- [Announcer] Next on "Curate".

- [Artist] I'm a rambler.

My name is Ramblin' Randy.

And it's in my bones to travel around.

- [Woman] The ViBe District is Virginia Beach's first creative arts district and we're a mix of small local businesses and lots and lots of public arts.

- [Female Artist] It's how I see the women in my life.

Putting them in the same platform of the ideology of beauty.

- [Announcer] This is "Curate".

- Welcome, I'm Heather Mazzoni.

- And I'm Jason Kypros.

Thanks for joining us on "Curate".

This week, we're in Virginia Beach in the very cool ViBe District, and we'll have more on this emerging cultural epicenter coming up later in the show.

But we start with a beach artist whose work you may have seen recently.

- Ramblin' Randy says, "Howdy!"

- [Jason] If you've been to the Hilltop section of Virginia Beach or the ocean front, you probably have seen the art of Ramblin' Randy, his colorful paintings decorating the windows of several stores promoting sales and warmly welcoming patrons in.

- [Heather] But Randy's story is much deeper than that of a creative marketing guy.

Like many artists, he has experienced some highs and lows.

In expressing his creativity, the hard knocks have a little less impact.

Ramblin' Randy Battaglia is our 757 Featured Artist.

(relaxing guitar music) - I'm an artist.

That's how I make my livin', that's all I do to make a livin', that's all I wanna do.

It's all I think about.

I dream about it.

- Randy came by my store about a little over a month ago, walked in and said, "I'd like to do some painting for you."

And I said, "I don't need anyone to paint.

"Show me something that you do."

And he said, "I'm homeless.

"I have nothing to show you."

He was crossing the street and he looked quite forlorn, to say the least, his head was down and nobody wanted him to work and I started screaming at him, "Come back, come back.

"I want you to do my windows."

He said, "Give me a picture of something and I'll paint it."

And I gave him some pictures of hydrangeas and this is what he did and I said, "I want butterflies.

"I want them to be kind of scattered around my window."

And he started painting the butterflies, everything was free hand and little by little, I have found business owners who have been really excited to have him do their windows, do their murals on their buildings.

He's a true artist.

- She keeps getting me work and I keep saying, "Why?"

And she says, I'm her project.

I was homeless and I touched her heart and I didn't try to, I just wanted a job, man.

(gentle guitar music) I'm Randy Battaglia and I am an artist, musician, writer, inventor.

I can do anything in art: acrylics, oils and oil pastels, pastel pencils, pen, ink.

I'm back on my feet and back working.

I like to work.

I don't like sittin' behind the truck or in a truck or in a van all day.

And I came here to start over.

I'm a rambler, my name is Ramblin' Randy and it's in my bones to travel around.

I need some adventure in my life, but I'm sittin' in this truck most of the time.

And you know, when you're living in your vehicle, unless you're in a campground or something, you can't really move around.

This is how I begin my prayers.

I think of prayers like incense to God, the same with smudging.

The split feather, you know, I'd take it out, it's very important and I'll tap it on the back sometimes to wanna bring, you know, kind of like a little drum beat type thing.

The spirit world is very slow.

You pray and sometimes your prayers are guaranteed if you're praying promises to God but some of 'em may take, heck, weeks or even years.

But as long as you don't give up, it's guaranteed.

(gentle guitar music) We're in Virginia Beach.

This is a mural I painted here for a buddy of mine named Jeff.

He said he wanted the streets of Philadelphia and then he started explaining to me what it was kind of like and all, we didn't have any real photos.

So I just kinda thought of Philly in my head and this is what I came up with.

And a lot of these things on here, like The Beloved Theater and Isis Beauty Salon and Oil Supply and all these things are pretty much real places or at least were at one time.

Ah, favorite part is the dog.

I like the dog.

Second favorite, I guess, is just the center part there.

I like that center part with the line coming out of Philadelphia Cold Cuts and whatnot and it's got a lot of folks and you got cops and you got the corners of the streets and there's a lot of action there.

There's a lot more action everywhere else here and there, but that's like the center.

But I go to all my murals eventually and just remember what it was like and seeing what came out of my mind.

I like it.

I really do appreciate Jeff for doing that for me.

It was a pretty hard time in my life.

I cried everyday when I was in here.

He was always there, putting his arm around me and gave me a prayer.

I guess, in a way, it's kind of a heartbreaking mural only because of the time, but you make it through.

Pain doesn't ever leave, you just get used to it.

(melancholy guitar music) (bird squawks) I'm tired of travelin' but I don't know how to settle down either, that's the thing.

I think about leaving everyday and goin' somewhere else and gettin' on the road again.

But if I do, I don't think I'll ever get a place to stay.

Come out here to paint, I don't have a place to paint so I'm painting under this here shed out in the woods.

And I like the woods.

I look in the woods out here and I see nothin' but just heaven.

I want to be in 'em.

There.

There.

Yeah, that's your world you've created.

And it's all up to your discipline as to how quick it's done or how good it's done.

As you can see, I'm building on the shadow here, but you can overdo it so quickly and you're setting up with this dark here so that you can come back in with the lights in the dark to show the depth of the petals and then even under the lips of the petals, you might wanna go a little darker.

Truly a canvas is your world.

There are people who don't know how to paint at all, but they can grab a brush and they can go to town.

As long as you got a little bit of depth and light and dark, you can make a painting, might be famous like Grandma Moses.

(relaxing guitar music) Art is, it's the biggest part of my life but music is a part of me, too, so I have to do it.

♪ I get up in the morning, I don't have a care ♪ ♪ I don't even read about combin' my hair ♪ It gives me a chance to be with people and they kind of accept me a little bit.

It's kind of weird, it's kinda like my only time where I'm able to really kind of fit in and talk to people.

♪ I don't want me no house or no automobile ♪ ♪ I don't the way like pills make me feel ♪ ♪ I'm not chasin' after the American dream ♪ ♪ I'm livin' it all for real ♪ It's a very lonely life living like this.

When you are like me and you just don't fit in.

I want to but it's very hard.

(relaxing guitar music continues) Homeless people can be some of the kindest people that you ever saw.

They're homeless, they stink and their hair's all matted and hungry all the time and as far as sticking with you, homeless people will stick with you wherever you go.

♪ Goin' to anywhere ♪ ♪ When I get to where I end a pilot for a friend ♪ ♪ He or she, too, will have a road with no end ♪ I don't know, about three years now, I've been gradually going up in drinking, it's been increasing.

And I just, I can't stand to drink but I'm drinkin' anyway.

Maybe homelessness says, you know, the loneliness it has a lot to do with that, maybe.

I know that when I do drink, the first couple of drinks, I feel great and I'm happy and then after that, it's just kind of like, it's no longer a happy thing and I'm drinking just to drink.

And it's kinda scary.

I'm not afraid of anything but that I'm kind of afraid of.

(plane engine droning) You gotta love them jets.

They're my backup.

That's the only band I got at the moment.

(melancholy guitar music) I'm tired of ramblin'.

I am Ramblin' Randy the original and I love rambling and I'm gonna ramble, I'm a vagabond!

Eventually I'll ramble again but I gotta have a home base.

(gentle urban music) - You can see and Ramblin' Randy's story again on our website.

It's WHRO.org/Curate.

All of our 757 Featured Artists are there as is every broadcast episode and other great cultural content.

Now, as we mentioned, we're coming to you from the center of The ViBe District, a relatively new arts and culture-filled neighborhood just a few blocks from the ocean front.

The ViBe is a Virginia Beach hotspot for good food and coffee, public art and imagination.

And here to tell us more about The ViBe District is Executive Director, Kate Pittman.

Kate, tell us more about The ViBe.

- Yeah, The ViBe District is Virginia Beach's first creative arts district.

And we're a mix of small local businesses and lots and lots of public arts.

- So by the looks of it, the murals are a pretty big deal at The ViBe.

- That's correct!

Yeah, in the last five years, we have added over 50 large wall murals and this one here behind me was just painted in August.

And it is two brothers that are from Virginia Beach and who receive drop-in meal services and homeless support from Standup for Kids.

And Dustin Spagnola from Asheville came up to paint this mural.

- And so these murals, this is an annual thing for you, correct?

- It sure is.

The Annual ViBe Mural Festival has happened four years now, it's our biggest and best event every year where we showcase 10 artists painting 10 new murals in 10 days.

- So even though it's just a few short blocks from the multi-million dollar properties down at the ocean front, you and the city have worked together to make The ViBe a socio-economically diverse neighborhood.

- That's right, when we first started about five years ago, there was lots of empty properties and vacant property all around The ViBe District.

And so part of The ViBe ordinance that came from city council actually offers incentives and small business support to those businesses that can come in here and open their doors and be fully operational.

We've even helped, as our non-profit, to establish a small business grant program that helps those businesses even more.

So those mom and pop shops as young starting out artists, they can come here and find a home.

- Wow, that's awesome!

- Yeah, we're really excited.

Even here in The ViBe District, we have some workforce housing at Seaside Harbor, which is a project that the Lawson Companies came in and developed that offers affordable housing three blocks from the ocean, right here in the Creative District.

You can walk and bike to work and never even leave the area.

- So, Kate, how do you think The ViBe District has impacted the city of Virginia Beach?

- Well, we think we've been sharing lots of good vibes back to the city of Virginia Beach.

In addition to adding all these new small businesses to our city's economic health, we've actually been putting out a really great positive press and we have had over 750 earned media articles in the last five years.

And in addition to that, this neighborhood has seen a $20 million increase in real estate values.

So we are proving that this is a worthwhile investment and a great reason to love where you live here in Virginia Beach.

- So what do you think the future holds for The ViBe District?

- Yeah, well, we think there's still room for growth.

There's certainly more expansion that can be done here in the district.

Right now, we're so grateful to have the brand new Virginia Beach Sports Center to our west and hopefully within the next year or two, Atlantic Park to our east, which is just bringing in droves of new people to come and experience the arts district here.

- Well, Kate, thank you so much for taking the time to speak with us today.

It's been a pleasure!

- Thank you so much, thanks for stopping by.

- You're welcome.

(gentle urban music) Rethinking the current standard of American values is the theme of a recent exhibit at the University of South Florida's Contemporary Art Museum.

"The Neighbors: Slideshows for America" presents photographs from five different artists that focus on the idea of community.

(faint whirring) (projector clicking) - Well, the exhibition is called "The Neighbors: Slideshows for America".

It's five commissioned photographic slideshows or photographic portfolios from five artists who live and work in America.

(inspirational music) We invited these five artists to give us a look at their community.

- The idea, really, is to sort of get a composite view of America at a time when that composite view is being contested, seriously contested, both in our electoral process, but also in the culture.

What we wanted to do is to basically hand off the idea of coming up with that composite view to five brilliant photographers.

(inspirational music) - So each of them gave us, they were digital, so we put these into slide format.

So believe it or not, there are still places that will make slides for you.

(chuckles) So you get the idea of being in a darkened room with the sound of the slide projectors changing.

(projector clicking) So it sort of brings up that whole nostalgic aura of being in a community, watching slides together in a darkened room.

(melancholy music) (projector clicking) - So what we wanted to do at the museum with this show was really to appeal to some of that, too.

To appeal to that community, maybe lost community or community in construction.

- You know, this is a very interesting, shall we say, time for our country.

There's a lot of division, there's a lot of mistrust.

And I think this is a really good time to remind ourselves of who we are and what makes us strong and that's really our diversity.

(melancholy music) (projector clicking) - There's a great photo by Kathya Maria Landeros of probably the daughter of a farm worker, an immigrant farm worker, a Latino, holding a sparkler during 4th of July.

(melancholy music continues) (projector clicking) There is a beautiful picture of a young boy dressed in his civic clothing, overlooking the Brooklyn Queens expressway in Williamsburg in New York City.

(melancholy music continues) (projector clicking) There is a picture by Curran Hatleberg of a man taking down a flag and it seems to be draped all over his head with cornfields behind him.

(melancholy music continues) (projector clicking) And then there's a lot of photographs of a family.

(melancholy music continues) - Even though I do photograph in my family and in communities that I know, it just feels like people are very vulnerable right now.

(melancholy music continues) - I think I'm just becoming more resourceful in finding ways to continue creating the work that I need to make.

But in a way that truly feels safe to me right now.

- We have each one of the projections videotaped and available on the website, which is the way viewers will be able to experience the show essentially until we hit phase three and we can allow a limited number of people to walk through.

- But we kind of wanted to hedge our bets, not knowing what's gonna happen.

Could we make it both real and virtual?

The challenges are, it's never gonna be the same as walking into a gallery and seeing work firsthand and having the experience of being able to actually be in that space and you can converse with the works.

You can see one work next to another work and see how the curator has placed them in conversation.

And so it's never gonna be the same as that real life, kind of acquaintanceship with the works.

On the other hand, it's always there when you want it.

And in the other hand, it makes the work available to a really broad range of people and an almost unlimited number of viewers.

- We are in a apart-together mode and I think this is one way in which we can arrive at some more of that togetherness, and I think that's fundamental.

- Right now, what else can you do?

(Noel laughs) We are planning on always having some kind of virtual element to our exhibitions, even when we're gonna be completely open.

And so I don't think that's ever gonna go away.

I think we're just, I say we artists and curators, etc, I think we're just on the threshold of what virtual exhibitions can eventually be.

So it's kind of exciting to think of the landscape that's out there that we can explore.

(melancholy music) (projector clicking) - Mickaline Thomas' work was featured at Virginia MOCA, just a few blocks from here as part of their Shifting Gaze exhibit.

Her statue in the art world has grown exponentially in the last few years, as she explores issues of race, gender identity, and sexuality.

This is from an exhibit of her work that recently showed in Columbus, Ohio.

(gentle music) - Mickalene Thomas, she was born in 1971 in New Jersey.

She's based in Brooklyn.

A lot of her work deals with the gaze, also with thinking about her gaze as a queer black woman and what that can bring to a conversation about art history, what's been absent and how she can kind of claim spaces for, particularly in the show, women of color, black women, who, when she was looking at art history, she wasn't seeing women that looked like her, women who looked like the people who were heroes and idols and mentors to her in her life, her mother, her family, her friends.

So it's really about inclusion and empowerment.

- The gaze is that art historical practice, primarily of men looking at their female muses and there's kind of ownership that takes place, mostly that we're aware of through this sort of art historical lens.

Mickalene has sought, I think very consciously from the beginning, to turn that concept of the gaze on its head so that basically the gaze doesn't denote ownership.

It denotes collaboration.

- It's the first time that my work has been given this platform to present the sitters forward, put them forward, put them in front to sort of really celebrate them in a way where you can see the various bodies of work that has come out of each sitter and how my relationship is with them and how I'm investigating and looking through different tools and materials.

And I think a lot of times, you know, there's this idea, or lack of understanding that these are real women, right?

And I want people to feel that sense that it's not just me choosing and plucking a woman from some obscure place and thinking about them, that these are relationships that are built.

- So the first gallery is devoted to her mother, Sandra Bush, which was her first muse in grad school at Yale.

She was asked by a professor, a photography professor to make a series of work about someone she had a difficult relationship with.

And she and her mom had a very fraught, estranged relationship.

And so there was a lot of kind of healing and rekindling the relationship through that series.

And as time went on, her mom at one point was an aspiring model.

She was very confident, beautiful, statuesque, and subsequently formed, I think Mickalene's interactions with her sitters.

The next gallery is devoted to Mickalene herself.

And she talks about how thinking about self portraiture and using herself as a subject was really vital to think about how she was depicting others.

So to kind of put herself in that position was really critical to think about thoughtfully about what it means to be a subject.

- All of those photographs came from sort of the search of who I was in identity, in breaking down stereotypes of black women in mass media.

(inspirational music) It's about visual play and it's about visual manipulation and desire, right?

And women are beautiful and I'm attracted to women, you know, it could be my libido lust, I don't know.

But yes, the sexuality, desire, all of those things that I put in my painting is very important to me, right?

Because it's how I see the women in my life.

It's how I want the world to see them, you know, and it's putting them on the same platform of sort of the ideology of beauty, also validating and seeing and allowing people to see us so we can be seen so we can represent ourselves and say, "We're here and we're present."

(chuckles) And so often there's so many other images to look at us as the other in a negative light, right?

So for me, it's a way of celebrating, it's celebrating who we are.

I think that is important as an artist, too, whether it's personal, conceptual, whatever your genre or theory you're working from, whatever that basis is, is to find how it impacts the world.

For me, it's all about trying to inspire and make young girls, when they walk into spaces like these, that they feel a sense of themselves and that they can see themselves, right?

They see that they feel that they're represented.

(gentle urban music) - [Jason] You can find "Curate" on the web.

It's at WHRO.org/Curate.

- And follow us on social media.

"Curate" content flows through the WHRO social media stream.

Look for WHRO Public Media on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.

Thanks for joining us.

- We're going to leave you with more of the amazing work that emanates from The ViBe District.

I'm Jason Kypros.

- [Heather] And I'm Heather Mazzoni.

We'll see you next time on "Curate".

(upbeat urban music)