New Restaurant Boasts Vibe and Variety

By Rachel Dalton | Photos by Ashlee Glen

Lynchburg natives and seasoned restaurant industry pros Shawn Merrow and Nathan Hall were presented with the opportunity to lease the space at 512 5th Street in August of 2017.

No strangers to opening a restaurant, the restaurateurs were drawn to what is now Grey’s for a number of reasons, including the building itself, the courtyard, and the parking lot.

Why the name Grey’s? A quick history lesson: the space used to house Lynchburg’s original Greyhound bus station. Merrow and Hall liked the idea of the name being non-descriptive and one word. Hall tells me, “Heather grey is a crucial color” to the restaurant’s vibe and feel.

The restaurant opened in February featuring an eclectic, comfortable vibe that is casual and cool. It has quickly become one of Lynchburg’s favorites because of the knowledgeable staff, the ever-changing menu, the music, and the energy one feels immediately upon entering.

Grey’s is a great place to grab a drink from the full bar or plan a dinner with friends from the rotating menu. Speaking of drinks, most of the signature cocktails are the creation of Kathleen Elliott of Blackwater Bitters, Lynchburg’s locally, women-owned bitters’ company.

Having enjoyed Grey’s many, many times, I cannot refuse the burrata salad and the shrimp and grits on repeat visits. The owners tell me the trout cakes and ribs have quickly become customer favorites as well. They use local produce when in season and available.

Depending on the night, the menu often highlights varying features. Inventive tacos, empanadas, tostadas, and posole are only available Tuesday nights. Try the unique, evolving prix fixe menu for Wine Wednesday. Most Thursdays Merrow and Hall graciously donate 10 percent of sales to a local charity.

Check out Grey’s for lunch Tuesday-Friday when you can find fresh salads and sandwiches with imaginative ingredient combinations. The Saturday and Sunday brunch menu is unique and delicious, highlighted by avocado toast with bacon and the fried chicken biscuit with white cheddar gravy. If you can get Merrow to pour the white cheddar gravy on your entire plate, do.

Stay up to date with special events and food specials by following them on Facebook and Instagram at greysonfifth.

Grey’s
512 Fifth St, Lynchburg
(434) 616-4939
Find them on
Facebook & Instagram

Grocery Co-op Opens Downtown

By Drew Menard | Photos by Heather Kidd

While Grassroots Local Market is a co-op, dedicated to adding value to the community beyond the product on its shelves, as far as shoppers are concerned it operates like a “regular” grocery store.

“The bottom line is this is a grocery store,” said Kate Jenkins, GLM Outreach Coordinator. “No one is going to choose your groceries for you or just give you a box of food where you don’t know what you are getting.”

The grocery store opened to the public on September 1; it has produce, milk, frozen entrees, and grab-and-go options, including self-serve coffee, soup, and sandwiches.

“We are going to see what the community reacts to and we are going to build on that,” GLM General Manager Zack Sheppard said.

Common misunderstandings about co-ops are that they are always for members only—which is not true—and that one has to work there or provide some sort of labor for the store in order to shop there—also false.

“Co-ops are really just a reflection of the community that owns them,” Sheppard explained.

How Co-ops Really Work

Each co-op is unique to the community it’s in, but generally they operate under seven basic principles that include concern for the community, open, voluntary membership, and democratic member control. Membership is open to anyone (for a one-time, $200 payment or a payment plan of $50 up front and five monthly installments of $30) and is refundable.

“Once you purchase a membership you become a co-owner of the grocery store,” Jenkins said. “You are purchasing one equal stock and that gives you one equal vote.”

So, rather than a national retail chain making decisions about what is best for your local grocery store, you, as a member-owner, get a say.

“It’s a way for community members to take action and be involved,” Jenkins said. “But they don’t have to contribute a large amount of time and money or resources to be a key member. … A co-op essentially serves as a gathering place for those (member-owner) community members. The goal behind the membership is to have an equal yet very diverse representation of the community that we serve.”

Co-ops run as a pure democracy—one vote per member. While individuals may purchase multiple memberships, that does not buy a weighted vote or more power; it’s functionally a donation. Multiple people within one household may purchase a membership, and with it the right to vote, individually. And members don’t weigh in on every trivial matter of the store, such as what brands of beans are stocked. Members certainly can offer feedback, but business decisions are handled by the general manager, who is hired and held accountable by an elected board of directors. Any member is eligible to run for the board, currently seven members (up to 11 may be elected) who serve voluntarily with term limits.

“Equality and equity are founding principles of a co-op,” Sheppard said.

How Grassroots Adds Community Value

Grassroots supports local farmers and food producers, providing shelf space for their products.

“It really brings access to market for farmers,” Jenkins said. “I come from a long line of farmers. Farmers markets are great but the maker or the grower has to stop what they are doing, load up their goods, travel to a farmers market. [The store] provides them the ability to source their goods in another location and keep a roof over their heads.”

The co-op does support, and has the support of, area farmers markets, including the Lynchburg Community Market. Grassroots aims to build up, not undercut, the downtown local economy.

“The goal is to source as many items locally as possible,” Jenkins said. For the items that are imported, “it will be done in a mindful way.”

An advantage of co-ops is not just that they are customized to their community—focused on bringing as much local product to the shelves as is feasible—but that they are invested in it as well.

“We are a for-profit enterprise,” Jenkins clarified. “At the end of the day, we are a grocery store that is a for-profit business. The difference with cooperatives versus publicly traded companies and different types of enterprises is that surplus at the end of the year is either invested back into the store or equitably allocated back to the membership in the form of a patronage rebate. It incentivizes a member to shop here versus somewhere else.”

But profits are also going to go toward education. Grassroots is committed to bringing fresh, healthy food downtown and, likewise, the co-op is on a mission to bring knowledge on sustainable business practices, fair trade, where our food comes from, and healthy eating and cooking to help foster a culture of more mindful shoppers.

“It really is about sourcing local food, making it available for local people and then keeping the money local,” Jenkins said, noting the co-op’s commitment to supporting other local businesses. That way, she continued, Grassroots can help Lynchburg “build up our community for a stronger generation.”

How It Came To Be

Local shakers David Poole and Dan Hague, both current board members, co-own the building at 1300 Main Street, where Grassroots is housed. A survey from Virginia Tech noted that downtown Lynchburg is the largest urban food desert in the commonwealth. Combined with feedback from locals expressing a desire for a downtown grocer, they knew the space could fill a need.

“We wanted to see a grocery downtown,” Hague said, “but could not attract a commercial enterprise that was interested in doing it. We looked at the survey results for downtown. The No. 1 requested service was always a grocery store.”

The only viable option became a cooperative venture.

“A co-op is a way for a community to further its wants and needs in a sensible fashion,” Poole said. “It’s a load-sharing, risk-sharing, cost-sharing—it’s a way to get what a community wants. The sustainability and the aspects of good food fit in so well with that. They are not necessarily easy ones to sell in the standard world of commerce. It brings all those things together quite well.”

“We figured if the community wants a grocery store then maybe they would like to do it themselves,” Hague added.

A steering committee was formed and began spreading the idea among local groups and individuals. In 2016 they started selling memberships and raised more than $175,000 through those efforts in about a year and a half.

“It was really a leap of faith for those early adopters to get on board with the co-op,” Poole said.

Last November, the Lynchburg Economic Development Authority awarded Grassroots a $180,000 loan, which was vital in getting construction underway.

“It is really about the rebirth of downtown and the understanding of the economic vitality of downtown,” Poole said. “[Lynchburg] acknowledged the heart of the community and this idea that you need to focus on the livability of a community. You have a re-interest in downtown and what it brings in terms of history and culture and focus on the community.”

And a cooperative grocery store fits right in with the downtown culture that is carving out its individual identity.

“Co-ops are very adaptable to their environment,” Poole said. “The co-op that we opened may be very different in a couple years to even what we could imagine because of the community and the ownership.”

For Sheppard, co-ops are more than a fun experiment in community governance. He’s worked with co-ops for the past seven years, starting in Ohio and then Massachusetts, because he sees them as a way to inject goodwill into a local economy.

“On an ideological level,” he said, “I personally think conventional big business models cause a lot of harm in the world for the sake of short-term gains. I see the cooperative model as a solution to that problem.”

“It has to be a win-win,” Poole added. “The corporate philosophy of ‘win at all costs’ does not work when you are trying to revitalize a downtown and bring heart and soul back to a community. That is where a co-op can shine.”

Celebrating Hill City History

Stories about historic renovations in Lynchburg are always a big hit with readers. Brigit read the July/August issue and wrote on Instagram: “Oh, how I loved reading the features on Cabell St and @thevirginianhotel!

My husband is from Lynchburg and we’ve made so many great memories there … Thanks for sharing these awesome ‘revival’ stories.”

Victoria Bartholomew also posted about the “mighty nice spread” we did on her Cabell Street renovations, also calling the article and photos “mighty well done.” Thanks for helping us tell your story, Victoria!

Best Of Lynchburg Awards

Our website is seeing a lot of traffic as voting continues for the 2019 Best Of Lynchburg Awards—recognizing the region’s most popular businesses, restaurants, destinations and more. Nominations started July 16; the last day to vote is September 28. Log on to lynchburgliving.com to choose your favorites! The results will be published in the January/February issue.

Lynchburg Restaurant Week Donation

This year’s 7th Annual Lynchburg Restaurant Week (June 23-30) benefitted Meals on Wheels of Central Virginia. We were thrilled to present a check for more than $1,400 to the nonprofit’s executive director, Kris Shabester. Many thanks to the 30 local restaurants (and all of those hungry customers) who made this year’s event such a success!

Correction

In the Best Of Bridal Picks awards found in our July/August issue, we incorrectly listed Repast Catering earning a bronze award in the “Best Wedding Caterer” category. Repast Catering should have been listed as a silver winner.

We Want To hear From You!
Send us an e-mail to shelley@lynchburgmag.com. Correspondents must identify themselves; names may be withheld on request. Lynchburg Living may edit or condense.

How Seniors Benefit from Geriatric-Focused Care

Aging is inevitable, but living a healthy and productive life as a senior is possible with the right planning and care. Seeking medical professionals who specialize in geriatric care will help seniors through the aging process and put their minds at ease.

“As we age we have a lot of unique issues related to aging, so it’s important that you have someone who is familiar with specific needs of seniors in the geriatric population,” said Brenda Dixon, marketing director at The Summit.

As you age, you might find a doctor who specializes in geriatric medicine to be more helpful. Geriatric medicine focuses on medical issues and diseases caused by aging. Geriatricians must be certified by two separate medical boards—certified in either internal or family medicine—and they must also work primarily with patients 60 years of age or older to become board certified in geriatrics. Doctors who work specifically with seniors are knowledgeable about the aging process and keep up-to-date with how aging can influence medical conditions and medication interactions.

“As seniors do get older, they seem to have more health issues,” said Melissa Hames, who works for Centra Home Health and is a home health liaison to The Summit. She explained that transitioning to a doctor that specializes in geriatric health is important because they are more aware of the common health issues pertaining to seniors, including hypertension, diabetes, heart disease, dementia, Alzheimer’s, kidney disease, and depression.

“When [seniors] have multiple chronic illnesses and disability, or some complicated medical problems, that would be a good time to seek out a geriatric physician,” Hames said.

Dixon explained that a geriatric physician is more knowledgeable about interactions between common illnesses and better understands how they factor into other medical conditions.

“Being able to navigate through those issues is going to be very important,” Dixon said.

Aside from seeking out a geriatric physician, it’s also important to stay a step ahead when planning your future. If you or a caregiver cannot meet your needs, you need to have options in place rather than waiting until the last minute when options become more limited. Finding the right facility is key.

“If people can start looking ahead of time, so that they are not in a predicament where they do not have as much choice, then you can wait for the place that meets your needs, and the place you are looking for,” Hames said.

Many times seniors are reluctant to receive help, but Hames explained that there are a lot of options, including home health care, which is covered 100 percent by Medicare.

Places like The Summit offer a comfortable lifestyle for seniors. They have a variety of living options, such as apartment homes and lakeside garden homes. Community amenities include restaurant-style dining, a private dining room, library, spa, lounges and living rooms, creative arts room, multipurpose activity room, billiard room, fitness center, business center, a wellness clinic, and chapel. Outside, they have an eight-acre lake, a gazebo, boat house, garden house, raised garden beds, and walking trails.

The Summit provides seniors with an opportunity to live independently, with the assurance that help is there when needed.

Learn more at summitlynchburg.com.

Story & Photos by Susan Timmons

As passions go, gardening and art are at the top of my list. It’s pure joy to combine my love for flowers, plants, and indeed all nature, with my love for painting, sculpture, and other visual arts. I can’t pass by a blossom or interesting stick, shell, rock, or sloughed-off bark without taking pleasure in its shape, color, texture, or some other compelling characteristic.

Even as a small girl, I had a penchant for bringing newly discovered natural treasures home to savor their wonders for a while longer. This early pleasure gave rise to a lifetime of combining favorite finds in simple, unpretentious groupings with a flower and an interesting branch, or perhaps several of each, to enjoy the arrangement of the whole while featuring each special element.

This innate predilection, combined with an art degree and travel to Japan (where I felt a kinship with the Ikebana style of flower arranging), fueled my interest in floral arts and lured me to several Fine Arts & Flowers exhibitions at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts in Richmond and a similar exhibition, named Art in Bloom, at the Taubman Museum in Roanoke in March 2017. There I reveled in the magic of the unique art form created from pairing museum masterworks with floral arts that interpret them to create works of art that transcend both.

Pairing Masterworks with Floral Arts

These exhibitions reflect a trend in recent decades in the U.S. toward floral design with an objective of story-telling, education, and enlightenment—a purpose deeper and more complex than merely presenting elegant, beautiful arrangements that conform to classical principles of design and current aesthetic norms. The arrangements are NOT a floral copy of the masterwork.

They engage, expand, and enrich the artistic experience, and the result is a new creation that is greater than the individual effect of either. This synergy not only enhances and enlivens the selected masterworks, but also has a practical effect of drawing large crowds and increasing knowledge and appreciation of the featured artworks, as well as offering floral artists a perfect venue for displaying their artistry.

According to Victoria Jane Ream, in her 1997 book, Art in Bloom, the concept of this art form was first conceived by Charles (Chuck) Thomas at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston with the first Art in Bloom exhibition in 1976. It was a raving success, and the concept quickly spread to museums across the U.S. in cities such as San Francisco, Birmingham, Denver, Detroit, Rochester, Milwaukee, Minneapolis, Houston, New Orleans, San Diego, Santa Barbara, Philadelphia, Salt Lake City, Hartford, Baltimore, and Richmond.

Today, these exhibitions, called by a variety of names, are a well-established practice. They continue to grow in popularity, expanding the museums’ visitor base and financial coffers through popular related events, such as galas and lectures.

Richmond’s VMFA organized its first museum-wide exhibition of Fine Arts & Flowers in 1987. This year the VMFA promises yet another spectacular biennial museum-wide FA&F exhibition of floral designs inspired by masterworks in their collection with 84 exhibitors from across the state. Floral designs will be created by members of the Garden Club of Virginia, Virginia Federation of Garden Clubs, and other garden clubs in Virginia.

The 2018 exhibition will be Wednesday, October 24 through Sunday, October 28 and is free and open to the public Thursday-Friday, 10 a.m.-9 p.m., and Saturday-Sunday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. The VMFA is promoting special events that kick off on October 24 and include renowned guest speakers, several luncheons, a luncheon-fashion show featuring designs by VCU students, workshops, docent guided exhibition tours, curator talks, and a variety of family activities. For a complete schedule and advance purchase of tickets (recommended), visit www.VMFA.museum/FAF or call 804-340-1405.

According to the VMFA website, “Proceeds from Fine Arts & Flowers events will benefit the inaugural tour of VMFA on the Road, the museum’s new artmobile for the 21st century. Through interactive learning experiences with staff educators, virtual-reality tours of VMFA exhibitions, and a traveling gallery of original artworks, VMFA on the Road will bring the museum experience directly to citizens in all areas of the Commonwealth.” This traveling gallery will, of course, enrich our own community here in Lynchburg.

Representing Lynchburg

Lynchburg has been well represented in previous VMFA Fine Arts & Flowers exhibitions by local Garden Club of Virginia member clubs, Hillside Garden Club and Lynchburg Garden Club. And the tradition continues this year. Imagine my excitement last December when I was invited to submit an entry into the 2018 FA&F exhibition, partnering with my fellow Hillside member and friend, Carter Paxton!

The next steps were an opportunity to prioritize masterwork preferences from a pre-selected list sent by exhibition chairs, assignment, and instructions to guide us through a polished process, including informative meetings at the VMFA and regular related communications. Our assignment is a 19th-century painting, A Boar Hunt in Poland, by the French artist Carle Vernet. Carter and I then started considering possibilities for our creation. Where to begin?

At our first meeting in Richmond, Carter and I not only received a private docent-led visit and discussion of our artwork, but we also were schooled by experienced, knowledgeable, energetic, and enthusiastic exhibition chairs on guidelines and factors to consider in our design toward a goal of enhancing and enlivening the masterworks, including:

• The subject matter of the work of art

• The aspects of culture and the historical time period of the work of art. Floral designers are not limited to only using design elements and materials that match the culture and historical period.

• The inspiration, mood, and meaning of the artist in creating the work of art

• Color – hue, value, and intensity

• Composition, line, shape, and pattern

• Positive and negative space

• Shape and form

• Mood

• The effects of light

• Texture

• Medium and materials

• Scale of the work of art

• How the viewer connects and reacts to the work of art

Well-organized exhibition chairs gave us logistical details pertaining to display pedestals, arrangement size constraints, lighting, and the required written description to explain how we created our floral art to be shared with visitors. They also shared information on floral and container requirements, set-up day, and daily watering/refreshing. Since the flower arrangements must be in top shape for the entire five-day duration of the exhibition, we were urged to use cut flowers with long vase life that perform well in dry museum conditions and offered examples of flowers to avoid for various reasons, such as short vase life, expense, or seasonal availability.

Carter and I analyzed our painting and researched our artist and his oeuvre, as well as the historical context and Romantic period in which this artwork was painted. We next considered our approach, style, and design; and we agreed to keep it simple and symbolic, with a focus on emphasizing the structural elements and color palette of the painting as well as the energetic action and mood.

We next decided on a container —a repurposed wooden box that evokes a feeling of the woodlands setting—and tested the liner for leakage (an absolute no-no at the VMFA); and we found a replacement liner after discovering the original wasn’t reliable. Then we hashed out details of our basic design and debated materials to use, selecting a couple of swirling fantail willow sticks (I had to include sticks, of course) to interpret the high-spirited horses, a rough pinecone to represent the boar, and spikey white spider mums to conjure up images of snarling dogs. Then we tackled challenges and decisions that weren’t so easy.

Challenges

The requirement that all plant material be sourced from professional florists for protection of artworks from bugs, diseases, molds, etc. is completely understandable; and Strange’s Florist in Richmond is the official source for most floral material, although other professional sources may be approved. However, for garden club arrangers whose comfort zone traditionally is plant material from our own gardens or scoured from surrounding countryside, this is both constraining and challenging. (Happily, a concession is made for us to use our own favorite sticks if well-seasoned and sprayed.)

A key to our design is the concept of power and control in this violent sporting scene as symbolized by the Polish nobleman’s lush red velvet coat. But what red flowers will be best? We love velvety roses and are most comfortable working with roses, but their growth habits (straight stems, upward facing blooms, etc.) don’t lend themselves to our design. Shall we use gladiolas? Will florist-provided gladiolas hold for five days? If not, how many additional glad stems must we provide to replace wilted flowers during the exhibition period? Ordering deadline for Strange’s Florist is September 8. The jury’s still out.

We’re still considering technical and mechanical details and have decided on frogs (pin holders) and a wire cage in deep water rather than floral foam for anchoring our flowers to give them a better shot at lasting five days. And we did a five-day water test on the dried fantail willow sticks to be sure the submerged stems wouldn’t turn soggy and fall over. How will we cover our wire and still leave a watering hole and finger hole for testing water level? Will it all come together as envisioned? We’ll give it all a trial run before wiring and gluing elements in place. And we’ll remain flexible to changing course as other challenges present themselves.

We continue to research this painting’s place in history since we learned that Verner, although French and painting in Rome, produced the artwork in 1831, right in the middle of the Polish rebellion of 1830-32. This cosmopolitan artist had supreme skill and control in balancing technique and narrative. Could he, as a master lithographer and political wit as well as master equestrian and horse painter, be making a political statement about this uprising as well as a statement about an exotic, intense, and grisly sporting scene? After all, the 19th-century Romantic period in art history featured fine arts subjectively interwoven with philosophical and political ideas and events of their time. These artists embraced emotionalism and rebellion against social conventions in addition to energetically expressing love of the natural world.

Food for Thought

As we know, creating a work of art using flowers and other plant material is a bit tricky. A painting, once the artist applies paint, is a permanent addition to the artist’s oeuvre; and with quality materials and care, the artwork can be preserved for millennia.

But flowers and the art works created by arranging them are ephemeral. So floral artists offer fleeting beauty for perhaps a day, or up to a week or even longer for some hearty varieties. Floral artists aren’t looking to amass a body of artworks for posterity. They revel in the process and delight in the product for a fleeting time; living in and for the moment. Then that moment passes, and they create again, as would sand artists awaiting the next big wave to wash away their creation.

This very characteristic of floral design is precisely what makes it such a complex and appealing challenge. We know that appreciating the beauty of botanic forms and their place in the order of life has inspired and informed the practice of floral artistry of devout spiritualists, royals, nature lovers, and aesthetes dating as far back as 2,500 BC in Egypt; and the art form was revered in ancient India and China before gaining global following. Purposes throughout history have ranged from pure decoration to celebration of the gifts of nature to a spiritual or religious discipline, and much more as cultures have evolved and flower arranging has become a common language of artistic expression worldwide.

And now we have yet a new purpose of expressing the essence or spirit of a work of art, integrating perceptions and feelings into the arrangements that educate members of the public to have more discerning eyes and open minds when they view the artworks, seeking to understand finer points of symbolic interpretation, and encouraging others to see the artwork as well as botanical materials in an entirely new light.

Why not consider such an exhibition in Lynchburg? The Maier Museum at Randolph College comes quickly to mind as an ideal location. I’d love to see how floral artists interpret the spirit of works of art in the Maier’s permanent collection.

Meet the Gardener

Susan Timmons served in the 1970s as Virginia’s first Environmental Impact Statement Coordinator, then Assistant Administrator and Acting Administrator of Virginia’s Council on the Environment and editor of The State of Virginia’s Environment. During that time she also served on the Board of Directors of the National Association of Environmental Professionals and received the National Wildlife Federation’s Award for Environmental Communications. More recently, she worked in higher education and nonprofit management and, in retirement, she serves as a member of the Speakers Bureau of the Hill City Master Gardeners Association with a series of talks on “Gardens of the World.”

Pearson Center Provides Cancer-Fighting Produce

By Shannon Brennan Photos by Ashlee Glen

Larry Vicks picked the first purple eggplant of the season and placed it on top of a basket of green and jalapeño peppers.

The basket was bound for the front desk at Centra’s Alan B. Pearson Regional Cancer Center, where patients can select fresh vegetables to take home after treatments. The gardeners have given away more than 1,000 bags of produce to patients, offering a more holistic approach to healing.

“People can come out here and look at the garden, too,” Vicks said. “If you’re a patient, it’s nice to get a little calmness.”

A gazebo provides a shady spot, even on hot days, where patients can sit and smell the lavender in bloom and see ripening tomatoes. Patients can even look out the second-floor window while receiving treatments to view the colorful vegetables below.

Studies show that patients with views of plants and trees heal more quickly than those looking out on a sea of asphalt and concrete.

The garden is immediately behind Centra’s Healing Garden, which is also a quiet green space for contemplation that was created when the Pearson Cancer Center opened 10 years ago.

The vegetable garden got started three years ago at the suggestion of the Center’s founder, the late Alan B. Pearson. Lots of locals helped with the project, from its design with raised planting beds to the decisions about what to plant.

Linda Papadopoulos uses her 35 years of gardening experience, along with her knowledge as a registered dietitian, to find varieties that are high in anthocyanins, the pigments that give red, purple, and blue plants their rich coloring. In addition to acting as antioxidants and fighting free radicals, anthocyanins may offer anti-inflammatory, anti-viral, and anti-cancer benefits. “We can use nutrition to keep us healthy and help us fight cancer,” she said.

Papadopoulos pointed to a variety of purple cherry tomatoes called indigo blueberries, which are especially rich in anthocyanins, though she admits they are not as tasty as other varieties. She is also researching the best types of carrots and eggplants.

“I am thrilled to have a program like this that I can be part of,” she said. “I don’t know any other cancer center that does this.”

Anita Lowe, community liaison at the Cancer Center, has taken on the garden as a favorite part of her job. “I didn’t know I was going to be out here gardening,” she said. “It’s addictive. … We have a lot of support from the community. That’s what you need to make a garden grow.”

A student from the University of Lynchburg, for example, created a detailed notebook outlining plans for what, where, and when to plant. Students from E.C. Glass and Liberty University have also helped with planting, mulching, and watering. The next project is to get an irrigation system in place.

Volunteers plant spring, summer, and fall crops to ensure fresh vegetables as much of the year as possible. The Center also receives supplemental vegetables from local farmers.

Carol Riggins, managing director of the Cancer Center, said Alan Pearson got the idea for the garden after spending a lot of time at the center observing the events offered, including nutrition talks and cooking demonstrations that highlight the importance of healthy eating during and after treatment. “If you’re going through cancer, nutrition is extremely important,” Riggins said. “We’re trying to show them how to walk the walk.”

Before creating the garden, the Cancer Center also sponsored a farmers market twice a year with the help of Conner Produce, Saunders Brothers, and others. Riggins soon realized fresh produce was very popular. “I could get the most ‘thank yous’ from those things,” she said.

While the produce elicits gratitude, Riggins said she thinks the tranquility and beauty of the garden is equally important. “Mr. Pearson knew that and definitely wanted this vegetable garden to happen,” she said. “We appreciate Mr. Pearson’s vision.”

Riggins also extends a huge thanks to the volunteers who keep the garden growing without adding a burden to Centra’s grounds staff.

Like all gardeners, the volunteers have to contend with finicky weather and wildlife that enjoys a tasty snack. In July, groundhogs or rabbits crawled under the deer fence and played havoc with the okra patch, eating nearly every leaf off the plants. To combat the critters, Vicks and Doug Pugh, another faithful volunteer, spread netting across the top of some of the plants to help them recover. Birds also like to pick at the strawberries, blueberries, and tomatoes.

“I don’t like to see it get eaten up,” said Vicks, who started volunteering after his wife Berkey was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2015. She had been volunteering at the Cancer Center before her diagnosis and continues to volunteer to help others through difficult times. While Berkey greets patients inside, Larry is likely to be outside in a wide-brimmed hat. “It’s therapy for me because I like to see things grow,” he said.

Lowe calls the plants eaten by wildlife “sacrifice vegetables.” She notes that they grow the vegetables as organically as possible, and she even learned how to do soil samples. “It’s really for getting out there and forgetting your troubles,” Lowe said of the garden, and it’s worth the sweat when the patients return to say how much they enjoyed a tomato or bag of beets.

The garden is also an allegory for patients battling cancer. “As long as you have a garden, you have hope,” Lowe said.

Title: Painter and Photographer Age: 39

Many of our readers will probably recognize the name of your first art “teacher.”

People always think I’m joking when I say that I learned to paint by watching Bob Ross. But it’s true. I spent many Sunday afternoons watching him on PBS before I ever got my first paint set. And while I no longer paint stylistically like him, you can see many of his techniques in my work still.

What other types of art memories do you have from your childhood?

I grew up in Gretna, so there wasn’t a lot of art happening there, but my high school art teacher was a great influence. She would indulge my odd creations and encourage me to go further.

Another great memory was visiting the Mystic Art Fair in Connecticut. I have family there and we would visit each year. If the fair was happening at the same time, we’d wander the streets looking at hundreds of different artists’ work.

Then, you took your talents to Central Virginia Community College. What did you study there?

I earned an Associate’s Degree in Communication Design. This was right as everything was beginning to convert to digital, so we learned a little about the old way of doing things while getting an introduction to the new digital tools.

Where did life take you next?

After CVCC, I started working for Dan River in Brookneal where I specialized in creating the patterns that would be printed on fabric. Working for Dan River gave me the opportunity to learn much more about art and production. It also allowed me to teach myself new software like Photoshop and Illustrator.

In 2006, I started working at Parkland Direct as a Prepress Technician. Here I learned more about graphic design and how to work across a variety of software.

You have such a diverse portfolio of collections—they are so different!

I’ve never really been able to label what sort of artist I am, or want to be. I try to let the ideas and inspiration take me where they will and then find the best medium to convey those things. I may not always be successful, but I’d like to think that I’ve not become stagnant in my creativity.

Right now, you are focusing on your Canvas Collection, on display at Riverviews Artist’s Co-Op Gallery.

The paintings featured in June at the Co-Op Gallery were part of a series of landscapes and florals that I had begun. I’m continuing to work on the series as I’m really enjoying the process of creating them. But I’m also really surprised at how many people have responded to them.

There’s also a neat story behind your creation of the Time and Memory Collection.

The Time and Memory series was inspired by my girlfriend. She had told me about when she was a Marine in Iraq using coloring books to destress. So of course, I decided I wanted to make a coloring book for her. Something fun and personal. Unfortunately, as I started making the book my own ideas got the better of me and the coloring book took a backseat as the pieces in this series emerged.

Photography has also been a big part of your art through the years.

I studied black and white photography at CVCC and really enjoyed taking pictures. But it wasn’t until I purchased my first digital camera in 2005 that my love of photography really took off. Not having to deal with film allowed me to be much more experimental. You can see this in my series of photographs inspired by the song “The Passenger.” The effects you see in the photographs were done practically and the only digital alterations were for color.

How have you found a sense of community in the local art world?

Working a full-time job and balancing that with trying to create art make it hard to keep up with everything that is going on, but two years ago I joined an art journaling group. The group was founded by Lillian Brue and we meet each month. Hanging out with these ladies each month has given me the opportunity to connect with the art community. Where I am today is very much because of what I’ve learned from being in the group.

What types of things inspire you to create?

My inspiration can come from a conversation or just wandering around Lynchburg. The best example would be my current series of paintings.
I was working on a geometric piece that just wasn’t working. My girlfriend and I were at First Friday and talking about different styles and subjects.
She mentioned how much she enjoyed floral paintings. I realized I’d never done anything like that, so the next day I painted flowers over my failed painting. I enjoyed the process so much I kept going. And I’ll keep going until another conversation sparks a new idea.

Looking forward, what are your goals for your art and/or your art career?

My art goals are pretty simple: to just keep creating.

As for my career, I’ve always had the dream of being featured at the Academy or Riverviews.

My other goal would be to meet more people in the local art community and hopefully help them in the ways that the community has helped me.

How can readers get in touch with you or see your work?

They can find me on my website at epluscstudio.com. Or if they want to follow what I’m doing currently, my instagram is eplusc_studio. And I can always be contacted directly at custere.art@gmail.com

Photos by Ashlee Glen

An Eclectic Bedford Home

By Charlotte Farley photos by Heather Kidd

Before Patrick Ellis and Mitchell Bond bought their home in downtown Bedford, they had visions of living a more simplified and creative life that might tie in their seminary education. “We referred to it as ‘moving to Kansas’,” jokes Mitchell.

It all clicked during a Christmas visit to Montvale.

“We said, ‘Well, maybe this could be Kansas’,” recalls Mitchell, a Bedford native. After years of living and working in D.C. (Mitchell was a higher education administrator and Patrick was an educator), the two made the move to Bedford with the idea of purchasing a frame shop in town and also using it to hold artist retreats.

Their plan took a different course when Mitchell and Patrick announced their plans to show local art. “Folks showed up out of the woodwork,” Mitchell explains. They purchased a larger building on Court Street in order to support the needs and interests of the growing Bedford creative community. Goose Creek Studio—their custom framing business—emphasizes work by area artists and houses artists’ workshops.

One could argue that their Victorian house is a gallery, too: more than 425 pieces of artwork hang from walls and shutters or sit on shelves and sills. Nearly every door finds itself adorned with art.

“To be honest, we’ve traded, bartered, or acquired most of what you see in here,” Mitchell points out. He and Patrick have personal connections to the artists and artisans behind each piece; Mitchell says it’s like “being surrounded by your friends.”

They are surrounded by friends here indeed, both in the flesh and by way of their original visual representations. Many attribute the creation of the Bedford Artisan Trail to Patrick and Mitchell. However, Mitchell indicates that the art and the creators were present long before he returned to his hometown.

“We just brought a little organization and a little butt-kicking to the process to get people talking to each other and working together. Everything we do mission-wise, through the house and through the shop, is to get these folks together and make connections, so yes, we were part of the instigation for the artisan trail, but we didn’t build it; it was already here.”

At home, Patrick and Mitchell have a dedicated gallery for hosting select shows. A quiet, light-filled space that overlooks a garden, the walls are filled with their personal collection of artwork when not featuring art for a special show. “It’s all art that’s kind of at the intersection of faith and spirituality, and when we say spirituality we just don’t mean Christian,” Patrick says. Even the windows contribute to the chapel-like feel of this space—Patrick made the functional shutters in the shape of gothic church windows for that very reason. “We think all art has a spiritual component,” he explains.

The gallery neighbors the kitchen, a space that was used as a knitting classroom during one of the building’s former lives. Patrick and Mitchell transformed it into a functional kitchen by installing cabinets, countertops, a sink, and appliances. Form and function marry here, with pots suspended overhead for quick access and frequently used items occupying open shelves/shelving. The custom island features marble from Mitchell’s great aunt’s house, and Patrick built the rest of the island to go around it. A local artisan fashioned a settee from an old twin bed; the rest of the kitchen is furnished with yard sale finds and, of course, art. It’s not common to find so much artwork in a kitchen, but it’s also not out of place here since Patrick and Mitchell see walls as prime real estate—Patrick likes to joke that “the kitchen is really in need of a serious remodel, so we just hang lots of artwork on the wall so you don’t notice it!” One particularly eye-catching display includes a fun and quirky series of puns based on the Warhol soup cans made by George Wachob. Patrick points to one: “This is ‘vegetable beef,’ because the vegetables are fighting.”

While the property was otherwise move-in ready, another room on the main level underwent a different kind of transformation. Mitchell turned the sun-soaked dining room into his personal studio. “It didn’t make sense to have a dining room we never used when we both needed space to work,” Patrick points out. Here, Mitchell makes fused glass, stained glass, and mosaics. While they don’t walk around barefoot in this room, they do dine in here occasionally. The blue dining table was a gift from a customer; custom pottery by Nancy Blankenship serves as dinnerware. Paintings of their dogs (Simon, Luther, and Sidd) dress the doorway, and over the window hangs a board holding a series that depicts the O Antiphons, separated by washers to tie them together visually.

It is fitting to the property’s history that Patrick and Mitchell continue to conduct business there, through their studios, since it accommodated a series of businesses for more than 20 years. Patrick’s studio is adjacent to Mitchell’s. He possesses an undergraduate degree in art from the University of Georgia, and says his art has evolved over the years. “I was doing these studio things, and now I’m doing these constructions—found objects assemblages,” such as the totem poles flanking the Goose Creek parking lot. A prime piece in Patrick’s studio: a cabinet he built that features Mitchell’s mosaic work. Other works of art nod to different themes from religious literature: Adam and Eve are over a storage cabinet, and artist John Pfluger’s miniature animals live on a shelf under a verse from Genesis, done in graffiti art.

Step into the wide main hallway and find arched entryways, an original staircase, and a two-story foyer. Patrick confesses that one of the reasons he loves this house is because the foyer offers enough wall space for an oversized piece of artwork spread across three canvasses.

Upstairs is a cozy den and a warm, inviting guest room with eggplant-colored walls. “Our friend has a guest room she uses as a prayer room, and we wanted to create a space that was meditative,” says Patrick as he points out the hand-painted images of various saints. The end of the hallway leads to a room that a massage therapist used to rent back in the property’s more commercial days. “We joke that half of Bedford has been naked in this room!” Patrick laughs. Nowadays, it’s an eclectic, art-filled master bedroom complete with a full-length church pew and Mitchell’s collection of cookbooks (“I love to read cookbooks—better than a novel!” he admits).

The way out the back door reveals a lush garden comprised of perennials: rosemary, lavender, coneflowers, Russian sage, asters, butterfly weed, irises—all are at home here. Native stones from Montvale’s Goose Creek Valley and pottery from a friend provide added visual interest, with the back of the garden anchored by columns that once were part of the cupola at the Bedford County Courthouse. Patrick salvaged the columns during the cupola replacement. “They were put up there in 1946, and they were just going to throw them away,” he recalls. “I thought they were neat, just a cool little feature.”

A final “cool little feature” Patrick points out is a sign by the back porch that reads The Portiuncula Guild, a nod to St. Francis’ church in Assisi. “It means ‘the little portion’,” he explains. This is how he and Mitchell see their home, as well: a home that focuses on living simply, sharing work, and building community—and they are thankful for it. “We’ve been just amazed at what we’ve found in this area,” Patrick says. “You know, it’s just amazing.”

Ingredients

3 tablespoons olive oil
1 loaf French bread or boule, cubed (about 5 cups)
1 teaspoon salt
2 large tomatoes, cubed
1 English cucumber, seeded,
sliced 1/2-inch thick
1 red bell pepper, seeded and cubed
1 yellow bell pepper, seeded and cubed
1/2 red onion, thinly sliced
15 basil leaves, julienned
For the vinaigrette:
1 teaspoon chopped garlic
1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
3 tablespoons vinegar
(white wine or champagne)
1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Directions

Heat up the oil in a large stainless skillet and add the bread cubes and salt. On medium heat, toss the cubes around the pan until browned, about 8-10 minutes. Allow the bread cubes to cool.

For the vinaigrette, whisk the oil into the mustard until it starts to thicken, then add all the ingredients together.

Mix all the vegetables and basil together in a large bowl. Add the bread and toss with the vinaigrette. Season with salt and pepper to taste and serve!