The competition began earlier this semester with 40 student teams submitting executive summaries of ideas, concepts or technologies for a business venture. These teams represented 87 individuals across nine of VCU’s schools. A panel of judges evaluated the summaries and selected 12 semifinalist teams, which then submitted business plans. Following another round of judging, five finalist teams gave 20-minute presentations to the judges on Friday.The Quinn-Tyrell Corp., comprising VCU Brandcenter students Katie Acosta, Brian Jang, Jerry Roback and Mena Xiong, won $4,000 as the first-place finisher in the competition. Their venture aims to elevate the in-home ice cream eating experience by introducing uniquely flavored ice cream cones.

Cycle Stay won $3,000 as the second-place finisher. VCU School of Business students Austin Callwood, Justin Kauszler and Joshua Newton introduced a publicly accessible bicycle rack system with integrated locking, mobile communication and security features.

Fourpoint Art was the third-place finisher winning $2,000. Led by Owen Duffy, a VCU School of the Arts graduate student, the team introduced a virtual space and Internet marketplace to help emerging artists showcase their work and connect with consumers worldwide.

Two other teams were awarded $1,000 each as finalists in the competition. Control, comprising Brandcenter students Matt Fischer, Rajikumar Kuppuswamy, Anthony DiMarco, Jacqueline Rogers and School of Medicine student Jesse Swift, introduced a software and hardware system for helping asthmatics enjoy a more normal life. Gryffindor, comprising School of the Arts students Angela Melito and Moria Pruefer, proposed a 24-hour art supply and print services store venture.

“The response to our inaugural VCU Venture Creation Competition has been very strong,” said Kenneth Kahn, director of VCU’s da Vinci Center and a professor of marketing in the VCU School of Business. “It shows that there is truly an innovation and entrepreneurship spirit here in the VCU community. We aim to make the 2012 competition the first of many annual VCU Venture Creation Competitions.”

Judges for the competition included the following individuals:  Karen Adams, chief executive officer of Hot Technology Holdings; Frank Ball, managing partner, New Dominion Angels; William Daughtrey, entrepreneur-in-residence, Dominion Resources GreenTech Incubator; David Gallagher, chief executive officer, Dominion Payroll Services; Darrell Jervey, chief executive officer, Worth Products Group; Robert Lynch, president, Practice Management Associates; Mike McGinley, managing partner, New Dominion Angels; Dick Menendez, chief operating officer, Motley’s Richmond Auto Auction; Tonya Mallory, chief executive officer and president, Health Diagnostic Laboratory; Erik  Milch, partner, Cooley LLP; John Mills, associate, Cooley LLP; Matt Rutherford, associate professor of management, VCU School of Business; Brent Smith, associate professor of real estate, VCU School of Business; and Scott Tolleson, head of Cable and Media Industries, Ericsson.

Premier sponsors for the event were the VCU Office of Research, VCU School of Business, MWV Foundation and Motley’s Richmond Auto Auction.

VCU’s da Vinci Center for Innovation is a collaboration of VCU schools of the Arts, Business, Engineering and Humanities and Sciences. Through its programs such as the undergraduate Certificate in Product Innovation and the Master of Product Innovation, which will launch in fall 2012, the center catalyzes interdisciplinary innovation and entrepreneurship as it prepares students for the 21^st Century workforce and supports development initiatives for partner organizations.

This exhibition at the Tomlinson Kong Contemporary will feature works by Professor of Painting + Printmaking Richard Roth, Jordi Alcaraz, Ken Fandell, and Johannes Girardoni. This exhibition is a dynamic group of work for this year’s installment of PULSE, an annual art fair in Chelsea, New York.

Thursday, May 3rd: 9 am – 12 pm (Press and VIP Private Preview)
Thursday, May 3rd: 12 pm – 8 pm

Friday, May 4th: 9 am -10 am (Private VIP Hour)
Friday, May 4th: 10 am – 8 pm

Saturday, May 5th: 12 pm-8 pm

Sunday, May 6th: 12pm – 5 pm

Qatar’s Amir, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani underlined the long term strategic importance of entrepreneurship in Qatar when His Highness launched the Qatar National Vision in 2008. In line with this vision, VCUQatar aims to support design-led innovation and startup business ambitions delivering high value to partner organizations, communities and the region.

VCUQatar’s Design Entrepreneurship Network will help aspiring entrepreneurs at a crucial time as they move from the identification and planning stage through to launch and implementation of their business. With one-to-one mentoring sessions, students and alumni will have access to seminars, exhibitions, networking events, guest speakers on topics including goal setting and personal development as well as functional topics such as accounting, recruitment and project management. “Through our network of partner organizations including Qatar Development Bank, The Bedaya Centre, The Social Development Centre and the Qatar Professional Women’s Network, aspiring young design entrepreneurs can access training and development programs; business planning advice; early stage funding; soft loans, personal development workshops and access to exhibition and retail space,” says Roger Griffiths, director of Design Entrepreneurship and Industry Affiliations at VCUQatar. Other partners include Silatech, Rhouda Center, INJAZ as well as established VCUQatar entrepreneurs, and The Network is available to all students and alumni of all VCUQatar Bachelor and Masters’ programs. “As the network grows, we aim to attract students and alumni from other Education City campuses to build multi-disciplinary creative businesses in design, technology, media and the arts”.

The primary aim of The Network is to build a culture around entrepreneurship – the notion that aspiring young designers can and will be supported to establish their own businesses in design. VCUQatar will continue to develop a culture that is conducive to the entrepreneurial mindset. “We aim to change the attitude to risk and failure – that in order to succeed, we often fail; that we can learn more from our failures that we do from our successes. We want to support a generation of designers by creating a thriving, vibrant and sustainable design sector for Qatar. We aim to make available grant based funding so that aspiring design entrepreneurs can apply for early stage investment to undertake market feasibility studies and produce proof of concept prototypes. Sustained economic improvements are best achieved through cultural change: promoting an entrepreneurial spirit and behavior that is not inhibited by over regulation and procedures. Real progress towards the National Vision will be delivered through leadership, vision, commitment and a belief to succeed. VCUQatar, a pioneer in the Arts will lead the way for aspiring design entrepreneurs in Qatar,” adds Griffiths.

The need for a structure to support the development of startup businesses for the creative industries was immediately noted by Griffiths when he joined the University last September. Across Europe, the United States, China and Asia, there has been a change of course in the last decade as higher education has attempted to embed entrepreneurial thinking into all areas of the curriculum and culture of its universities. In order to support the next generation of entrepreneurs universities have appointed Enterprise Champions or Directors of Entrepreneurship to focus on supporting the needs of young design talent to develop their concepts to a point where they can be commercialized through startup micro-enterprises.

Qatar does not have an established design sector. It also imports the majority of its goods. “In order to achieve His Highness the Amir’s National Vision, Qatar must diversify its economy, and, as many countries across the world have witnessed, it is the creative industries that will be the driving force behind this transition from an economy that is reliant on income from oil and gas to one that is a creative, knowledge based economy that produces goods designed in Qatar by Qataris,” says Griffiths. Through VCUQatar’s network of talented student and graduate designers, artists, professional companies, and organizations, the University aims to create a transformational, interdisciplinary environment that nurtures the designers’ innate creativity.

Stephen Vitiello is an electronic musician and media artist. Vitiello’s sound installations have been presented internationally, including the 2002 Whitney Biennial, the 2006 Biennial of Sydney, MASS MoCA, the Marfa Sessions, the Cartier Foundation, Paris and a site-specific project on the High Line in NYC. Forthcoming projects include a site-specific work for the Menil Collection, as part of the Silence exhibition, to open in July and a performance with Steve Roden at the Rothko Chapel. CD releases include Bright and Dusty Things (New Albion Records), Listening to Donald Judd (Sub Rosa), The Gorilla Variations (12k) and MOSS (12k). Since 1989, Vitiello has collaborated with numerous artists and musicians including Pauline Oliveros, Tony Oursler, Julie Mehretu, Scanner, Nam June Paik, Steve Roden, Taylor Deupree and Ryuichi Sakamoto. In 2011, ABC-TV, Australia produced the documentary Stephen Vitiello: Listening With Intent.

Lora Reynolds is the owner and director of Lora Reynolds Gallery in Austin, Texas. Prior to opening her eponymous gallery in 2005, she worked for Anthony d’Offay Gallery in London (1997 – 2001), Gemini G.E.L. in New York (1997), and Matthew Marks Gallery in New York (2001 – 2002). Lora Reynolds Gallery has exhibited in national and international art fairs, published scholarly catalogues, and garnered reviews in major arts periodicals. The gallery regularly presents shows by independent curators, but the mainstay of the program is the gallery’s twelve emerging, mid-career, and established artists. Lora Reynolds Gallery is committed to showing museum-quality contemporary artwork in all media from around the globe.

[HAND]made
2012 BFA Exhibition
On View: May 5–June 1, 2012
Reception: Saturday, May 5 | 3–6 PM
FAB Gallery
1000 W. Broad Street, Richmond

[HAND]made represents work from 2012′s senior students. As craft artists, their work is not dependent upon one area of focus, but rather blends seamlessly between sculpture, design, and artisanry as a means to investigate ideas and materials. Their pieces fuse time-honored techniques with contemporary art sensibilities. As emerging artists in this field, they are eager to present works that challenge preconceptions of craft as a simple hobby and entice the viewer with exemplary forms of intricate, highly crafted pieces.

Featured Artists: Sean Donlon, Bradley Hederer, Rachel Bohannon, Marisa Messick, Elizabeth Boresetti, Franklin Toan, Corey Pemberton, Samantha Todd, Trevor Naughton, Lily Smith, Catelyn Kelsey, Autumn Stewart, Angele Bim-Merle, Gwynhwyvar Hanley, Sarah Narum, and Colleen Freeman.

We will be announcing the 2012-13 awards on Saturday, May 5th 3:00pm in front of the FAB Gallery on the first floor of the Fine Arts Building in connection with Senior Exhibition opening on May 5th. Please join us in celebrating the seniors and award recipients of 2012.

May 4 – 25
Opening Reception: Thursday, May 3, 6:30-9 pm

PAGE BOND GALLEY
1625 West Main Street \ Richmond, VA 23220
804.359.3633 \ pagebondgallery.com

Gallery Hours:
Tuesday to Saturday
11am to 5pm and by appointment

image left to right: Ariel Brice and Stephanie Voegele

Ariel Brice, Craft/Material Studies Fountainhead Fellow: Ari graduated from Lewis and Clark College in Portland, Oregon. He then earned a post-baccalaureate certificate in ceramics from Oregon College of Art and Craft, followed by an MFA from Cranbrook Academy of Art. He has held artist residencies at the European Ceramics Work Centre in ‘s-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands and the Sculpture Factory, in Jingdezhen, China. Ari is teaching in the Clay area of Craft/Material Studies this year.

Stephanie Voegele, Craft/Material Studies Fountainhead Fellow: Stephanie received her MFA in 2010 from the University of Georgia. Prior to join us at VCU, she taught in the Jewelry and Small Metals Department at Humboldt State University. This year she is teaching in the Metals area of Craft/Material Studies. Stephanie’s work aims to unify what lives beneath with what is worn on the surface.

ADA Gallery is pleased to present “From the Landfills of My Mind,” a new exhibition of paintings by Bernard Martin.

“The longer I work the more the work seems to be becoming a dialogue with myself. Underlying this dialogue is the unquestioned premise that I should be able to paint pictures about anything I can think about. And what do I think about? Almost anything I can remember having seen, heard, read, or experienced. It seems to be of little importance to the painting whether I understood, miss-understood, or never understood any of this.”  –Bernard Martin

In his large-scale oil and acrylic paintings, Martin juxtaposes recreations of the magazine and comic book covers with images drawn from art historical and literary sources, creating a dialogue across the lines of high art and pop culture in which one picture plays off another, extending and complicating their possible meanings and suggesting rich levels of complexity not overtly discernible or inherent in each image alone.

Bernard Martin is a Professor Emeritus at Virginia Commonwealth University where he taught from 1962–92 and was the First Chairman of the Painting + Printmaking Department from 1967–69. He has had numerous solo exhibitions throughout his multi-decade career including three separate traveling shows of his work organized by the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts (in 1973–74; 1975–76; and 1996–97), and a previous show at ADA Gallery (2010). His work has also appeared in over 200 group shows nationally and internationally since 1969. He has been the recipient of numerous awards and grants including two Virginia Museum of Fine Arts Fellowships and a National Endowment for the Arts Visual Arts Fellowship (1995).

Martin lives and works in Richmond, VA.

pause
On View: May 4–31, 2012
Opening Reception: Friday, May 4, 2012 | 6–9 PM
True F. Luck Gallery
1812 W. Main Street, Richmond

This exhibition features work by first year graduate students from the Department of Craft/Material Studies at VCUarts. Each of these students is associated with one of the five craft disciplines of clay, fiber, glass, metal and wood, which serves as the starting point in their individual pursuits as artists. Pause denotes a point of reflection in each student’s work at the midway point in the program.

Sohail Abdullah
Sarah Briland
Nikki Farrand
Alexander Hayden
Bebhinn Jennings
Shauna Kirkland
Lauren Miller
Ruby Troup
Rena Wood

Related Programming:
CASTING WORKSHOP with Bebhinn Jennings & Shauna Kirkland
CLAY HANDBUILDING WORKSHOP
CLAY HANDBUILDING WORKSHOP with Sohail Abdullah & Lauren Miller
ABSTRACT EMBROIDERY WORKSHOP
ABSTRACT EMBROIDERY WORKSHOP with Rena Wood
Contact VisArts for details 

Featured Image:
Shauna Kirkland

REFERENCE is pleased to announce its final exhibition “VCU Police Presents” with an opening reception this Saturday, April 28th from 7-11pm.  Featuring new work by Conor Duggan Backman, Patrick Ross Iannatti, James Michael Shaeffer, and Edward Marshall Shenk.

Free and open to the public.

The Horticultural Society of New York is pleased to present Field Recordings, a multimedia exhibition of works by Saul Becker (MFA Painting + Printmaking) and Stephen Vitiello (Kinetic Imaging). The exhibition explores how both artists collect fragments of the natural world and restage them as altered landscapes presented in multimedia sculptures, photographs, video, and drawings.

Featured Image:
Saul Becker & Stephen Vitiello, Medetative/Vegetative, 2009. Electroplated plants, speakers, amplifier, DVD player, and audio soundtrack (14:34), courtesy of the artists.