Two local curators, Emily Smith and Francis Thompson, selected images that they found most representative of the theme for each of our online galleries. Those images serve as the key image for each gallery on this website. Thanks to both Emily and Francis for their generosity in volunteering their time and service to this effort.

Thank you to organizers for inviting me to be a part of this incredible project. I congratulate each artist and thank them for sharing their work with this community. I was truly inspired by the range of expression shared by the works in the categories of Identity, BLM, and In Memoriam. The breadth of talent made selecting representative images a difficult task as artists addressed these themes in the visual languages that most resonated with them. Many works stood out.

• Emily Smith

Thank you to all of the artists that submitted works to the BLM RVA Art 2021 virtual exhibition. Every piece conveys a powerful, impactful message. It was an inspirational experience in selecting and viewing the works made by the RVA community. The work empasses incredible skill, ingenuity and passion, all voiced through the deeply meaningful themes provided by the organizers. I invite the viewers to share in that enriching experience by visiting each virtual gallery to see each piece and watch each video. Deep appreciation and admiration to the artists, organizers, and participants in creating this exhibition project for diversity, social justice, and Black Lives Matter.

• Francis Thompson

First Friday, March 5, 2021, 7:00pm premiering on our YouTube channel

Beginning at 7:00pm on March 5th, you can view our pre-recorded video conversations between our guest curators Emily Smith and Francis Thompson and some of the artists in this exhibition. Get ready to view these interviews by subscribing to our YouTube channel. After their premiere, these interview videos will be available for viewing any time throughout the run of this online exhibition.

Emily Smith

Emily Smith is the Executive Director of 1708 Gallery, a non-profit contemporary art space in Richmond, Virginia. At 1708, Smith has curated projects with Molly Lowe, Adam Shecter, Tameka Norris, Jessica Segall, and Bethany Collins, among others. She has served on the Virginia Commission for the Arts and National Endowment for the Arts grants review panels and is a statewide speaker for the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. Prior to 1708 she was the Curatorial Fellow in Modern and Contemporary Art at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, from March 2007 through September 2010. Projects at VMFA include the exhibitions, The Ludwig and Rosy Fischer Collection of German Expressionist Art; Matisse, Picasso, and Modern Art in Paris; and Labor and Leisure: Works by African American Artists in the VMFA Permanent Collections. Prior to VMFA, she was Director of Exhibitions at Piedmont Arts in Martinsville, Virginia (2004-2007) and the Assistant Director at Second Street Gallery, Charlottesville, Virginia (2003-2004). Smith was an adjunct faculty member in art history at Patrick Henry Community College, Martinsville, VA and was a critic for a Charlottesville, Virginia weekly paper. Smith received a MA in Art History from the University of Virginia in 2002.

Francis Thompson

Francis Thompson is the Art Program Manager at JLL. Over the past fifteen years, he has managed a team responsible for maintaining and expanding a contemporary corporate art collection installed within office buildings throughout North America. During the early part of his role with the collection, he led the curatorial development of its rotating exhibition program which has grown to approximately shows a year and now includes an array of virtual programming. On display within the corporate offices or published on the client intranet, these art experiences reflect diversity and culture which are developed through collaboration with non-profit art organizations, local museums, university art departments, and corporate employees.

Francis has worked as Assistant Gallery Director for the Ellipse Art Center in Arlington, VA, assistant coordinator for the Mountain Lake Workshops with director/producer Ray Kass, office manager for the Cunningham Dance Foundation and as Gallery Coordinator for the Virginia Tech Armory Gallery. A native of Virginia, he holds a Master of Fine Arts in Arts Administration and a Bachelor of Arts in Studio Art with a concentration in painting and drawing from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in Blacksburg, VA. Francis regularly contributes to the local community through volunteering in these select active positions: ChildSavers Art Collection Committee Member, Longwood Center for the Arts Advisory Board Member, VA Tech School of the Visual Arts Advancement Council, and Section Chief for Phi Gamma Delta.