KATHERINE TZU-LAN MANN | VEGETABLE VALLEY
popblossom is pleased to present, Vegetable Valley, recent works by Katherine Tzu-Lan Mann. Please join us for the Opening Event, Friday, October 12 from 6:30 – 8:30pm at WPA Studio + Gallery, located in The Monticello Arcade in Downtown Norfolk, VA.
Commercial Coffee Hampton Roads
Join us on Wednesday, August 29th to hear about the most iconic riverfront trail in the country, Elizabeth River Trail. This 10.5 mile trail stretches along Norfolk’s waterfront and includes some of the City’s most beloved treasures, including Waterside Marina, Town Point Park, The Pagoda, and Nauticus.
Imaginings!
A ribbon cutting in late August will realize the last piece of an exciting concept for downtown Norfolk’s Selden Market.
Spreading the Word
Sometimes we are so focused on our own practices and communities that we don’t stop to think that there may be worthwhile messages to share with others.
Neighborhood Rising
After three days of lively charrettes, residents of Norfolk’s Tidewater Gardens community are closer to a new envisioned future.
Summer Feature: JT’s Camp Grom
If we were to write an essay, “My Summer Vacation,” a highlight would be attending the opening of JT’s Camp Grom on June 10. This new Virginia Beach adventure park was created especially for wounded veterans and their families, the families of fallen military heroes, and children and adults with disabilities.
Big Ugly Brewing to open August 4th!
WPA and Altruistic Design collaborated on the expansion of Chesapeake’s only brewery. Congratulations to Big Ugly and to our partners at Blueridge General and Lynch Mykins.
BRITTON + SAUNDERS | WABI-SABI
popblossom is pleased to present, WABI-SABI (Alternative Perspectives). Please join us for the Opening Event, Friday, July 6th from 6:30 - 8:30pm at WPA Studio + Gallery, located in The Monticello Arcade in Downtown Norfolk, VA.
World Below the Brine
We’re very excited to announce that WPA, in association with Rhiza A+D and Piece of Cake Productions, has been selected by the City of Virginia Beach - Office of Cultural Affairs to design, fabricate, and install a piece of interactive temporary public art at Rudee Inlet Loop.
$2.6M raised toward a new Elizabeth River Trail – complete with glow-in-the-dark paths
A Norfolk nonprofit’s vision for the Elizabeth River Trail, full of winding loops, glow-in-the-dark paths, public art and playgrounds, is several million dollars closer to becoming reality.
ELIZABETH DORBAD | THE ARCADE
popblossom is pleased to present THE ARCADE, selected works from the series, ITINERANT ARCHITECTURES, by Elizabeth Dorbad. Please join us for the Opening, Friday, April 6, 6:30-8:30pm at WPA Studio + Gallery, located in The Monticello Arcade in Downtown Norfolk, VA.
Crawling out of the Cubical
More companies are finding that where you work can make a difference in how you work
Compensation strategies from a small firm principal
How being financially transparent and sharing responsibilities improves happiness in the workplace
Big Time
Tuesday, Feb 27 at 7:15pm
NARO Cinema
Presented with AIA of Hampton Roads
BIG TIME The film follows young Danish architect Bjarke Ingels, one of architecture’s biggest stars, during the course of five years, while he struggles to finish his biggest project so far. We are let into Bjarke’s creative processes as well as the endless compromises that his work entails, and we are on the side when his personal life starts putting pressure on him, too. Bjarke Ingels’ company Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG) has been given the task of designing and building one of the skyscrapers that will replace the Twin Towers. The film offers an intimate look into the innovative and ambitious Danish architect, whom the entire world is celebrating as a young genius. (93 mins) big time trailer and website
The Marrige and Harmony of ART & ENGINEERING
A Panel Discussion
Featuring Donald Lipski, artist of The Canoes at Lesner Bridge;
Chris Wojtowicz, Virginia Beach Public Works Project Manager;
Mel Price, Principal Architect, Work Program Architects;
Moderated by Ron Williams, Virginia Beach Deputy City Manager
MING YING HONG | CONDITIONS OF UNCERTAINTY
popblossom is pleased to present CONDITIONS OF UNCERTAINTY, selected works by Ming Ying Hong. Please join us for the Opening, Friday, February 2, 6:30-8:30pm at WPA Studio + Gallery, located in The Monticello Arcade in Downtown Norfolk, VA.
Altruistic Design
WPA is proud to announce that Jeremy S. Maloney has founded Altruistic Design in Virginia Beach.
BOYER + VITALE | FADED BY THE SUN
popblossom is pleased to present, FADED BY THE SUN, an exhibition of new works by Hampton Boyer and John Vitale, showing November 17—December 31, 2017, at WPA Studio + Gallery inside The Monticello Arcade, 208 E Plume St, Norfolk, VA. The artists will be present at the Opening Event, Friday, November 17, 6:30-8:30pm.
NEON Community Open Space
WPA presented the updated design concept for a park at the old Cofer Lot to an enthusiastic audience at the November NEON District monthly meeting.
Congratulations, Yuzhu Zheng
We are pleased to share the news that Yuzhu Zheng, who does much of our architectural photography, has her own show opening Nov. 8, 6:30-8 p.m., at the Meyera E. Oberndorf Central Library in Virginia Beach.
UPDATE: NEON Community Open Space Charrette
TONIGHT: The results of the Charrette and next steps for the site will be presented at this month’s NEON District Committee Meeting, at the Push Comedy Theater in the NEON at 5:30 pm. 763 Granby Street, Norfolk.
WE’RE DOING A BURN! THE ART OF BURNING MAN CLOSING EVENT
THIS Saturday, October 14th | 21+ | 5-10pm
We've just received approval from the Norfolk Fire Department to
proceed with a CELEBRATORY BURN at 7pm during our Closing Event!*
We HAD to end the exhibit in a blaze and we've collaborated with local
burners to build a Norfolk-themed effigy that will go out in flames on
our final night! For those that have been adding their thoughts and wishes
to our driftwood on Thursdays, the pieces are being added to the effigy.
City of Norfolk Receives Two Excellence in Economic Development Awards
“We are grateful that the City of Norfolk has been recognized, once again, for impressive achievements in economic development," said Mayor Kenneth Cooper Alexander.
The City of Norfolk’s Economic Development Department was honored at an awards ceremony at the International Economic Development Council Annual Conference held September 17th - 20th in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
MEASURED | Peter Eudenbach
popblossom is pleased to present MEASURED, recent works by Peter Eudenbach. Please join us for the Opening, Friday, September 29th, 6:30-8:30pm at WPA Studio + Gallery, located in The Monticello Arcade in Downtown Norfolk, VA.
Norfolk State University – New G.W.C. Brown Memorial Hall Ribbon Cutting Ceremony
Last Friday was an incredible day for WPA and our NSU family. We met so many wonderful alumni who came to celebrate the ribbon cutting for the new G.W.C. Brown Memorial Hall. We were lucky to meet the daughter and granddaughter of Dr. Brown who came to dedicate the new 154,000 Classroom and Performing Arts Building. Thank you to Norfolk State University. Our whole team was honored to work for you and with you on this project.
NEON District – Community Open Space Charrette
WPA is working with Downtown757 and NEON District to lead a Community Open Space Charrette on Tuesday, September 19th from 4-7PM at Hurrah Players.
Please join us to brainstorm and draw up some ideas for the Corner of Olney & Wilson. We will celebrate with drinks after at COMMUNE.
Vibrant Spaces Announces Selden Market
NORFOLK, Va. – (May 2017) – Downtown Norfolk Council is pleased to announce that Vibrant Spaces, an incentive program developed to stimulate street-level business, is partnering with the City of Norfolk to open Selden Market. Located in the Selden Arcade that sits between Main and Plume Streets in Downtown, Selden Market will serve as a storefront incubator for new businesses.
Vivisection
June 2- July 21, 2017 - Benjamin Wright’s multisensory installation immerses you in his brain and lets you poke around the dusty corners of his cognitive resonance. His site-specific exhibition employs a diverse tool bag of overlapping media, materials, and imagery to portray the messy chaotic soup in which ideas are born and raised. Vivisection is sure to challenge your senses and preconceptions.
As Norfolk makes over Selden Arcade, new shops and a high-tech “maker studio” may be coming
Nearly two years after it was seriously damaged in an explosion, downtown’s Selden Arcade is ready for its next chapter.
The city-owned 1931 building has long been a connector between Plume and Main streets.
That neighborhood looks radically different than it did just a few years ago.
DECONSTRUCTING THE WHEEL
The Godwin Family is pleased to present, DECONSTRUCTING THE WHEEL, an introduction to the late painter, Kurt Douglas Godwin, one of DC's most accomplished artists over the last 30 years—Opening April 21 and showing through May 25, 2017. An Opening Reception is scheduled for Friday, April 21st, 6:30-8:30pm
AIA Featured Member – Mel Price, AIA
As the 2017 chair for AIA's Small Firm Exchange, Mel Price, AIA, is the voice for small firms around the country. Luckily, she's never been afraid to speak her mind or take a bold stance on the issues impacting her firm or the profession. A principal at Work Program Architects (WPA) in Norfolk, Virginia, she believes that unique tactics are required when running an intimate small business.
SOUND STRUCTURE
Visual artist Andrea Donnelly weaves exquisite cloths. The intricate and time-consuming processes she uses to transform thread to cloth are the conceptual backbone of her work. She touches every inch of thread in the woven-painting-object-artifacts she creates, imbedding imagery and forming figures locked within textile structure. Donnelly paints woven cloth, only to take it apart then weaves it again.
Guideposts and glass “bread crumbs” could be coming to Norfolk’s NEON district
WPA is pleased to collaborate with Sway on our second wayfinding project, this time for the NEON District and the Downtown Norfolk Council.
Smartmouth Brewery and WPA team up to design new brewery at Virginia Beach Oceanfront
By next year, Oceanfront beachgoers will be able to finish the day with a Smartmouth brew poured fresh from the source. No driving to Norfolk necessary.
CHRYSLER MUSEUM OF ART TAPS WORK PROGRAM ARCHITECTS TO EXPLORE POSSIBLE EXPANSION OF ITS PERRY GLASS STUDIO
The Chrysler Museum of Art launched its Perry Glass Studio in 2011 as an educational complement to the Museum and its extraordinary glass collection. The state-of-the-art facility offers classes in all glass processes for both novices and experienced artists. The Perry Glass Studio also is known for innovative Third Thursday events that feature glassmaking as a performing art.
Lisa Tubach “LONGING FOR ELEUTHERA”
An ardent observer of the natural world, painter and conceptual artist Lisa Tubach explores nature’s hidden complexities. Her paintings, large scaled and vibrantly hued, are informed by her experiences in studio locations in remote or distant places.
Facing South
Popblossom and our Partners, Slover Library Foundation and Work Program Architects, are pleased to present FACING SOUTH Part I: Southern Perspectives, two exhibitions featuring the works of three rising stars of Contemporary Southern Photography, Matt Eich, Susan Worsham & Eliot Dudik.
The Sleeping Theater
Thom would like to thank all who came out to the opening of his first solo art exhibition, The Sleeping Theater, and also to invite you to his artist talk tomorrow evening at 6pm. More information can be found via this this link. Thom will be telling the story behind the works and discussing the various processes and methods used to make them.
The Sleeping Theater
The Sleeping Theater. An exhibition of works by Thom White. June 10 – July 29, 2016
Mill Street Carriage House
In April of 2015, the historic carriage house located at 533 Mill Street was destroyed in a fire. Constructed in 1906 with additions built in 1907-1909 and 1924-1925, the building served the Royster family’s three homes around Mowbray Arch and Warren Crescent, housing six cars below and the chauffer and mechanic in a small apartment above.
Bonchon
A former sushi restaurant with a low interior profile has been renovated into an exciting Korean restaurant, a new concept for Norfolk. While much was required to expand the size of the kitchen to accommodate a full menu of Korean specialties, Asian fusion dishes, as well fryers for the franchise’s signature chicken wings, it is the dining space that dazzles.
Ernie Franklin “Whimsical portraits of man, beast and fowl”
Whimsical oil portraits of man, beast and fowl
Norfolk Reinvented
Check out this companion video piece created in conjunction with an article in Distinction magazine talking about Downtown Norfolk’s revitalization. Mel Price of WPA was proud to participate in the video alongside Drew Ungvarsky, Buddy Gadams, Mary Miller, Dina Taylor, and Marissa DiGirolamo.
NSU Brown Hall Progress
The new Brown Hall theater walls are beginning to take shape. See these cool drone photos shot by SB Balllard’s team.
WPA Retreat!
The WPA team had a fantastic first-ever company retreat in Cape Charles, Virginia. We stayed at the beautiful Hotel Cape Charles, and it was a perfect fit for fun and learning in a space well-designed for both. We reviewed and analyzed our past 4-1/2 years of growth and success, and set goals for the next 5 years.
Oozlefinch Craft Brewery
WPA is thrilled to partner with For the People Projects on Oozlefinch Craft Brewery in Hampton, VA. The project is located at Fort Monroe and is BCOM project. Jen Stringer (longtime friend and collaborator) is the Lead Designer and Owner of For the People Projects.
2015 AIA Hampton Roads Design + Honor Awards
WPA and our design partners are honored to receive the Merit Award for Interiors for the Norfolk Tug Warehouse Renovation project. The renovation was a project in which we could highlight adaptive reuse, the challenges of integrating modern design elements harmoniously with old, and incorporating custom design elements.
