Want Revolutionary Performance? VMFA’s Got It.

After the calamitous yet victorious 1917 Russian Revolution, its supreme political and intellectual leader, V.I. Lenin, declared cinema to be the most important of all the arts.  He saw film as having superior ability to spread the message and inspire change for his formidable task to improve the lives of the masses of the new Soviet Union. 

The Moscow Film School was founded and supported by the fledgling government.  Experimentation, research, and theory abounded.  Dynamic montage—the calculated placement of filmed shots next to each other for maximum effect-- became the guiding principle in Soviet film technique. 

One filmmaker in particular emerged as a genius and master of montage with his own theories of formal construction.  He was Sergei Eisenstein.  His 1925 silent Battleship Potemkin became the emblematic motion picture to represent the revolution as well as entrench a fresh cinematic style based on combustion and the collision of images.  It changed filmmaking forever.

The one and only Battleship Potemkin (69 min) will be presented at VMFA, April 6, with live music.   It is an amazing story of an actual mutiny on a Russian Czarist Naval ship in 1905.

Accompanying with their self-composed original score will be Goldrush, an eclectically infused group of superb musicians.  Led by Prabir Mehta, Goldrush has performed with silent shorts but this will be their first triumph in the realm of feature-length movies. 

Join us Friday, April 6, at 6:30 p.m. at VMFA for this exclusive and highly revolutionary experience all for a price that is friendly to the communal spirit: $8 (VMFA members $5).

---Hobart Cornell, Critic-at-large

Virgina's talented young artists



Caroline Smith, "I am Woman"

The National Scholastic Art Awards hold a long tradition of recognizing promising young artists and supporting their passion. The Awards have an impressive legacy dating back to 1923 and a noteworthy roster of past winners including Andy Warhol, Sylvia Plath, Truman Capote, Richard Avedon, Robert Redford and Joyce Carol Oates. They continue to be the longest-running, most prestigious recognition program for creative teens in the U.S., and the largest source of scholarships for young artists and writers.

I am proud to announce that twenty-two of these national medals were awarded to seventeen Virginia students from the surrounding Richmond region this past year.  These awardees are recognized as the nation’s most talented young artists. Virginia’s silver and gold medalists will be honored at a special ceremony at Carnegie Hall in New York City on May 31, 2012. Gold medalists’ works will be eligible for exhibitions held in New York City and Washington D.C. and for publication in Scholastic’s National Catalog. VMFA honors all Regional Gold Key winners with a ceremony and exhibition, which was on view February 18- March 19, 2012. 



Lindsey Rosenthal Gold, "The Harder You Look"



This is VMFA’s second year as a Regional Affiliate for the Scholastic Art Awards, the twenty-two medals awarded this year is triple the amount from last year. VMFA serves as the regional affiliate for the following Virginia cities and counties: Richmond, Hanover, Goochland, Powhatan, Chesterfield, Hopewell, Henrico, Colonial Heights, Petersburg, Dinwiddie, King William, West Point, Sussex, Surry, New Kent, Charles City, Prince George, Williamsburg, Chesapeake, Virginia Beach, Norfolk, Hampton, Newport News, York, Portsmouth, Poquoson, Franklin, Isle of Wright, and Southampton.

We are all very excited for these promising young artists!

Below is a list of national winners from Richmond and surrounding counties:

Gold Medalists:

Sophie Eichner, Deep Run High School

Miranda Elliot, Maggie L. Walker Governor's School for Government and International Studies

Morgan Hayes, Henrico High School

Selena Kitchens, Maggie L. Walker Governor's School for Government and International Studies

Anna Laughter, Freeman High School

Mary Lincoln, Hermitage High School

Mac Todd, Albert Hill Middle School

Mac Todd, "Through the Window"

Silver Medalists:

Summer Balcom, Manchester High School

Miles Barnett, Appomattox Regional Governor’s School for the Arts and Technology

Erika Chu, Maggie L. Walker Governor's School for Government and International Studies

Sophie Eichner, Deep Run High School

Hannah Lewis, Thomas Dale High School

Emma McCormack, Swift Creek Middle School

Tyler O’Brien, Cosby High School

Lindsey Rosenthal, Henrico High School

Caroline Smith, Matoaca High School

Catharine Wintory, Henrico High School

Benjamin Gross, Trinity Episcopal School

Sidney Tilghman, Appomattox Regional Governor’s School for the Arts and Technology

Congratulations to these outstanding students!

- Jessica Bauserman is the Youth and Family Events Coordinator at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts.