- Up next on Curate.

- My dad and uncle were always into cars.

Since I liked the art, there's so many cars with cool lettering on 'em, and I think my world's just kind of collided.

- Welcome back to another season of Curate Presents where we introduce you to Hampton Roads most talented filmmakers.

- I do this interactive percussion performance art, and I would just describe it as like a celebration of life.

- Welcome back.

I'm Heather Mazzoni.

- And I'm Jason Kypros.

About a decade ago, WHRO set out to be a voice for artists in our community, and that was the birth of curate.

- Over the years, we've brought you everything from a 94-year-old mixed media artist - To Grammy and Tony Award winners - To a teenager hoping to craft their first masterpiece.

- And this season stands to be just as special beginning with our first artist Igor Accord.

- Igor is as much a staple as a staple can be in Virginia Beach's Vibe District.

- His flea market is legendary and he's done work for just about everyone in Nashville.

- Not to mention when it comes to Brazilian Jiujitsu, he's pretty badass.

- Oh my, Heather, I think we might get ourselves into some trouble this season.

- Imagine that.

Enjoy Igor Accord.

- My first paying job was a motorcycle that I had to do and I wiped more paint off of it than I actually ended up leaving on it, and that job took me probably from sun up to sundown.

If I was to do that today, I could probably be done in two hours.

My mom has always done different kinds of art.

On top of that, she's always been the most supportive person, biggest fan, maybe.

My grandfather was also an artist.

He carved tombstones and monuments and I got to go to work with him a good bit.

When I was growing up, a lot of what he had to do was letters and numbers, of course, and that's what I do.

I wish that I appreciated what he did as much then as I do now.

But yeah, there was a little Igor running around the graveyards while the tombstones were getting carved.

My dad and uncle were always into cars, whether it was drag racing or hot rods and muscle cars.

Since I liked art, there's so many cars with cool lettering on 'em and flames, so I think my world's just kind of collided and sign painting is what I got out of it.

You do a little bit of everything.

I, I get to paint on plenty cars and motorcycles, but then might have to paint somebody's portrait or do a sign for the front of their shop.

You never, ever know what you're gonna see in here for the the next job.

My customer that has a business called Lawyer Garage, he really is just on the lookout for the most insane cars out there.

This was one of the first cars that I did for him.

And fast forward to present day.

I've done over a hundred cars.

Really just a little bit of everything.

I can't even explain it at this point.

I've done so much work for him that he just brings it in and tells me to do something and he leaves.

I've painted the little portrait of Alfredy Newman with his army helmet on and cool part of the Mad Magazine stuff.

Kelly Freeze that painted Alfredy Newman for Mad Magazine for a long time, actually lived in Virginia Beach.

Just a cool piece of history.

You cannot put any barriers on what he gets.

And this is along the crazier side of things.

It's a part old lawnmower and part V eight Chevy Motor, and it's just called the thing.

The Munsters coach up here is definitely one of my favorite ones that I've done.

It's got gold leaf on it and it's got stripe in and the Munsters logo, all the spiderwebs around the windows and the mirrors and the headlights, and then on the back it's got portraits of all the monsters.

It's a rotating collection.

You just can't keep up with the cars that he has.

It's massive.

The Vbb Flee started that with Aaron next door at North End Bag.

First one we had, we might've had 10 or 12 vendors sitting in the parking lot right in front of my shop.

We only planned on having one, but when that was done, we were like, ah, let's have another one.

Here we are nine years later doing a day flea market and a night flea market.

Each month, the day market, there's three other markets that go on the same time during tourist season.

When those other markets are going on along with mine, there's four to 5,000 people that come through through that thing.

There's another one that I started doing across the street that goes on at the same time.

It's called the Misfits Market, and that one is more artists and makers.

It's just a mix of stuff.

So when the day market is going on with the Misfits market, that's probably 90 vendors that I've got right there.

WRV, they're our landlord.

They have been incredible to us.

They have given us such a amazing opportunity to be in this building.

And now the flea market has into their biggest shopping day every month.

It's really an amazing community thing.

The night market, that's a whole nother animal.

It's still a flea market.

It still takes up the entire parking lot.

It's a little bit more of a party atmosphere than the day one.

It is more of like the older crowd looking to go out and have some dinner and a couple drinks and rummage through the market or something.

Another cool thing that's happened with the markets, they have inspired at least half a dozen.

It might even be more of our vendors to open up their own storefront.

So they built up their brand and built up their confidence.

It's amazing that it has helped people get to that position.

Somebody brought me a Christmas ornament and they asked me, can you paint something on this for me?

And I was like, ah, guess I can.

And I don't remember if they wanted something nasty painted on that or the way my mind works.

That's usually the way I lean too.

I just started painting all these vulgar sayings on there.

They're not for everybody.

People that take life way too serious don't come in, but there's plenty of people that do appreciate 'em.

It's really a fun time of the year, just the comments from people coming in and you get to hear 'em on the other side of the shop, just reading through 'em and laughing.

People get 'em for gift exchanges, and it's been 10 years now.

Do 500 of 'em every Christmas.

My xxx Miss Balls have become quite the thing.

A guy walked into my shop and he's like, oh, you should come to class.

He's like, ah, yeah, I'll, I'll come in sometime.

Before that, I had a serious gym regimen.

Guy was working with nutritionists and going in there six days a week.

So I finally make it into my first class at Jujitsu.

And when I left there, I knew that I was never going back to the gym at all.

It's super intimidating.

Walk in there the first time you're going in there on your own to get your ass kicked, which is so weird sounding, but you're getting your ass kicked by people that care about you and people that are trying to teach you the art of juujitsu.

You're not punching people in the face, you're not kicking people in the leg.

Juujitsu is there to stop a fight to incapacitate somebody.

Besides that knowledge, the support system that you get in there is amazing.

To me, that's the coolest thing about Jiujitsu.

Everybody in there has leaned on somebody else once or many times, - Turn - All the way, all the way.

360, 360, let go.

- Gustavo Machado, my Jiujitsu teacher, just the the person that he is, just an amazing person.

It was important with me to get my mind in a better place 'cause it's, it's not always there.

It's like painting.

I think painting helps me out with that a lot.

Start on a job and you just kind of get lost in it.

The jiu-jitsu, you go in there and you're just surrounded by all your buddies and you got other things to worry about.

Then your mind drifting off into a bad place.

So that is what it's done for me the most.

The vibe being here since the beginning.

This is such a huge thing for me.

I'm very proud to say that I'm a part of it.

This is my little world and everything that I need is right here.

A lot of the people that I've done stuff for have been people that I've admired or looked up to, so that makes it super special too.

I've done work for Chase Rice, Danny Ricardo, the F1 driver.

I painted a guitar for him.

I've painted a pair of boots for him and we did a huge neon sign that got hung in front of Dirk's Bentley's bar on on Broadway in Nashville.

Did a sign for Cooper Manning.

Gibson sent me 14 guitars.

So I painted guitars for Brothers Osborne for Sha Boozy Post Malone Muscadine Bloodline pri Silla block.

I appreciate what those guys do and it means a lot to me to get those jobs.

Definitely a feeling of justification in there.

It gives me a opportunity to be like, look where you were and look where you are.

Which I don't think I take enough time to do that.

So yeah, I need to think about that more.

- Recognize Igor, that's probably because he had a cameo in Wayne White's Emmy award-winning segment in season two.

To see that video and previous episodes of curate, download the WHRO plus app each year on, we bring you stories crafted by ODU film students emerging documentarians, learning their craft and collaboration with who's production team.

- The series is called Curate You, and one of the seasoned stories features an artist who defies category.

- If you're looking to put freeform rockstar into any kind of box, good luck with that.

This enthusiastic purveyor of good vibes leans into percussive sounds movement and harmonic flow.

- The result is an entertaining creative soul who invites his audience into his world for an experience like no other - High vibrational energy, high vibrational energy.

For me, raising the vibration is ex extremely important.

We have a lot of low vibrational energy in the world that we see all around us.

I'm always focused on, you know, a consciousness about raising vibration and tapping into that type of energy.

It's not just about the music to me and the percussion, it's about the dance experience too as well.

I do this interactive percussion performance art, and I would just describe it as like a celebration of life.

Really bringing in the audience, bringing in the spectator, and they become a participant in the actual collaborative effort of what's going on on the stage.

You get to exchange energy and it's a thriving thing that you can just kind of vibe off of.

I have kaon drums, I also have African gen ma drums.

They also have hand percussions, various shakers if there's children in the audience.

I like to hand out the little egg shakers to children.

They find that interesting and they start shaking the shakers.

I always think about it in that manner of who the audience might be and who can I tap in with and pull them in.

- My mom was at a popup and I saw people drumming.

I was like, Ooh, that's cool.

And I like that sound.

And then I start playing the drum and then he start telling me how to play the drum.

And then I kept going and kept going and we was staying there until it was like dark.

- He's very just a unique person.

I think it's a whole package.

You know, he comes, he has the, you know, the crazy style locks.

He has the rockstar Afro futuristic vibe about him.

He's for the culture and he's also a rockstar.

And so you see those different parts of himself blended in together, you know, seamlessly.

- The freeform rockstar thing started out when I first started my Instagram page, posting pictures of myself going through different stages with my locks.

And then lock stars is a play on rockstar.

I'm the type of person that doesn't stay still and I'm all over the place.

So a lot of people like, yo, he's, he's a rockstar on stage.

When you see that energy, sort of the freeform lock star is perfect, you know, name and it's, it's, it fits.

When people hear that, they go, oh yeah, it makes sense.

- There was this feeling you get when you are in a similar place with another musician and you know, even before you play a single note, that the environment is gonna be good and that we're gonna transform the air in the sonic space that people hear.

And then freeform is very good at that.

It's a beautiful Sunday.

- Freeform is a really powerful catalyst for change.

Freeform is the light that allows people to say, come on out.

Like you did not come out to just be stuck in that chair.

You did not come out here right?

To be quiet and cool and in the corner.

You came here to release something.

- Feel blessed.

I know.

I feel blessed to be alive.

Let's celebrate life.

- All life go.

I just want be remembered as that guy that made you smile and it made you dance, made you feel good.

I'm digging that.

That for me is something that I would say is gratifying - Following a successful inaugural cycle that funded 11 nonprofit projects.

Applications are open for the Virginia Humanities at WHRO Grants program.

- Check out this video to learn more about this enriching opportunity - In Hampton Roads.

Our stories matter through Virginia Humanities At WHRO, local nonprofits are bringing our region's history, culture, and shared experiences to life.

This grant program supports museums, libraries, historic sites, and community organizations as they explore the people, places and ideas that shape who we are.

We're proud to invest in projects that educate, connect, and inspire in our communities.

- Applications for the humanities at WHRO grants are due April 29th, 2026.

If you have any questions, contact Kelsey Backy at kelsey dot backy@w.org.

- The car needed fixed in and so did my smile since the last time we kicked it.

Oh, it's been while.

We needed to change up Rhythm, man.

So we order dinner.

Nina Simone, moments of sadness.

The world has each share.

But look my darling, there's there.

So turn off the TV and put down the phone.

It is time for dinner.

Sunset and Nina Simone.

I have desires and you have your needs.

There's the mortgage to pay and children to feed.

You don't have to carry these burdens long.

No, no, no.

Let's talk over dinner problems to solve the measures to take.

Critics gonna cry, gonna hate, but it doesn't phase us.

So how we've grown.

We on that sunset and we - Welcome back to another season of Curate Presents where we introduce you to Hampton Row's most talented filmmakers.

And I am here with Esau Bolden.

How are you?

- Good.

How you doing today?

- I am well.

I wanna know about your filmography and how you got into filmmaking.

- I've been doing film since I was like 12 years old.

- Okay.

Early - And early man.

My dad had the big camera Yeah.

Sitting on his shoulder and I used to grab that and shoot my little heman and GI Joes and did stop motion with it.

- Yeah.

- I didn't know what I was doing, but I love being behind the camera.

I love writing, I love directing.

So I end up just trying to do it out here in Virginia and nothing was really happening.

So I took my talents west to California.

- Okay.

- Where I networked, did a lot of things.

I worked at Warner Brothers there.

I really grasped a lot of knowledge when it come, came to filmmaking.

- So you went out there and started doing the big - I went out there and started doing some things.

Okay, okay.

Yeah.

Yeah.

So I got a couple feature films on Amazon and Prime and Tubi.

You know, I'm in - It.

So how did you bring that back here to Virginia?

- When I came back, I wanted to bring what I've learned from California to here and share all the knowledge that I had.

And so I got with a couple of friends and a couple of people.

So we started doing like little skits and things like that.

Mm.

So then from that people wanted to shoot more.

- So is that what led to the filmmakers of Virginia?

- Yes.

It led to that because for me there was lacking a community in the Hampton Rose area when it came to like filmmaking and producing.

Nobody wanted to work together.

So I wanna bring people together because there's a lot of talent in the 7, 5, 7.

- Right.

- And so that's where it started me wanting to collab, wanting to connect, wanted to build and wanted to create.

- Tell me what exactly the filmmakers of Virginia is.

- We have workshops, we have classes that we teach.

- Yeah.

- All for producers, directors, content creators, actors and photographers and cinematographers.

So we have different speakers every night and so they're learning and we are creating an under one roof.

And then there's snacks.

You gotta have the snacks.

Don't have - Snacks.

Okay.

I'm - There.

You have a gathering.

You have to have snacks for people.

- Just as you said snacks.

Now I don't wanna know when the next date - Is.

Listen, come on now.

The next date is next Tuesday.

- Right.

- So you gotta be there to get those snacks.

- What's the overall goal of filmmakers of Virginia?

- We want to prepare people for the industry.

We also want to get a studio where we can produce our own projects out of filmmakers of Virginia.

- Speaking of your own projects, with all of this going on, do you still have time to, to work on your own projects?

- Yes.

No, I've, I've put the bigger things on pause.

Okay.

Because I'm really focused on this 'cause it's taken off.

But I'm also, I'm, I'm currently writing - So if people want more information on how to get in contact and find the filmmakers of Virginia, where do they go?

- You can go on our Instagram at filmmakers of Virginia and you have found all the information up there and the links to our YouTube channel where we have a lot of the workshops that we, we did so far that you can go check 'em out.

- Okay.

Save a seat for me.

As long as they're snacks.

- Listen, I I'll have more snacks.

You - Come out.

Okay.

Awesome.

Okay.

- Yeah.

- Well thanks for being here and best of luck with filmmakers of Virginia.

- Listen, I appreciate the opportunity.

Thanks for having me.

- Of course.

- Well Jason, that'll do it for the first episode of season 10.

- Yes.

But we have so many captivating stories coming your way.

You'll want to tune in every week to see who's the next artist we feature.

- I love the new curate session segment and hearing Roberta Lee again was phenomenal.

- There will be plenty of new faces with some familiar faces in between.

It's definitely going to be a special season.

- I can't wait.

- We'll see you next time on Curate - The Valley Brush.

The, an exhibition in the gallery that is my and divine.

We are tall and we are rooted like the Appalachian trees, but as the river we are power by the pool of mighty She, the waves are being lifted and the sand is being shifted for a treasure that is waiting to be found.

If dreams are somewhere in the distance, love is somewhere with them.

Reach someday will be the lesson that somebody else will teach.

And if there's someone on the mountaintop, some how will make the climb.

If they air something in the water, then I'm somewhere in the what is can you feel bug road.

A rising tide is lifting all boats.

If dreams are somewhere in the distance, love is somewhere within reach.

Someday will be the lesson that's somebody else will teach.

If there's someone on the mountaintop, some how will make the climb.

If there's something in the, then I'm somewhere in.