BE HERE WHEN THE FIRE RISES!
LIMITED TICKETS $50 PURCHASE HERE
**Online ticket sales end at 8PM TONIGHT
Tickets will be sold at the gate the day of the event for $75.
Design Lead – Thom White
Build Lead – Cristina Fletcher
Burn Ceremony Lead – Michael Verdon
*The Burn is weather dependent
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.
Norfolk received The Silver Excellence in Economic Development Award for 824 Military Highway, a project in the category of Real Estate Redevelopment & Reuse as well as a Bronze Excellence in Economic Development Award for its Norfolk Works Waterside Week Hiring Event campaign, a project in the category of Business Retention and Expansion (BRE) Single Event of the International Economic Development Council (IEDC).
“We are grateful that the City of Norfolk has been recognized, once again, for impressive achievements in economic development,” said Mayor Kenneth Cooper Alexander. “While we remain committed to serving as a destination for innovative businesses, we will continue to be creative in our approach understanding that the most important returns for our residents are good jobs, reliable tax revenues, and sustainable growth,” says Kenneth Cooper Alexander, Mayor, City of Norfolk.
“On behalf of the IEDC board of directors and Excellence in Economic Development Awards Advisory Committee, congratulations to the City of Norfolk. Not only did they work to provide a necessary service to their community; but also, their participation in the awards program sheds light on their stellar projects which other communities can now use as a benchmark.” – Michael Langley, FM, CEO of GREATER MSP, Minneapolis–St. Paul, MN, and 2017 IEDC Board Chair
The “824 Military” award winning project recognized a City-owned, 209K SF former JCPenny department store on a 15-acre site which was adapted for reuse into a state of the art office building. The City purchased the store for $2.5 million and invested another $15 million in upgrades to control a portion of the 122 acre mall site, influence its long-term revitalization as a stakeholder and demonstrate Norfolk’s commitment to renewal of the entire corridor. In addition to being a redevelopment success, the 824 Military property is a financial success – approximately 75% leased and approximately 850 new jobs to the city.
Photography by: Yuzhu Zheng of UP Studio
Norfolk’s launch of Norfolk Works won for its Waterside Week Hiring Event. In 2017, Norfolk created 6,000 job opportunities from projects underway in the city. The Norfolk City Council wanted to make the jobs available to residents in the city and the Economic Development Department opened Norfolk Works, a job resource center for job seekers, employers and a workforce development network. The Waterside District (Entertainment Consulting International) was the first client. Waterside District identified their hiring needs and process requirements prior to the event. During the event, Waterside District provided on-site recruiters and a manager able to make on-the-spot hires.
Development Department staff, including Norfolk Works, developed the event and pitched the idea to the client. Department staff recruited partner organizations; coordinated outreach efforts; and managed all logistics during the event.
Partners helped promote the event and provided staff assistance during it. They include: AARP; Norfolk Department of Social Services; Norfolk Redevelopment and Housing Authority; Opportunity Inc. (Workforce Development Board); Virginia Department for the Blind and Visually Impaired; Virginia Department of Aging and Rehabilitative Services; and Second Chances reentry program.
Waterside District was positively affected in that it hired over 230 people, many of whom had one or more barriers to employment and were provided training.
“The awards process is a thorough, non-biased and multi-layered process. These are extraordinary accomplishments for all winners, and an overall great effort by all participants. We look forward to next year’s awards competition,” Langley said.
MEASURED | Peter Eudenbach
presented by popblossom
208 East Plume St, Norfolk, VA 23510
Showing: Sept. 18—Oct. 31, 2017
Opening: 6:30-8:30pm, Friday, Sept 29
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.
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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.
Downtown Norfolk’s First Retail Incubator
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.
Selden Arcade is the historic connector between Slover Library and Hilton Norfolk The Main. Selden Market will be transformed into a vibrant space with multiple small-business tenants, mentors and kiosks for pop-up businesses. The program will stimulate street-level activity with low rents and short-term leases to help businesses shape their model, learn from each other and build community in a low-risk environment.
“This market concept is a culmination of all of the lessons we’ve learned from the successful Vibrant Spaces program,” said Drew Ungvarsky, chairman and CEO and executive creative director of Grow. “Vibrant Spaces matched new businesses with existing spaces in Downtown and provided grants and reduced rents. Additionally, grants were awarded to existing businesses that brought unique concepts to create street-level vibrancy. The goals for Selden Market are regular activation, a unique atmosphere and continual transformation.”
“One thing we discovered was the need for smaller spaces that allow businesses to get started and then grow,” added Mary Miller, president and CEO of Downtown Norfolk Council. “We anticipate this will stimulate businesses across the city and provide a learning and sharing environment. Plus, the synergy of the location adjacent to Slover Library and The Main is a huge benefit. The market is an interim use for two to three years, and we are working with Work Program Architects on a moveable design approach.”
The Slover Library Maker Studio, an initiative of the Slover Library Foundation, will be added to the library’s first floor in the Arcade for patrons to experiment with all kinds of new technologies and tools to create and invent. It will include a sound recording studio, laser cutter and sewing machines.
The Selden Market concept is progressive but not uncharted. Downtown Norfolk Council has incorporated the best practices in retail incubation, markets, food halls and hybrid spaces across the country.
Downtown Norfolk Council and the Vibrant Spaces committee will accept applications for potential tenants. Applications are available online at www.seldenmarket.com.
Tenant selections will be made for those that communicate the following qualities:
Selden Market will be operated by the Downtown Norfolk Council, and the call for entry is available now through July 13. In addition to incubator storefronts, DNC will offer a few mentor spaces to help with tenant education and traffic generation. Kiosk rentals will allow businesses to test concepts by the day or week. Construction will begin on connectors to The Main and Slover Library this summer, and a fall launch is anticipated.
Selden Market from WPA on Vimeo.
Vibrant Spaces started in 2015. The first phase attracted 86 applicants for six spaces in seven weeks. Three businesses opened in Downtown: Prince Ink at 433 Granby, Lamia’s Crepes at 401 Granby Street and Muddy Paws Downtown at 400 Granby Street. Eight additional grants were awarded to existing businesses including Brick Anchor Brew-House, Work | Release, Leone’s and Hurrah Players. Additional vacancies have been filled through connections with Vibrant Spaces including Pinot’s Palette (Ghent); Town Center Cold Pressed (Ghent); Jollity & Co. (Ghent; Pacers (35th Street); Bearded Bird Brewing (NEON); Corks & Caps (Downtown); Bonchon (Downtown) and The Rustic Tart (Downtown).
Downtown Norfolk Council (DNC) is a private, not-for-profit membership organization comprised of businesses and individuals working toward a dynamic, attractive and prosperous Downtown. DNC also manages the Downtown Norfolk Improvement District, a 48-block special services district with enhanced services that keep Downtown friendly, safe and spotless. Connect with Downtown Norfolk on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram or visit DowntownNorfolk.org.
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 in Work Program Architects Gallery located in The Monticello Arcade, at 208 East Plume Street, in Downtown Norfolk.
How can any artist avoid physics when their tools will always consist of Time, Space, and Light? It is important to get a grip on some of the speculations on these essential elements. It has been interesting and liberating to get to a place to work that is beyond oneself—to abandon autobiography—to provoke new ways of thinking or seeing about universal quandaries that have been pondered by the great thinkers of the ages – to update the myths of ancient times and offer another analogy or parable in the continuing investigations of this universe we find ourselves in. —Kurt Godwin
DECONSTRUCTING THE WHEEL features the paintings of the late conceptual artist, Kurt Godwin. Permeating the selected works is a rich visual language. Juxtaposing emblems in alchemy with imagery from the natural world, Godwin addresses philosophical perplexities while endeavoring to understand the universe in which we live.
popblossom and Work Program Architects are pleased to present SOUND STRUCTURE, selected works by Andrea Donnelly, showing Feb 20 – March 31 with an artist reception, Friday, March 24, 6:30 – 8:30 PM, at WPA Gallery in The Monticello Arcade, 208 E Plume Street, Norfolk, VA 23510.
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. Through unraveling and rebuilding this visual language, she excavates deeper meanings in the collaboration of tool, material, and intention.
In addition to weaving, Donnelly has recently begun working in collage and drawing on paper. Reflecting the patterning and sensibilities of textiles, Donnelly’s drawings are informed by her experience as a weaver in both process and mind state.
WPA is pleased to collaborate with Sway on our second wayfinding project, this time for the NEON District and the Downtown Norfolk Council. Check out the article here…pilotonline.com
—Studio’s exceptional success in first five years spurs discussion of needs for larger facility—
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. Image by Ed Pollard, Museum Photographer
NORFOLK, VA. (December 16, 2016) — The Chrysler Museum of Art has joined forces with Work Program Architects of Norfolk to perform feasibility studies for a possible expansion of the Perry Glass Studio building, Museum Director Erik Neil and WPA Principals Thom White and Mel Price jointly announced today. The Perry Glass Studio, now in its fifth year, has surpassed the Museum’s original expectations for its success, prompting the exploration of creating a larger facility to accommodate its growing educational demands and opportunities for new programs.
“The Perry Glass Studio has met with unprecedented success in its first five years, and as we capitalize on that success, its future looks even brighter,” said Museum Director Erik Neil. “WPA can help the Chrysler consider its options for an enlarged and enhanced facility, but even more, we believe that WPA can help us make a statement about the Perry Glass Studio and its importance to the growth of the arts in Norfolk.”
WPA is a full-service architecture, interior design, and planning studio with offices in the historic Monticello Arcade in Downtown Norfolk. Their expertise includes all scales of architecture, urban design, master planning, and sustainable and resilient design. The award-winning firm is also lauded for its reputation for creative collaboration with its clients, and for LEED certification in energy-efficient “green” building practices.
WPA was founded in 2010 by Thom White (AIA, Principal/Design Architect) and Mel Price (AIA, LEED AP, Principal/Project and Process Manager). The firm and its leaders boast an impressive portfolio that includes design projects across the country, with many of their foremost accomplishments within the Commonwealth. Among these recent successes are the new G.W.C. Brown Memorial Hall at Norfolk State University and a host of urban design interventions that focus on placemaking and a resilient approach to development, K-12 and higher-education facilities, retail spaces, corporate offices, residences, and galleries across Hampton Roads.
The group’s experience with both the Chrysler Museum and Downtown Norfolk and the city’s growing NEON
(New Energy of Norfolk) Arts and Design District are especially valuable. Both the Chrysler Museum of Art and its glass studio play a critical role as anchor locations within the NEON District. The Perry Glass Studio was launched in 2011 as an educational complement to the Chrysler’s comprehensive collection of glass. The popular state-of-the-art facility offers classes in the many processes of glassmaking and serves novices and master artists alike. In addition, the Perry Glass Studio has garnered a reputation for innovative uses of glass in the performing arts. These successes and the area’s burgeoning arts scene earned the Chrysler and the City of Norfolk a prestigious honor: selection as co-hosts of the 46th Annual Glass Art Society Conference in June 2017.
Work Program Architects emerged as the Museum’s choice for the expansion research project through a competitive search. Each of the local, regional, and national firms invited to participate is known for its experience with similar expansion projects, according to Museum Trustee Peter Meredith, who heads the Building Committee. He said WPA stood out for their research initiative, aesthetic creativity, community understanding, contracting networks, and professional expertise. The Museum’s Board of Trustees unanimously approved the selection on October 27.
“WPA is thrilled and honored to be selected to explore an expansion of the Perry Glass Studio,” said Thom White, Principal/Design Architect. “We look forward to working with the Chrysler Museum of Art to develop a world-class facility that is a vital and versatile destination for artists and visitors alike to engage deeply with the art of glassmaking.”
“An expansion to the Perry Glass Studio could provide a better and more resilient link to the Museum proper, create more partnerships with the community, showcase all of the glassmaking processes that the Studio has to offer, and provide an even more incredible and fun educational experience for visitors!” Mel Price, WPA’s Principal/Project and Process Manager, said. “We are delighted to work with the Chrysler Museum of Art to consider how to turn these possibilities into reality.”
ABOUT THE CHRYSLER MUSEUM OF ART
The Chrysler Museum of Art is one of America’s most distinguished art museums, with a nationally recognized collection of more than 30,000 objects, including one of the great glass collections in America. The core of the Chrysler’s collection comes from Walter P. Chrysler, Jr., an avid collector who donated thousands of artworks to the Museum. In the years since Chrysler’s death in 1988, the Museum has dramatically enhanced its collection and extended its ties with the Norfolk community. The Museum expanded in 2014 to add additional gallery spaces and amenities for visitors. The Chrysler also mounts an ambitious schedule of visiting exhibitions and educational programs and events each season.
In November 2011, the Chrysler opened a full-service glass Studio adjacent to the Museum. This state-of-the-art facility features a 560-pound capacity glass furnace, a full hot shop, a flameworking studio, nine annealing ovens, and a coldworking shop. This popular facility has a growing reputation for creativity and innovation in the glass world, and will serve as a cohost for the 2017 Glass Art Society Conference in Norfolk.
The Chrysler Museum of Art also administers two historic houses in downtown Norfolk: the Moses Myers House and the Willoughby-Baylor House.
The Chrysler Museum of Art, One Memorial Place, Norfolk, and its Perry Glass Studio at 745 Duke St., are open to the public Tuesdays through Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sundays from noon to 5 p.m.
The Historic Houses on East Freemason Street are open weekends. General admission is free at all venues. For more information on the Chrysler Museum of Art, visit chrysler.org.
ABOUT WPA
Work Program Architects was founded in 2010 by Thom White and Mel Price. Located in the historic Monticello Arcade in Downtown Norfolk, WPA has an open studio environment that encourages collaboration between staff, consultants, clients, and the community. WPA is focused on municipal, educational and government work, civic landmarks, places of business, and any place where people gather.
Our mission is to build community through good design. Our ever-evolving, inclusive, multi-disciplinary design process results in projects unique to their location. The relationships we build with our clients and the community create buildings, neighborhoods, and urban places that connect people in living, working, and social spaces. We value a healthy and collaborative environment in which we develop responsible professionals and effective leaders, and foster the efforts of engaged citizens.
WPA was formed around the commitment to take on a significant pro bono project portfolio each year. Our current efforts are focused in the NEON District and on the formation of the Friends of the Elizabeth River Trail Foundation. The Friends of the ERT Foundation’s mission is to provide planning, fundraising, and marketing to activate and enhance the Elizabeth River Trail.
For more information, visit wparch.com.
