’t ask to have the charge refunded. I should.
Other than that they were great! They had a list of approved caterers and we chose Mosaic, who were TOTALLY FABULOUS! People were friendly and our area was reasonably private. It was a really great time. I don’t know if I’d rent from them again but they’re definitely a good place to consider for your event rental!

I recently inherited my mother-in-law’s 1960 Singer sewing machine. Awesome!
Problem. I haven’t sewn a stitch in about 15 years.
Solution — The Art of Sewing class at the Visual Arts Center. $ 225 for Non-​members gets you 9 2.5 hours classes. Bring your own machine or use theirs. We started with a super simple project of making a pin cushion, moved on to a little zipper case and then to whatever project we chose. We are learning all kinds of skills — zippers, button holes, tailoring, gathers, linings, etc. Ms. Southall has us creating fabric books with swatches and notes on how to work with each one.
This class has already given me the confidence to start making a bag on my own. I’m spending more and more time (and money) at Joanns, Hancocks and Couture and my little sewing corner is slowly taking over the dining room.
While $ 225 was a little steep for me I do feel like I am getting my money’s worth and that I will really be able to use what I have learned.
They also have classes in pottery, glass, photography, painting… too many things to list. Its a great way to spend an evening.

The Visual Arts Center of Richmond has been encouraging art in the Richmond area since 1963. Today the Visual Arts Center offers more than 500 classes for adults and children in subjects like painting, ceramics, glass blowing, jewelry making, etc. They also hold five exhibitions a year featuring both emerging and established artists with a focus on innovative materials and processes.
They sponsor the Craft & Design Show (reviewed separately on here), an Art After School program for at-​risk students in Richmond Public elementary and middle schools. Second Friday Sampler offers free sample workshops on a first-​come, first-​serve basis for people who want to check out a medium before enrolling in a class.
One of the newest programs is Art & Coffee, a program held on the second and fourth Tuesdays of each month. Coffee is provided by Rostov’s and there’s an hour of learning about a specific art subject. Subjects have included The Curatorial Process, Narrative Jewelry, subject-​specific talks with local artists, workshops and more.
Basically, the VIsual Arts Center has been a staple in the Richmond arts community for years. It’s a great place that holds all sorts of events to promote the arts.
Membership is available. There are different levels that get you class discounts and other perks.