Recognizing Educators

Lynchburg Living is recognizing and honoring the amazing, inspiring educators in our area with the Lynchburg Living Top Teachers Awards. Submit your entries for your favorite current and local teacher who, if chosen, will be honored in our upcoming March/April 2023 issue of Lynchburg Living magazine. Nominations begin October 1 on lynchburgliving.com.

Corrections

In our July/August story, Calling All Good Dogs, photo credit wasn’t appropriately given to Raspberry Hill Adult Daytime Center. Thank you so much to Raspberry Hill for hosting our photoshoot and for being such wonderful hosts to Cece and Joyce. Photos by Ashlee Glen.

In our July 2022 issue of Lynchburg Business, Central Virginia Family Physicians was listed as Gold in Best Health Insurance, when Weaver and Weaver should have been listed as Gold. Lynchburg Business regrets this error.

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

Taking art to the streets

Artist John Rose—one part of the duo behind Be Kind Gallery 101—took a break from creating art to showcase a more performative art style. Just like Rose uses the city’s landscapes to create stunning paintings, he uses the local architecture to perform incredible tricks on his BMX bike. 

If you’re ever driving down Church Street and happen to see Rose on his bike, give him an encouraging wave!

See more on Be Kind Gallery on page 49. Photos by Ashlee Glen.

Whether your home is a perfectly preserved period piece or an eclectic hodgepodge of eras, the right antique or vintage furniture can make a statement or pull a room together. But with estate sales, consignment shops, social media marketplaces, yard sales, and everything in between, where to begin with finding the right vintage furniture for your home?

Vintage vs. Antique
First thing’s first: There is a difference, albeit slight, between vintage and antique furniture. By definition, a piece of furniture isn’t considered an antique until it is at least 100 years old. Anything else younger, but still at least 20 years old, is considered vintage. “Collectables” on the other hand, can be either vintage or antique.

Original antiques—furniture that is the first of its kind and style—tend to be rather pricey depending on where you find them. Reproductions of those pieces that pre-date the 1940s will look just as beautiful, will still have excellent craftsmanship, and can be very affordable.

Where to Search
Finding vintage and antique furniture is a veritable treasure hunt full of excitement, unique finds, and, yes, some disappointment. Because you’re looking for a diamond in the rough—whether a particular style or something that is just right for your home—be prepared to go on a few furniture hunts before you find the right piece.

Estate sales, auctions, flea markets, antique stores, and social media or internet marketplaces are all perfect for finding the right vintage or antique piece for your home. The benefit of visiting a physical store, of course, is that you can inspect the piece yourself, take the appropriate measurements, and determine if the piece is really what you’re looking for.

What to Look For
So how do you identify the real thing from a modern day look alike? Talk with the shopkeepers or sellers of the pieces and ask them questions about the piece you’re interested in. Store owners and workers especially are knowledgeable, not just about the type of furniture you’re looking for, but vintage and antique furniture in general. Ask them how to tell how old something is or what style something is made in.

If you find a piece that you genuinely love, inspect it for:
Reasonable and practical signs of wear and usage. Think about what the piece was likely originally used for. For example, a vintage washstand will show stress signs from where the heavy wash basin sat day after day. These signs can indicate that the piece is authentic.

Dovetailing on drawer joints. As a general rule of thumb, the farther apart and larger the dovetails, the older a piece is. If no dovetail joints are present, the piece is likely not vintage or antique at all.

Cracks, broken pieces, chips, handles that have been replaced. These will either need to be areas that you will need to refinish or repair, or will make use of the piece less-than-ideal.

Proof of provenance. In other words, proof of provenance is the proof of origin, history, or previous ownership. Real silver pieces will contain hallmarks, or furniture may bear a label or stamp from the maker. Occasionally, an original shipping address or maker’s location will be etched onto the back of a piece of furniture. These ultimately will help you authenticate the piece you’re interested in.

Collecting vintage or antique furniture for your home will certainly take longer than shopping for a brand new piece at a furniture store, but the hunt is half the fun. Part history lesson, part treasure hunt, you’re in for an adventure as you seek out the perfect piece for your home.

A Lynchburg Midcentury Time Capsule Meets Its Perfect Match

Is it possible that sometimes a house chooses its owners?

Much like a rare antique sitting boxed up for decades in an attic, or a valuable painting relegated to the back rack at a thrift store, it waits for just the right old soul who will lift it up with a sense of reverence and say, “There you are.” It seems an impossible idea given the recent real estate market, but when you hear the kismet story of Hannah Poucher and Grant Kittrell, it may lead you to wonder if maybe, just maybe, their house chose them.

The Discovery
“We knew the second we looked through the windows that we wanted to live here forever,” Hannah, now 32, said of their love-at-first-home-sighting experience.

It was August 2019, and she and Grant, now 30, were making plans for a wedding and their future together, when something akin to Zillow lightning struck. A little listing with just five vague pictures popped up—a circa 1954 midcentury modern in the middle of Lynchburg. Within the hour, the couple found themselves peering through the windows, unable to believe their own eyes. It was meant for them, they knew it, but they needed to move fast.

“We weren’t pre-qualified, we had never looked at any houses before, we had to Google after we saw this place—’how to get a mortgage’—we didn’t know anything!” Hannah, a military recruiter for Liberty University, said. “But we knew if we didn’t jump at this, we wouldn’t get another shot at something like this in town.”
A bidding war ensued, but the home seemed to intuitively know who it wanted as its next caretaker. The couple closed in November 2019 and made a defining decision in honor of their new-old home.

“We wanted to live in the space for at least a year before doing anything radical,” Hannah explained. “We wanted to understand what it was like to be here as people within a space where it was designed to work like this. So, we decided no big changes for the first year.”

An Intentional Interior
It turns out, there was much the home wanted to teach them. Grant and Hannah took pleasure in learning about its history and thoughtful layout, taking note of each delightful detail, like how the abundant natural light shifted across the open-beamed ceiling throughout the day.

“We both, perhaps in different ways, came to this space with appreciation for art and design,” Grant, a writer, illustrator, and musician who works at Randolph College, said. “The midcentury modern style is very intentional and leans in the direction of sculptural, so there’s not a day that we don’t look around and say, ‘Hey look at that! Isn’t that really amazing?’ So, we are living in this space that we see as a piece of art, and really it is.”

Within that first learning year, they came to understand the unique reason for the way things were designed. Like the greater abundance of windows on one side of the house to allow for passive solar heat. Or the fact that the floors, which look like stone, are in fact stamped concrete designed to hold thermal mass, making what should be a cold underfooting somehow warm and earthy.

The biggest discovery, however, came in the form of a large manila folder filled with the home’s blueprints, original building materials, past pictures, and a booklet of original paint colors from The Frank Lloyd Wright Sierra Sunset Collection.

“When we found that folder, with the Frank Lloyd Wright paint palette, we realized that there was incredible intention behind it,” Hannah said. “So, for example, this color isn’t black, this is the Midnight color from that collection that is part of a larger palette. It was already here. We only painted the kitchen cabinets.”

Furnishings with Soul
While their commitment not to change the home’s interior held strong after moving in, it did need some furnishings. Some true-to-the-era furnishings.

They dove in with both feet and hands.

“Pretty quickly, Hannah became a master of the Facebook Marketplace,” Grant laughed. “She would stay up late at night looking for furniture. So as soon as I got off work, we would take off and go to places we had never seen before, out in the countryside, and pick up an old piece of furniture that someone maybe didn’t really know what they had.”

The hunt for pieces soon evolved into restoration of those finds as needed. Grant and Hannah became quick students of the specific approach to refinishing midcentury pieces.

“We aren’t talking about just sanding and staining, you’re talking about burning through wood veneer if you mess it up and how things aren’t stained, they are toned and sealed and lacquered,” Hannah said.

“I think the more work we put into a piece, the more we favor it.”

Her current favorite piece? A hutch from Lane Furniture, whose factory was once headquartered in Altavista. They discovered the piece in Rustburg, and it is now situated proudly in the area that opens from the kitchen into the dining area.

“We got it on Facebook Marketplace and the seller’s mother had bought it originally from Lane. So it’s a Virginia piece and the time period is right,” she recalled.

What you won’t find a lot of on the home’s ever-evolving furniture front are many new items.

Not because they are purists, Hannah explained, but because of what’s available on Marketplace, what’s within their budget, and what they can restore back to life now and perhaps replace later.

“I can probably count on one hand the number of new things that are in this house,” she said. “And while sustainability might not be the first thing we think about, it’s definitely a driving force. I think in terms of a level of purism, that’s what we are working towards.

It feels like such a perfect space, and we want to honor it with things from that time period.”

An Apartment Evolution
Of course, as with most self-imposed rules, there is almost always an exception. For Hannah and Grant’s “no changing the house for a year” rule, that exception came in the form of an efficiency apartment just across the home’s attached breezeway, where they cut their teeth on the basics of home renovation.

“We focused a lot of our initial energy there because it was a smaller space; we weren’t as overwhelmed and we figured we could learn in there and not have to live in it if we made any mistakes,” Hannah said.

While the essential layout existed when the couple bought it, the apartment needed some finishing work. They took to painting the kitchen cabinets the same green as the main home’s kitchen, updated the floors with a light luxury vinyl tile they laid themselves, and furnished the small bedroom, kitchen, and bath with interesting finds, such as a 1965 Sears Roebuck & Co. bar sourced in Roanoke and a white 1930s stove from Farmville. While not decade-specific to the home, Grant said, “when you bring something this old from the 30s, you’re bringing a long history into this space and the possibilities of whatever life it lived before.”

The renovations came with inherent lessons for the couple, and they reflect now that it better prepared them for future renovation jobs still ahead, like their dream of expanding the home’s main kitchen.

“We have learned to work with each other a little better and be patient with each other in different ways we didn’t know at that point,” Grant said. “Coming home each day and laying flooring every day…we learned a lot!”

From the Inside Out
Much is to be made of the home’s interior, and for good reason, but the property’s grounds are stunning in their own right. In fact, it is the marriage of the two, one spilling by design into the other, that creates a zen-like cohesion with nature from nearly every vantage point.

“We both love and appreciate a lush, green space and this has a lot of bamboo, a big maple, and some really intentional plant life,” Hannah said. “So when you’re looking out these windows, the lines are blurred between outside and inside.

It feels like a really natural space and really a sacred space almost.”

The pair have worked diligently to make conscious updates to the home’s exterior, including retrimming the formerly gray windows to a crisp black, something akin to adding eyeliner to an already lovely face. They cut back layers of bamboo and, as a reward, have witnessed more wildlife at play, from a family of foxes to finches taking up residence in one of the many birdhouses Grant made to a shy resident doe the couple affectionately calls “Jean.”

Most warmer nights of the year, you will find Hannah and Grant on their back patio area, nestled in wicker egg chairs, beverage in hand, dreaming into the future about their vision for the space. Their ultimate hope is to continue to collaborate with their cherished home in order to share it with others—an ever-welcoming, one-of-a-kind retreat.

“Mixing the inside and outside is always a goal,” Grant said. “Having a nature trail on the property is a dream, or hosting yoga or meditation classes here, maybe along with some creative writing workshops.

I would also love to make this place more sustainable, perhaps with solar power.”

It is little wonder that whatever the pair chooses to do next will be with great planning and purpose for the home that somehow, some way, chose them. Three years into their adventure, they still wake every morning with a wide-eyed sense of awe for their surroundings.

“I think, ‘How is this even a possibility? How could this even possibly be our home?’” Hannah smiled. “There is a lingering sense of wonder and excitement every day that we are in this space.”

Follow Along
Want to follow along with the home’s furnishing adventures and projects?

Check out Hannah and Grant’s Instagram page dedicated to the home @clerestorymod. “Clerestory” is the word for windows that are above normal ceiling height
and project into the roofline, which their home boasts in abundance.

Lynchburg’s Resource to Local Dental Care

Not sure where to go for your oral health or dental treatments? Look no further than the experts referenced in our Area Dental Guide. From braces for your kids to the dental professionals you want in your corner when there’s an issue, we have you covered.

Mark Your Calendars

For a full list of events, be sure to check out our Calendar of Events page. Also, if you have an event you would like to submit, you can do that too!

September 17
Lynchburg Beer, Wine, and Cider Festival
The 13th Annual Lynchburg Beer, Wine, & Cider Festival will be held on Saturday, September 17,
at the Riverfront Festival Park from 12 to 7 p.m.

Enjoy over 50 different options of craft beer, ciders, and wine all hand-picked and selected from right here in the state of Virginia. Over 50 local artisans, delicious food, and live music round out this event. Visit lynchburgbeerandwinefestival.com for info.

September 17
Lynchburg Art Festival
Join the Lynchburg Art Club for the 49th Annual Lynchburg Art Festival on September 17th (rain date: September 18th) from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. under the big oak trees on E.C. Glass High School’s grounds. For nearly 50 years, the Lynchburg Art Festival has served as a significant cultural touchstone for our region, bringing together a diverse range of artists, small businesses, and community members. Professional and student artists will show and sell their work, forging meaningful connections within our community. More info at lynchburgartclub.org.

September 30 – October 2
Masterworx Community Theater Presents: Beauty and the Beast
Based on the 1991 Disney animated feature and the late 18th-century classic French fairy tale, Beauty
and the Beast tells the story of Belle and her capture by the Beast, a grisly and fearsome monster, who was long ago trapped in his gruesome form by an enchantress. Audience members will be entranced in this classic tale. Visit academycenter.org for ticket information.

October 1
Get Downtown
Get Downtown returns after a two-year hiatus! Covering eight blocks on Main Street in downtown Lynchburg, Get Downtown is Lynchburg’s biggest street festival. The best part? It’s completely FREE to attend. Enjoy the sights and sounds of street performers and musicians, and shop from local makers, artisans, and food vendors. Visit getdowntownlynchburg.com for more details.

October 8-9
Virginia Wine & Garlic Festival
The 30th Annual Virginia Wine & Garlic Festival takes place on the grounds of Rebec Vineyards. Enjoy a variety of garlic and garlic foods, four stages featuring live bands, and unique vendors. Plus, sample delicious Virginia wine from over ten wineries. It’ll be a fun-filled day for everyone. Visit rebecwinery.com for tickets and event details.

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Local Openings & Closings

Hello! to 221 Tap & Table
Hello! to Mission House Coffee in Cornerstone
Hello! to Insomnia Cookies
Hello! to Market at Main on Wards Road
Goodbye to Ebb & Flow
Hello! to Berglund Toyota’s new location on Forest Road
Hello! to Apocalypse Cidery & Winery in Forest
Hello! to Amazing Lash Studio in Forest
Hello! to Hill City Donuts in Downtown Lynchburg

A group of break dancers get an upside-down glimpse of downtown Lynchburg during Get Downtown. In past years, Get Downtown, the largest street festival in Lynchburg, has welcomed over 10,000 festival goers across eight city blocks. Vendors, artists, crafters, musicians, and dancers all take to the streets and multiple stages to celebrate life in Lynchburg.

Get Downtown returns this year after a two-year hiatus. Mark your calendars to Get Downtown with the Lynchburg community on October 1 from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. This family-friendly event is a local and visitor favorite and one you won’t want to miss.

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Photo Courtesy of Downtown Lynchburg Association

For many newly engaged couples, wedding planning seems like a dream—until you are faced with dozens of choices all at once. From the venue to the dress (and all of those little details in between), it’s hard to know where to start!

We are here to help. Our Best Of Bridal Picks list tells you who recent brides and members of their wedding parties recommend in 27 categories. Read below to see who made the list!

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Our 2022 Bridal Pick Winners

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Our 2021 Bridal Pick Winners

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Our 2020 Bridal Pick Winners

What’s better than art that stays with you wherever you go?

Tattoos have been around for thousands upon thousands of years—since around 8000 B.C.! To pay tribute to an ancient art form that is still widely loved today, we talked with a handful of Lynchburg’s tattoo artists to hear what they have to say about their favorite tattoo styles and why you should consider one or more of those styles for your next (or first!) tattoo.

Artist: Will Hunter, Owner of Hill City Tattoo
STUDIO: Hill City Tattoo
Favorite Style: Neo-traditional/new school style
What Will has to say about this style: “I enjoy doing tattoos in a neo-traditional/new school style. The thick lines and bright colors are just fun. As old school artists say, ‘Bold will hold!’”
To make an appointment: (434) 237-5037

Artist: Jonathan Schultz
STUDIO: Caspian Tattoo
Favorite Style: Neo-traditional
What Jonathan has to say about this style: “I prefer Neo-Traditional designs because they are bright and bold with high contrast. They age well and are fun to look at. If you can tell what it is from across the room, then you can tell what it is for the rest of your life.”
To view Jonathan’s portfolio: Instagram: @jonnschultz
To make an appointment: JsTattooer@gmail.com

Artist: Hannah Burnside
STUDIO: Caspian Tattoo
Favorite Style: Black and gray illustrative
What Hannah has to say about this style: “I love having creativity with the design and doing all the little details. I gravitate toward bold outlines and high contrast. I enjoy tattooing botanicals and traditional inspired designs in this style.”
To make an appointment: (434) 237-1900

Artist: Andrew Montgomery
STUDIO: Caspian Tattoo
What Andrew has to say about tattooing: “Tattooing is a unique art form that allows an individual to be marked for a lifetime. Choosing one style from an artform that’s as ancient as humanity is difficult. What I enjoy about tattooing is the bond that can be created between an artist and client when creating a permanent piece of art.”
To make an appointment: (434) 237-1900

Curating art for your home is a big investment, and a lifelong journey. The first step in that journey is finding an art style that resonates with you. That art style will ultimately set the stage for the artists that you gravitate toward, the mediums that you prefer, and the overall tone that each room in your home will have.

But how do you determine which art style you love when there are so many talented artists out there? It starts with spending time with art before ever making the first purchase.

The Different Types of Art Styles
Walk into any art gallery or art museum and you’ll see myriad art styles. An expert would be able to immediately note the nuances in brush strokes, the relevancy of the time period, or the backstory of the art that makes it so powerful. But for those of us who simply want to curate an aesthetically pleasing and uniquely styled home, here are the primary art styles you can focus on.

Abstract Art
Abstract art is an art style in which an artist uses shapes, colors, and textures to create an image that’s not based on reality. Abstract art can take the form of a painting, sculpture, photography, design, or any other art form that doesn’t accurately represent a subject or object.

One of the most unique aspects of abstract art is that it’s always open to interpretation. A viewer doesn’t always immediately know what the piece is about—it is abstract after all—but over time, certain emotional or intellectual qualities can be seen in the piece that can make it uniquely special to the viewer.

Contemporary Art
In short, contemporary art is art that’s made today by living artists. Because of that broad sweeping definition, it’s an art style that is ever-evolving and often reflects the complex issues that shape our diverse and rapidly changing world.

While the art world is still debating what eras technically define the contemporary art style, most can agree that the starting point is the late 1960s or early 1970s.

Within the contemporary art style, more niche movements can be found. Pop art, photo realism, conceptualism, minimalism, and street art are all styles that can be explored if you want your home’s art style to make a statement.

Fine Art
Fine art is artwork that has been created for the sole purpose of being appreciated for its beauty and intellectual or emotional influence, rather than its function. Of course, with art being so subjective, what distinguishes something as “fine art” can be left to the interpretation of the viewer.

Within the fine art style, painting, sculpture, and photography can all be explored for your home. And while there are countless fine artists across different mediums and centuries, a few examples of visual fine artists are Rembrandt, Matisse, Van Gogh, Monet, and Degas.

Determining Your Home’s Art Style
Your goal is to create a stylish and cohesive home, so it’s important to choose not only an art style that resonates with you, but also to find an art style that accents your existing home furnishings.

When you walk into an art gallery or store, have the space you’re hoping to find art for in mind. Maybe even have a photo or two on your phone to use as a reference. Know what the dimensions of the wall are, and the existing color palette of the wall paint, furnishings, and rugs.

From there, slowly walk through the art selections and pay careful attention to the art that evokes an immediate reaction. The old adage “I’ll know it when I see it” has never been more true when it comes to choosing art for your home. If you see a piece of art and it creates a feeling of excitement or positive emotion, it may be something you can work with.

This feeling of excitement and emotion may even help you eliminate the art styles that aren’t quite for you, making your future art shopping trips even easier.
After you’ve narrowed your selections down to the pieces that resonate with you, pull out your handy reference photos and measurements and consider how the piece will work within your existing space. Consider how the colors will play with each other, or how much wall space the piece may occupy. Consider the frame that it’s currently in—if it’s framed at all—and whether the style suits your tastes or if you’ll have to budget for a reframe.

It’s important at this stage to avoid talking yourself into an art purchase. Remember, art is a big investment in and of itself, so if you have to completely rework the rest of your space to accommodate your new purchase, it may not be worth it.

Your art style is a way to express your personality within your home. And just like with any other personal style, opinions can change over time. Allow yourself to continuously explore art of all styles by supporting local art galleries and artists. Learn the colors that strike an emotion, or the details that draw you in. Over time, your home’s art style will become even more honed and beautiful.