by Charles Hendricks | Jun 21, 2024 | artwork, citizen architect, community, First Friday, Harrisonburg Architect, Local Leaders, Office Culture
On July 5th from 5:00pm-7:00pm, we are thrilled to host a First Fridays Gallery Opening at The Depot featuring artist April Sachs (she/her)! Join us to welcome April and view her gallery entitled Rising (March 20, 2022-March 20, 2023), and to enjoy refreshments and community. RSVP for this event on our Facebook and get to know her more in her biography below!
*Accessibility Note: This building was previously restored from a fire. The elevator shaft is currently not functioning and there is an absence of ramps in the space. Because the show is on the 2nd floor, this may pose an issue for those who have mobility needs. We are aware of this need and we apologize greatly if this changes your ability to attend.
Bio
April Sachs is an accidental artist. She currently teaches at Eastern Mennonite School in Harrisonburg, and has also worn the hats of linguist, bookkeeper, office manager, and library assistant. She enjoys writing poetry, gardening, reading, and dancing at sunrise.
Artist Statement
Rising (March 20, 2022-March 20, 2023)
In late 2021, in the midst of life-changing events, I decided to photograph a constant: the sunrise. The result is 366 sunrise photos, all taken in exactly the same spot. But they are far from identical. The images portray the same scene in many moods, reflecting the changing seasons, weather, and position of the sun (from equinox to solstice and back again).
These photos, each similar and yet unique, echo my own experiences during that year. Sometimes I felt as bleak as the cloudy February mornings, when for days at a time I had to guess at the moment of sunrise, since the sun itself could not be seen. Other days were as joyful as the mist-filled mornings of June, with a mockingbird in the adjacent pasture, singing, flying, and falling with pure delight in life. But whether my own internal weather was bleak or joyful, I knew I had foundations as constant as the sunrise. This was my year of rising.
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This event is free and open to everyone. Snacks and refreshments will be served and we look forward to seeing you there!
Each month we host a new artist in our building’s 2nd floor gallery at the Chesapeake Western Depot at 141 W. Bruce St. (second floor entrance is on Chesapeake). Artwork will remain on exhibit through the month. Come view the show anytime and get a tour the Depot! We will have food and drink available!
by Charles Hendricks | May 16, 2024 | artwork, citizen architect, community, First Friday, Harrisonburg Architect, Local Leaders, Office Culture
On June 7th from 5:00pm-7:00pm, we are thrilled to host a First Fridays Gallery Opening at The Depot featuring artist Rebecca Ryan (she/her)! Join us to welcome Rebecca and view her gallery entitled Orchards in Spring, and to enjoy refreshments and community. RSVP for this event on our Facebook and get to know her more in her biography below!
*Accessibility Note: This building was previously restored from a fire. The elevator shaft is currently not functioning and there is an absence of ramps in the space. Because the show is on the 2nd floor, this may pose an issue for those who have mobility needs. We are aware of this need and we apologize greatly if this changes your ability to attend.
Bio:
Rebecca Ryan has been a Shenandoah Valley based artist since 2011. She is an acrylic artist who draws inspiration from living on her family’s working fruit farm. Her art is influenced by impressionism and open-impressionism and uses thick brush strokes of bold color to create the natural light and drama of her subject matter. Rebecca has been showing art in the downtown area since 2011 and has had gallery shows at Madison hotel and a permanent display at Clementine Cafe. She sells her art from the Harrisonburg Farmers Market in downtown Harrisonburg and takes commissions.
“Orchards in Spring” Sneak Peek
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This event is free and open to everyone. Snacks and refreshments will be served and we look forward to seeing you there!
Each month we host a new artist in our building’s 2nd floor gallery at the Chesapeake Western Depot at 141 W. Bruce St. (second floor entrance is on Chesapeake). Artwork will remain on exhibit through the month. Come view the show anytime and get a tour the Depot! We will have food and drink available!
by Charles Hendricks | Apr 19, 2024 | artwork, citizen architect, community, First Friday, Harrisonburg Architect, Local Leaders, Office Culture
On Friday, May 3rd from 5:00pm-7:00pm, we are thrilled to host a First Fridays Gallery Opening at The Depot featuring multidisciplinary artist and designer Noemi Salome (she/her)! Join us to welcome her and view her mixed-media gallery entitled Curiosity, and to enjoy refreshments and community. RSVP for this event on Facebook here and get to know her more in her biography below!
*Accessibility Note: This building was previously restored from a fire. The elevator shaft is currently not functioning and there is an absence of ramps in the space. Because the show is on the 2nd floor, this may pose an issue for those who have mobility needs. We are aware of this need and we apologize greatly if this changes your ability to attend.
Bio:
Noemi Salome (she/her) is a multi-disciplinary artist and designer from the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. Inspired by the natural world, Noemi’s art includes graphic design, sewing, and multi-media experimentation with ink, acrylic, watercolor, pastels, and collage – all of which are featured in her exhibition entitled “Curiosity”. She enjoys making yummy messes in the kitchen, hiking, and learning as much as she can about art and life. You can find out more about her art at noemisalome.com or follow along on Instagram @noemisalomedesign.
Artist Statement:
Gallery Title: Curiosity
I have always believed that lifelong learning and exploration are important for a joyful and creatively fulfilling existence that resists confines. As a multi-disciplinary artist, my art follows my free spirit, which lives in a state of constant curiosity. Whether in watercolor, acrylic, or graphic design, my work lingers in the confusing space between the simplicity of the natural world and the complex, tangled mess of human rule, transforming the confusion into something tangible, something beautiful. Welcome to my world of curiosity.
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This event is free and open to everyone. Snacks and refreshments will be served and we look forward to seeing you there!
Each month we host a new artist in our building’s 2nd floor gallery at the Chesapeake Western Depot at 141 W. Bruce St. (second floor entrance is on Chesapeake). Artwork will remain on exhibit through the month. Come view the show anytime and get a tour the Depot! We will have food and drink available!
by Charles Hendricks | Mar 29, 2024 | artwork, citizen architect, community, First Friday, Harrisonburg Architect, Local Leaders, Office Culture
On Friday, April 5th from 5:00pm-7:00pm, we are thrilled to start our First Fridays at the Depot back up again with a Gallery Opening featuring the multi-talented artist Claire Parsley (she/they)! Join us to welcome them and view their mixed-media gallery of cat portraits, entitled Ineffable Cats Through Time, and to enjoy refreshments and community. RSVP for this event on Facebook here and get to know them more in their biography below!
*Accessibility Note: This building was previously restored from a fire. The elevator shaft is currently not functioning and there is an absence of ramps in the space. Because the show is on the 2nd floor, this may pose an issue for those who have mobility needs. We are aware of this need and we apologize greatly if this changes your ability to attend.
Bio:
Hello all!
My name is Claire and I am a local artist who has scribbled on every surface and slapped stickers everywhere since I was a wee one. I love the act of creation, especially the 3D kind. I believe in building over buying any day, there is nothing more satisfying than owning something that your own magical mind thought up and your very hands brought to life. The effort and hours adds to the beauty. For this gallery I have poured hours upon hours into making cat portraits of the mixing media variety. I find them immensely silly and I hope they knock your socks off. Take your time to find the buttons, beads and cloths layered in with the acrylic paint! Thanks for coming out to my show!
If you like what you see, feel free to follow my account to stay tuned in! My official art instagram is @cparse.art. If you aren’t engaged with social media, my contact info is on my business card so definitely snag one if you want to inquire about commissions or otherwise!
“Ineffable Cats Through Time” Sneak Peek
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This event is free and open to everyone. Snacks and refreshments will be served and we look forward to seeing you there!
Each month we host a new artist in our building’s 2nd floor gallery at the Chesapeake Western Depot at 141 W. Bruce St. (second floor entrance is on Chesapeake). Artwork will remain on exhibit through the month. Come view the show anytime and get a tour the Depot! We will have food and drink available!
by Charles Hendricks | Mar 21, 2024 | Office Culture, team
By Principle Architect and Multi-Family Director, Adrienne Stronge.
I have always loved books. I have been on a lifetime of adventures from my couch / bed / chair, thanks to the amazing power of printed words. At a very young age I knew two things; I wanted to be an author and I wanted to live in a house with a library. As I got older, I realized that my talents were better suited to creating tangible buildings rather than fictional worlds, but I knew that my hobby would make me a better architect.
Reading allows me to practice designing in my mind, turning written words into beautiful buildings without pictures to guide me. It’s like exercising my design muscle, especially with fantastical worlds that exist outside of our reality. Books also help me practice empathy. Walking in someone else’s shoes and reading someone else’s perspective works towards building empathy for other experiences. As architects, we need to be able to listen and empathize with our clients to create personalized spaces that fully meet their wants and needs.
While I did not become a writer, I do have a “library” with bookshelves shoe-horned into every blank wall of my house. I love having a house full of books and places I can go to comfortably read them. If you are like me and need a place in your home for books, or even just spaces to cozy up with your e-reader, here are some tips below:
1. Make sure your architect knows the size of your collection. Built-in bookcases with adjustable shelves are better than individually bought shelves for safety reasons, but if you will have any heavy furniture pieces, consider adding blocking in the wall for anchoring these pieces. Ensure your bookcases are designed near a bearing wall if you have a large, weighty collection. Don’t forget to design places for any oversized books in your collection, which are best stored flat to avoid stressing the spines.
2. Reading next to a window is one of my favorite places to curl up with a book, but avoid direct light in rooms with books. Direct sunlight will fade spines and make books age faster. Work with your architect to conduct sun studies that will allow enough indirect light to comfortably read but block harmful direct light.
3. You will want to ensure there is no excessive moisture in the room that will house your books. A well-balanced HVAC system with a well-designed and constructed building enclosure is key for this.
4. While I love natural light in my reading space, the room needs ample artificial light for night or rainy day reading. If your reading space will be in the center of your room, consider adding a floor outlet for your reading lamp to avoid trip hazards from wires. Direct, individually switched sconce lights over beds will allow you to continue your reading well into the night when you just need to consume “one more chapter…”
5. I love the cozy image of reading next to a fire. An efficient heat pump should keep you comfortably warm in your home, but you could consider adding a visually appealing electric fireplace. These will give you the cozy effect of reading by a fire, without the introduction of flame and particulates to your library.
6. For a bit of whimsy, consider using a bookcase as a hidden doorway. Creating a secret room adds a fun, unexpected element to your library.
7. Don’t forget your outdoor spaces! Make a cozy nook outside for a great reading spot. My ideal outdoor spot is covered for all weather, includes a ceiling fan to discourage bugs, includes artificial lighting for reading late into the night, and has well-placed blocking in the ceiling so I can install a swing or comfortable hanging chair.
If you’re a fellow bibliophile, be sure to check out the VA Festival of the Book, taking place March 20-24, 2024 in Charlottesville. VAbook.org
by Charles Hendricks | Mar 4, 2024 | architecture, Empathy, Office Culture
As architects, our purpose is to shape the built world we live together within and to create a more equitable and just world through design. I believe a key component of designing for a community is to understand that community. You have to be of the community to connect with the community. You have to be open to sharing experiences, knowing that you don’t know every experience, that you can’t see every solution to every problem in a silo of your own experiences, and that you need community, partners, and other viewpoints to design holistic solutions. This requires work to connect with people in a place, hear their stories, understand their point of view, see what has shaped them, and better understand their experiences to expand your ability to design for them.
There is a myth, sometimes widespread, that a person need only do inner work…that a [person] is entirely responsible for [their] own problems; and that to cure [themselves], [they] need only change [themselves]…. The fact is, a person is so formed by [their] surroundings, that [their] state of harmony depends entirely on [their] harmony with [their] surroundings. ~ Christopher Alexander
So why don’t we see empathy being used in design on a regular basis? The challenge to take on empathetic design is change. You have to open up and be vulnerable, hear others fully, and be willing to let go of what you thought was right solely based on your past experiences. I believe we are at a turning point in the world where disharmony sells and many are not focused on helping each other or building a better world. It is time for all of us to lead with empathy, to sell harmony in our communities, and to build a better future together. We need to step forward to make positive change. If we don’t do it, then who will?
