It is our 20^th year of hosting art shows, providing studio workspace, embracing the Richmond art community and we are celebrating every month. We’ve created traditions, like the annual Simply Photography Show, the Recycle Show, the Senior High School Student exhibits and a brand-new tradition, The Altars Festival. We will be celebrating every month of our best year ever of new art and new ideas. There will be prizes, festivities, and a huge party come September 2023.

In January we will be hosting our 20th Simply Photography exhibit at Art Works. Artists from all over Virginia submit their photography showcasing a variety of subjects and photographic methods. Also featured this month are three solo shows by photographers: Daniel Travis Bice, Wendy Nelson, and Joseph Gottlich. Join us on January 27th, 6 p.m. – 8 p.m. for the opening reception. Meet the artists. There will be live music. Parking is free. The exhibits continue through February 18, 2023. This event is free and open to the public.

Simply Photography 2023

Photographers get an opportunity to showcase their signature photographs in this juried show. You will see photography of all types including traditional, digital, manipulated, and photographic mixed media. This exhibit will be juried by professional photographer, John Henley. There are cash prizes. The exhibit will be in the main gallery. Call for entries is December 15, 2022 – January 16, 2023. Submit your entries through our online form using this link: Call for Entries . To learn more about the juror, see John Henley’s website: click here.

Cary Loving 2022 Simply Photography

OUT / SIDE / IN by Daniel Travis Bice

Daniel Bice is inspired by dramatic emotions, and he explores these through kinetic scenes, harsh lighting and contrasting colors. He investigates the various facets of isolation—self-imposed and isolation through society, including self-isolation fed by thoughts, solitude or fear. In this exhibit he achieves a kind of juxtaposition of the tangled and surreal intensity of inner emotions with the serenity or unbearable cacophony of social reality.

This exhibit will be in the Centre Gallery.

All Stories Great and Small by Wendy Nelson

Where life exists, stories happen. Wendy Nelson, a Virginia Master Naturalist has been known to sit in the same spot for days to capture just the perfect moment. In this exhibit she brings these moments to us through the lens of her fine art photography. Her work has been published on National Geographic.com and in The Virginia Wildlife Magazine. Her hope is to share the amazing world, glimpses of different lives from all perspectives, from creatures great and small. She says: “With each picture, we can see a glimpse into the life of another. With each glimpse, we can better envision the different stories of our world. One story alone does not compose the book of life; I hope that through my collection, I can record more chapters of that book for you to read, as you see All Stories Great and Small.” This exhibit will be in the Corner Gallery.

On Broad Rocks by Joseph Gottlich

This exhibition is a photographic essay about Richmond’s treasure on the James. The broad rocks of Belle Isle have been the site of industrial and historical significance for the city; from a nail factory and ironworks that provided steel for Chrysler, to a notorious Civil War POW camp, to providing electricity to the first city-wide electric power transit system in the country. It is the intersection of this history, the island’s natural elements, and the current industrial decay that is explored in the exhibit. Understanding the history of a place or object brings depth to the photography. This exhibition features industrial/urban decay locations as nature reclaims the space. An avid photographer, Gottlich tends to focus on industrial and urban elements, juxtaposed with natural elements. This exhibit will be in the Skylight Gallery.