- [Heather] Next on Curate - [Drew Ungvarsky] We made Assembly to be sort of the center of gravity for the creative and technology industries here in Hampton Roads.

♪ Oh, I don't quite have you figured out ♪ - [Ann] Music is this universal language, and the world really needs that kind of connection today.

- [Patrick Frank] You have avant-garde art and then you have avant-garde science, where's the meeting point?

- [Male Presenter] This is Curate.

- Welcome.

I'm Heather Mazzoni.

- And I'm Jason Kypros.

Thanks for joining us as we wrap a bow on season six.

Now this week, we come to you from high above Granby Street in downtown Norfolk - [Heather] We are at the refresh and renewed Assembly, which is also the foundation for our lead's story.

- [Jason] The building serves as a home to a new and aspirational workforce in Hampton Roads.

- [Heather] Drew Ungvarsky is a visionary who wanted a better built space for his company, Grow, described as a digital company for pioneering brands.

Together with work program architects who did the architectural design work on the building's renovations, they have turned this one-time department store into a high tech high hive for similar-minded modern companies.

Drew Ungvarsky and WPA's Mel Price are our 757 featured artists.

(dramatic instrumental music) - [Drew] Now this place is a canvas, this place is an opportunity for creatives just like us to make a mark.

You can do things here that you can't do in other places.

That's pretty compelling.

The Assembly was all about, so let's make a mark to show everyone this is here, it's happening in a really big way.

(dramatic instrumental music continues) We made Assembly to be sort of the center of gravity for the creative and technology industries here in Hampton roads, to bring amazing creative and technology companies together, have them share sort of a space under one roof, do all the amazing work that they're doing for brands around the world, products and services, and see what happened when those people all got together.

It's an arresting space when you walk in, these sort of towering ceilings, natural light everywhere, the historic character of the building, the terrazzo floors, the exposed ceilings.

I mean, it's a stunning space on its own.

When you think about it through the lens of what it's made to do is, I think, where it gets really exciting.

You know, we've built this huge common area through the middle, We've cut this atrium through the center of the building, and that's all about not just creating a travel corridor through the building, but creating those connections between people.

As you walk through this first phase, this first building, you're seeing all these amazing companies, all the people in this work, literally building world-class products and services.

Just to take that in, it's not just the character of the building, but the character of what's happening here is probably where it gets exciting an another level.

- [Mel] When we opened WPA, we immediately kind of followed Drew to the core of downtown as did many of our other friends who started companies.

It was writers, architects, artists working together to attract and retain talent in Norfolk.

All of us had been grappling with the idea of in order to accelerate our own companies, we needed to have all of these spaces and tools at our disposal.

We needed large meeting spaces.

We needed casual meeting spaces.

We needed podcast rooms.

None of our companies could afford to do any of those things on our own.

And thinking about this in terms of pooled or shared resources, could we do this in such a way that could outfit a building with 15,000 square feet of shared amenities and, you know, not only save on resources doing that, but actually have these spontaneous collisions where we're running into other people who can help push us and our ideas and our companies forward.

So that's really the genesis of the idea.

And then that took a very physical form in the design of the building.

How do you design a building so that it welcomes people in, it draws them up through central spaces where people are almost forced to run into each other.

And that's the stair that spans from the lobby up to the fifth floor of the new penthouse.

And that's how we run into each other every day.

- We were the first tenant to move into Assembly.

We are the front door to the entrepreneurial and startup ecosystem here in Hampton Roads and the 757.

We're so privileged to have Studios, which is a one of a kind model, be housed and an office campus as unique as Assembly, where we're surrounded with innovators and creatives and people that are challenging the status quo in whatever their respective industry is.

Being able to come together to share ideas, to be able to network, to be able to connect.

The magic comes together all of the time, connecting investors, mentors, people that are running successful startups, everything in the middle, that all coming together under one roof, is just absolutely invaluable.

My grandfather was an architect and he said that anybody can design a building, but what separates the good from the great is all in the details.

And there has not been a detail that has not been carefully thought of throughout this entire project.

It's hard to believe that it's 102 year old building that we're standing in 'cause it certainly doesn't look like that.

- The building was originally designed as an exhibition hall, so think a world's fairs.

It was a showplace for, you know, anything that they wanted to house and showcase in the region.

After that, it became the Ames and Brownley Department Store.

I know my grandmother remembers that and she would come downtown to go shopping and to have lunch with my grandfather, who was down at the Roister building.

Over time, it changed to Rice's Department Store and if you walk around downtown now that's the department store that everyone remembers.

(upbeat jazzy music) - The building itself has about 10,000 square feet per floor.

We've added some mezzanine space between the first and second floor.

And then we've also been able to add some rooftop space, so that there's additional function up there.

You walk in and you feel the presence of a sort of boutique hotel where you can just land and start working.

We tend to lean into the idea of co-working space, but this is kind of taking it to a next level.

I went into it with a healthy understanding of what we would find and it taught me (chuckles) that I didn't know quite as much as I expected to about the building.

I knew enough about the construction of the time from past projects, also learned quite a bit about the historic approach to buildings like this, not as a preservation project, but just as honoring the building at that moment in time.

- There was certainly a lot of dreaming and a lot of pinning and sketching and all of that for years probably.

The better part of a year before we actually sat down and started doing this.

- Drew is the type of client that wants to see almost every possible iteration.

So in every programmatic keys or every room in here, we kind of tessellated in every different direction, so he could see what it looked like or felt like to have the sunlight come through with the shared meeting room here, and the coffee shop here, versus this other location.

So we probably have 50 different floor plans for this building.

It took some time.

- Goal number one is bring out the character of the space.

I mean, the character of the space by itself is remarkable.

If we can just bring that out, we get a magnificent building.

And then our challenge was, how do we add to that a modern character that respects the history and feels appropriate for the space, but brings it to life as this modern business hub?

- It's the difference in how someone answers the question, why should I go back to the office?

We've all been very comfortable working from home.

We could dress comfortably.

We're close to the fridge.

We could take walks.

Why in the heck would anyone want to come back to the office?

And I think the answer is a really well designed space that allows you to collaborate and to work together efficiently and have spaces that feel like home.

- It made no sense financially.

It was a stretch to say the least.

It's, you know, put really everything on the line for this project.

It was about the vision.

And, you know, I think we've realized a part of that, but there's a huge piece of this vision that has yet to come, so that's, what's keeping me going.

(upbeat music) - [Heather] You can see the story of Assembly again on our website, whro.org/curate - [Jason] You can go there to find any and all 757 featured artists from our six years of Curate, as well as every broadcast episode, and other great Curate content.

Now, anyone who has lived in Hampton Roads for more than five minutes knows this region is bursting with talent.

Singer and songwriter Ann Gray carries on that rich tradition.

- A protege of Curate alum Skye Zentze, this 15 year old seems destined for big things.

(mellow ukulele music) ♪ We both have gone our separate ways ♪ ♪ And I'm fine about that now ♪ - [Jason] If you listen to Ann Gray, you are going to go wow.

♪ Let me tell you about my new friends ♪ ♪ The ones I made after you left.

♪ - [Heather] Her voice is strong and articulate.

♪ They never leave me ♪ ♪ They treat me well ♪ ♪ Better than you ever did.

♪ - [Jason] Her music resonates with her audience.

♪ We both have gone our separate ways ♪ She's the real deal.

♪ And I'm fine about that now ♪ - [Heather] And you would never expect that, from someone who is 15 years old.

(mellow acoustic guitar music) - I'd wanted to play the guitar because my sisters have played the guitar, but because I was a lot younger, the guitar was like so big for me at that point.

- Ann Gray's dad reached out to me and asked if I would potentially be interested in mentoring his, I believe at the time, 11 year old daughter.

- Before I met Skye, I would listen to her album on repeat and I was so excited to meet her.

- Tell me what you've been working on.

- I have like three songs that I've finished all, but one verse of.

So I've been going back and forth between those.

- I've been very lucky to watch this combination of the emergence that we all go through adolescence, but then coupled with this intensified artistry.

At some point, she had amassed this huge arsenal of songs and it got to the point where it was like, what are we doing with these?

So then we started working on Ann Gray's E.P.

- My dad set up a recording booth in our house and so then we recorded the main vocals and the harmonies, the ukulele tracks.

- She ended up co-producing the E.P.

right along with me, just because of so many of the choices and the instrumentation parts ended up being hers too.

- I was really nervous just cause I had never done anything like that before, but I learned a lot throughout it.

- She writes such lovely songs that it was really touching to get to work on them from the inside out.

- And then Foolish was made.

(soft acoustic guitar music) ♪ Recently I've started taking therapy ♪ ♪ 21st century person with technology ♪ - And I'd started going to open mic nights before everything got shut down due to COVID.

♪ I try to love myself ♪ ♪ But I only do ♪ ♪ When the internet says that it loves me too ♪ - But now as things have been opening up again, I've definitely been able to start getting back into performing live.

♪ Oh my gosh, your generation ♪ A lot of my songs are about growing up and the capricious nature of high school friendships.

♪ Tell me what's cool ♪ ♪ Tell me who's hot ♪ - It's interesting to see how different people can interpret something very specific in my life.

♪ Boys will be boys and boys will be jerks ♪ ♪ Generation all so insecure ♪ Despite differences in ages, we all experience similar emotions.

(Ann Gray vocalizing) And especially in today's world, with the internet and social media, more and more people have been able to find and connect with my music, which has just been such a gratifying feeling.

(crowd cheers) Thank you.

Thank you so much!

(mellow ukulele music) ♪ She's the kind of girl who... ♪ - My cousin.

Vivi, we've always been really, really close.

♪ She's the kind of girl who never has to try ♪ A year ago, I had the hook idea.

(Ann Gray singing indistinctly) And they got out their ukulele and they started playing this tune.

♪ She's the kind of girl who always gets the guy ♪ We ended up writing rich girl.

♪ She's a rich girl ♪ ♪ Feels like you're walking on air when you are with her ♪ Vivi and I have been working on recording our first E.P.

together.

♪ Cartier bracelets, Gucci belts ♪ ♪ She's the kind of girl who can name drop herself ♪ When I started learning mixing through Skye, she would tell me how to make a base line, or how to use the MIDI keyboard, which are all things that Vivi and I have been playing around with.

(Ann Gray vocalizing) I don't know.

What do you think?

- So where would we put that?

She's the kind of girl who can name drop herself or around there?

- That could sound cool.

- Yeah.

- There's so many things that Vivi has suggested that I never would've thought of had I just been doing it solo.

♪ She's the kinda girl who can name drop herself ♪ (Ann Gray vocalizes) - That?

- Yeah!

- Can you record that?

- Ooh.

- Okay.

We'll just listen through and be like this part needs a little flourish.

♪ She's a rich girl ♪ ♪ Feels like you're walking on air when you are with her ♪ - Ooh, I like that though.

Co-writing definitely give such a new perspective.

(mellow ukulele music) ♪ Cartier bracelets, Gucci belts ♪ ♪ She's the kind of girl who can name drop herself ♪ It's just been so much fun getting to collaborate with Vivi on this project.

♪ No hesitation, speaks her mind ♪ ♪ Never gets questioned, never asked why ♪ And I'm just so excited for everyone to hear it.

♪ She's a rich girl living in her own damn world ♪ (crowd applauds) (mellow instrumental music) ♪ Darling, tell me why ♪ Writing and playing music has always been a cathartic experience for me.

Something that I have to myself, an artistic outlet.

♪ Hey there, we'll make the fog begin to lift ♪ Especially as a teenager, songwriting has helped me understand and manage my emotions better.

♪ You haven't changed ♪ ♪ Yet I'm seeing you in a different way ♪ It also gives me a voice to say things that otherwise I'd be too afraid or too nervous to say.

♪ Starting to realize ♪ ♪ How I don't quite have you figured out ♪ Music is this universal language.

And the world really needs that kind of connection today.

♪ She's wise in a way that she knows when not to speak ♪ ♪ Kind in a way that she knows what to say to me ♪ ♪ Bold in the way that she walks... ♪ I have a lot of work ahead of me, but I'm very excited.

♪ Wonder how I didn't see it there before ♪ ♪ When she's down she comes back a little stronger ♪ ♪ Why am I only seeing her now?

♪ - As computers have evolved, creators have figured out ways to use this technology to make amazing art, but in the early days, it required a nerdy engineer to start down this path.

This is the story of Frederick Hammersley, the godfather of electronic illustration.

(gentle electronic music) - The movement that started with computers at UNM was really cool.

The program "ART1" becomes the medium that the artist uses and it's an entirely new medium.

What happened was, a whole bunch of artists took over technology that was meant for other purposes, like payrolls and nuclear weapons.

And they played with it.

They made something visually interesting and completely unexpected out of it.

(gentle electronic music continues) Hammersley was the kind of an artist who functioned well within limits.

Over the course of several hundred works, he did more than anyone else to explore the parameters of what was possible with ART1.

He was very interested in, within a boundary, if the boundaries were clear, his type of art was to move all around to every possible corner of that sort of walled garden, exploring the possibilities up and down, in and out, back and forth.

Hammersley had a great sense of humor.

He was always making jokes.

He often gave his works titles that were, that had a sort of a play on words in them.

Like "take a moment for you" and then in a prominent place in in the work would be the letter "u", you know?

And so he was always, he was looking for ways to use humor to kind of demystify art and make it more user friendly.

What's going on is that they're taking a line printer that prints numbers and letters and math symbols, and they're using those symbols in a new way to take the old meaning out of them and give them a new purely visual meaning within the framework of a page of computer paper.

After World War II, this was the this was the cultural debate back then, because you have avant-garde art, that very few people understand, and then you have avant-garde science, some of which is like top secret.

Where's the meeting point?

(gentle instrumental music) What I loved about Hammersley's art is it's originality basically.

He had a show of these works in Albuquerque and the reviewer said, it's sort of interesting to see something used for tax forms now becoming art.

And that's the biggest surprise of this whole thing.

You don't expect it.

You're like, what's this?

And anytime an artists gets you to sort of wonder where you are at that moment, then they've succeeded.

They've challenged the way you look at stuff and Hammersley, he accomplished that.

(gentle instrumental music continues) ART1 can expand our understanding of what art is, because look, the computer that they used did the payroll for UNM, it participated in the Manhattan Project, making nuclear weapons, it did the scientific and mathematical calculations for the science departments.

And guess what?

It made art.

It was something...

It was a corner of creativity in a very esoteric and even top secret world.

That's inspiring.

That's a cool thing.

- The process of making art from glass is unique and intense and it produces awe inspiring creations The Boca Raton museum of Art recently celebrated this medium with an exhibit that focuses on artists who have ventured into glass from other disciplines.

(soft dramatic music) Adriana Berengo wanted to start this project where you make it relevant to the contemporary world again, by bringing contemporary artists who are not glass artists to work in a new, medium and work with these maestros who have, you know, they're generations of experts, so, you know, these people know everything there is to know about glass.

- The artists, as certainly we have seen this last year, have responded to contemporary events.

Tim Tate's work, that is really about the pandemic.

- [Kathleen] This is his second pandemic because he's an HIV positive artist.

He did go through, you know, so many people dying of AIDS.

- The whole idea of "Glasstress" is sort of endemic from the very beginning, from the very concept, something that was, sort of born of fire and becomes this amazing object that is at once fragile, but also there's sort of a durability about it.

There's a toughness about it.

I mean, I think of the works like Nancy Burson's "DNA Has No Color", these block letters, which has a very strong message to it, or behind me that you see Vik Muniz's large goblets, that he takes a simple wine goblet and makes it life-size.

(mellow music) Each of these works are very different from one another, just as each of the artists are different and that's what's so brilliant about the Berengo Studio.

He's inviting artists of all sorts of persuasions and really tests the will of the maestros, who are adept at turning this liquid form into something that's provocative and fragile, and as we see in this exhibition, full of meaning, - I was invited by the curator to participate in "Glasstress."

And I thought this is a great opportunity to try a new material.

I have never tried to work with glass before because I know that the technique is so difficult and I happen to be a sculptor that likes to put the hands in the material.

So for me, glass was a fascination, and at the same time, I had a certain sense of not being entirely with it.

(gentle instrumental music) - I think this exhibition, that is born out of Venice, which has seen such difficulties this last year, I think it really underscores the resilience that art has.

- [Heather] Watch Curate anytime, it's online a whro.org/curate.

You can also follow us on social media.

Look for WHROPublicMedia on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.

That's going to do it for us on Curate this week.

- And for the season.

We look forward to being back with you with new episodes soon.

Thanks for joining us.

Ann Gray has the honor of playing us out of season six.

I'm Jason Kypros.

- And I'm Heather Mazonni.

We'll see you next season on Curate.

(mellow acoustic guitar music) ♪ Still don't trust you ♪ (Ann vocalizes) ♪ Still don't get you ♪ ♪ Or what you did ♪ (Ann vocalizes) ♪ I miss you nonetheless ♪ ♪ I'll only tell you my secrets if you tell me yours ♪ ♪ Till I wait ♪ ♪ If you let mine slip ♪ ♪ I have something against you ♪