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Poetic Sculpture

An interview with the artist who fuses words and art in this lyrical installation. Tom Hennessy Incanto: An Oasis of Lyrical Sculpture, a dynamic art installation at Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden in Richmond, runs through October. Created by Falls Church-born artist Kate Raudenbush and New York-based poet Sha Michele, the installation is a […]

by Konstantin Rega

Labor Day Getaway

Before the summer ends, head over for some southern fare and fun at Primland. (Photo Credit: Auberge Resorts Collection) Primland, Auberge Resorts Collection is excited to welcome renowned Pitmaster, Chef Elizabeth Karmel, to close out the summer this Labor Day with a weekend-long celebration at the Blue Ridge Mountain retreat complete with BBQ workshops, exclusive […]

by Staff

Scout’s Honor

Actress and Virginia resident Mary Badham revisits To Kill a Mockingbird, 60 years later. Headshot: Mary Badham (photo by Evan Zimmerman for MurphyMade) and Kennedy Center Playbill cover A then 10-year-old Mary Badham stole America’s heart as the plucky Scout Finch in 1962’s Academy Award-winning To Kill a Mockingbird (TKaM). She claimed her first-ever acting […]

by Vayda Parrish

Seasonal Roots

The newest way to eat healthy and support local. Looking for healthy, seasonal eating options while simultaneously supporting Virginia farmers? Seasonal Roots is an online farmers market started in 2011 that delivers products created and grown by 75 Virginia farms (like Deer Run Farm in Hanover or Saunders Brothers Orchard in Piney River) […]

by Staff

Stormy Weather Iris Garden

One Lynchburg garden is preserving and sharing floral history. “No occupation is so delightful to me as the culture of the earth,” avid gardener Thomas Jefferson wrote in an 1811 letter to painter and politician Charles Willson Peale. Missouri-native turned Lynchburg-local Shana Gammon agrees. She started planting tall bearded irises nearly 20 […]

by Konstantin Rega

Jim Minick Interview

From blueberries to ravens, local author Jim Minick celebrates nature and community. Fire Is Your Water by Jim Minick. Swallow Press. pp. 352. $26.95. Konstantin Rega: So when did you move to Virginia from Pennsylvania? Jim Minick: In 1989. I was attending grad school at Radford in the New […]

by Konstantin Rega

Stacy Hackney Interview

This Richmond author offers a kid’s book about adventure, magic, and sisterhood. The Sisters of Luna Island by Stacy Hackney. Simon & Schuster. pp. 336. $17.99 Konstantin Rega: have you always wanted to be a writer? Stacy Hackney: Well, I grew up in Fairfax, and like a lot of […]

by Konstantin Rega

A Festive Return to a Beloved Tradition

Winchester’s Shenandoah Apple Blossom Festival celebrates its 95 anniversary over ten days this April. (Photo courtesy of Shenandoah Apple Blossom Festival®) What started as a one-day event with a pleasant parade turned into a ten-day smorgasbord with over 40 events in the following 98 years. The Shenandoah Apple Blossom Festival in Winchester continues […]

by Konstantin Rega

Sam Weber Interview

If you weren’t lucky enough to catch him on tour in Virginia, make sure to get a hold of his latest release. This past March, Sam Weber played at The Tin Pan in Richmond—just one of thirty stops on his tour around the country, from California to New York. A laid-back, cool kinda […]

by Staff

Rethink Gardening

It’s Colonial Williamsburg’s 75th Annual Garden Symposium and we interview guest speaker and gardener P. Allen Smith. (Photo courtesy of P. Allen Smith) This year’s theme is inspired by Audrey Hepburn’s quote, “To plant a garden is to believe in tomorrow.” Now more than ever it is important that we, as gardeners, create healthy […]

by Konstantin Rega

Where Inspiration Stikes

A new exhibit at The Institute for Contemporary Art (ICA) explores the move from external to internal subject matter. Gideon Appah, White Castle Gideon Appah, White Castle, 2021. Oil on sewn canvas. Photo: Adam Reich In his first institutional solo exhibition (Forgotten, Nudes, Landscapes), artist Gideon Appah gives a look into how an […]

by Konstantin Rega

A Dream Deferred

An interview with bestselling, local author S. A. Cosby. S.A. Cosby is the author of the New York Times bestseller Razorblade Tears and Blacktop Wasteland, which won the Los Angeles Times Book Prize, was a New York Times Notable Book. His works discuss race, class, and sex. When not writing, he is an avid […]

by Konstantin Rega

Boats, an Island, and Murder

Our exclusive interview with bestselling author Rachel Hawkins about her latest thriller, Reckless Girls. Rachel Hawkins was born in Newport News, Virginia, but lives in Alabama. She is the author of the bestselling thriller, The Upstairs Wife, which is followed up by her latest adult thriller, Reckless Girls (St. Martin’s Press), now out […]

by Konstantin Rega

For the Love of Trees

The Bonsai Exhibit at Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden gets you thinking and relaxing. (Photography by Tim Snyder) At Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden, a bonsai exhibition (ending February 25) showcases the work of Todd Stewart and Bob Chilton, two leading experts from Gardens Unlimited—a Ruther Glen nursery that specializes in the Japanese horticultural art of cultivating […]

by Konstantin Rega

Most-Viewed Articles of 2021

Here are the top ten Virginia Living articles readers loved this year: from mascots to mushrooms and everything in between. (The Artist Sketching at Mount Desert, Maine, 1864-1865 by Sanford Robinson Gifford) As always, we have had great fun serving our readers and seeing where their tastes lie. One of the more surprising facts […]

by Staff

One Nail at a Time

If you don’t keep up the trades, they’ll die out Tom Green 2010 The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation James Anderson Blacksmith and Public Armoury project – construction progress – Kitchen wall raising (Photo courtesy of Colonial Williamsburg) When master carpenter Garland Wood builds a house, he doesn’t plug in a drill or get […]

by Konstantin Rega

A Sweethaven Country Christmas

Northern Virginia author Heidi Speece takes a tour of a secret sweet spot. Nestled on the outskirts of Williamsburg lies a hidden treasure—the beautiful, 135-acre Sweethaven Lavender Farm. This past weekend, visitors could travel back to a simpler time at the farm’s annual Country Christmas. Complete with hayrides, holiday goodies, and local […]

by Heidi Speece

Photo Essay: Lights and Laughs

Dominion Energy GardenFest of Lights at Lewis Ginter Botanical Gardens delivers beauty and wonder. Online Exclusive: A surprisingly pleasant evening, the stroll around Lewis Ginter’s gardens strung with lights was stylish and breathtaking. As expected, the design and color palette of the lights was tasteful and fun (for all ages). As […]

by Konstantin Rega

Basic Barn to Toothsome Tasting Room

Taking a tour of the architectural details that allow Merrie Mill to sparkle. (All photos by Kate Thompson) Online Exclusive Merrie Mill Farm & Winery in Keswick is known for its wild and marvelous tasting room, but it took an experienced architecture group to articulate the maximalist concept of […]

by Konstantin Rega

Pages: 123

Events

May 9, 2025

Good Foods Grocery Artist Reception

Good Foods Grocery

May 9, 2025

Wright at Twilight

Woodlawn & Pope-Leighey House

May 9, 2025

The Lightning Thief, The Percy Jackson Musical

Hylton Performing Arts Center

A New Experience at the Virginia Scenic Railway

Virginia Scenic Railway Adds Dome Car for Spectacular Valley Views The popular Virginia Scenic Railway just upped its game with a vintage dome car offering breathtaking 360° views of the Shenandoah Valley. The “Shenandoah”—built in 1948 as the “Silver Palace” for the California Zephyr—now gives passengers an unmatched vantage point on three-hour excursions from Staunton. […]

by Gabriela de Camargo Gonçalves

Mom Hiked the Appalachian Trail with 13 Kids in Tow

Nikki Bettis stood on the jagged summit outcrop of Shenandoah National Park’s 4,011-foot Stony Man, awed by westward panoramic views. Her heart swelled with emotion as she turned to watch her 13 kids shoulder their loaded backpacks and fall into a clamorous single-file line heading back to the Appalachian Trail (AT). “We were in an […]

by Eric J. Wallace

Williamsburg Archaeologists Uncover Secret Garden

In Colonial America, a grand garden was the ultimate status symbol—the 18th century equivalent of a Lamborghini. So when archaeologists at Colonial Williamsburg uncovered John Custis IV’s property, they struck horticultural gold: the remains of a football field-sized garden alongside his Jacobean manor house. Custis, a tobacco magnate and Martha Washington’s first father-in-law, went all […]

by Madeline Mayhood

online exclusive

Poetic Sculpture

Current Issue

Events

Good Foods Grocery Artist Reception

Wright at Twilight

The Lightning Thief, The Percy Jackson Musical

Most Popular

A New Experience at the Virginia Scenic Railway

Mom Hiked the Appalachian Trail with 13 Kids in Tow

Williamsburg Archaeologists Uncover Secret Garden

online exclusive

Poetic Sculpture

Current Issue

Events

Good Foods Grocery Artist Reception

Wright at Twilight

The Lightning Thief, The Percy Jackson Musical

Get our most popularweekly newsletter: VL Today

Most Popular

A New Experience at the Virginia Scenic Railway

Mom Hiked the Appalachian Trail with 13 Kids in Tow

Williamsburg Archaeologists Uncover Secret Garden

Get our most popularweekly newsletter: VL Today

Get our most popular
weekly newsletter: VL Today

Get our most popular
weekly newsletter: VL Today