RVA Community Makers Unveiling
Thu, Feb 13, 2025
6–7 pm
Now in its seventh year, RVA Community Makers is an annual community-activated art project honoring African American leaders whose influence, impact, and inspirational stories strengthen our community. Artists and creators Hamilton Glass and Kourtenay Plummer will present this year’s public art installation: sculpted vessels by Plummer celebrating each honoree.
This year’s art project is inspired by Fred Wilson’s black Murano glass chandelier No Way But This, now on display in the museum’s historic 1936 entrance hall. Wilson’s work challenges colonial assumptions about history, culture, and race and often explores marginalized histories and power relations in institutions.
Host
Ashley Hendricks
Anchor, 12 On Your Side
Ashley Hendricks is an anchor and reporter for WWBT’s 12 On Your Side in Richmond. Hailing from Henderson, North Carolina, she is no stranger to Virginia: She earned her Bachelor of Arts in broadcast journalism from the illustrious Hampton University.
Hendricks started her television career as a morning reporter in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, at the height of the coronavirus pandemic and was promoted to weekend morning anchor/reporter.
Before going into television, Hendricks taught 6th- and 10th-grade English in Raleigh, North Carolina, where she encouraged her students to go after their wildest dreams. Heeding her own words of encouragement, she got a taste of television news as a news production assistant at WRAL and never looked back. She seeks to serve the community through storytelling.
Honorees
David Marion and Tiara Green
Co-Founders, Liberated Arts Foundation
The Liberated Arts Foundation was founded by David Marion and Tiara Green, a married couple with a passion for art and community health.
Marion, an architect by day, has cultivated his artistic talents since childhood and has a deep appreciation for art’s transformative power. Green brings 20 years of experience as a public health professional, dedicated to improving community wellbeing. They are driven by a shared desire to give back to the community they love and now call home: RVA.
Together, they launched the Liberated Arts Foundation to promote the powerful intersection of art and community well-being. This platform supports local artists and raises funds for health- and education-focused nonprofits.
By merging their love for each other and their respective fields, Marion and Green strive to be catalysts for positive change in the Richmond community.
Taylor Scott
Founder, RVA Community Fridges
Taylor Scott had initially planned to join the FBI but felt called to grassroot organizations and mutual aid. She founded the RVA Community Fridges in 2020.
Growing her own produce via hydroponics helped Scott understand food chain systems, and an abundant harvest from her hydroponic garden planted the seed that grew into RVA Community Fridges.
Scott worked with friends to create the first community fridge in Church Hill. The public response inspired her to continue to provide local produce, especially to communities with a history of redlining and food apartheid.
There are now 15 RVA Community Fridges, with more in the works. Scott and her team have also helped establish community fridges in Virginia and other states. RVA Community Fridges and Food Not Bombs are partnering on Matchbox Mutual Aid, which will offer free food and courses in 2025.
Corey Taylor, M. Ed
Chief Executive Officer, Peter Paul Development Center
Corey Taylor holds a BS in physiological science from UCLA and an M.Ed from National University in Los Angeles. He began his career in the Inglewood Unified School District, teaching middle school science for 10 years. Transitioning to Bright Star Schools, he was Assistant Principal and Principal of then-Bright Star Secondary Charter Academy, where he actively served underrepresented students in Los Angeles.
In 2018, Taylor became Founding Principal and Chief Academic Officer of Cristo Rey Richmond High School, a unique school that helps students of limited economic means succeed through a corporate work-study program. In 2023, Taylor became Chief Executive Officer of Peter Paul RVA, which offers a full range of programs and services to Richmond’s East End.
Taylor enjoys basketball, singing, and attending his children’s activities, and supporting the Beta Gamma Lambda Chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc.
About the Artists
Kourtenay Plummer
Kourtenay Plummer’s work explores themes of families, history, culture, and community. Plummer is co-owner of an art gallery and pottery studio in Amelia, Virginia. Her artistic style blends the rich heritage of pottery traditions with a contemporary twist. She embraces the tactile qualities of clay, both on and off the potter’s wheel. Hand-building and wheel-throwing techniques converge to craft pieces that embody a delicate balance between form and function. The texture and surface of her pieces are meticulously crafted to convey the depth and diversity of humanity’s and nature’s designs.
As an artist, her journey is one of shaping not just the medium but also the bonds that connect us as human beings. Through each vessel, she explores themes of gathering, the strength of families, and the richness of community. Her work longs to inspire people to come together, form community, and cherish the connections that bind us. Whether it’s a collection of pottery that gathers on a table, a family of pieces that share a kinship, or a set that speaks to the beauty of unity, each project carries a message of togetherness. It’s an ode to the shared moments, laughter, and love that thrive when we connect.
Hamilton Glass
Hamilton Glass’s career as an artist stems from his architecture and design background. Despite working in the architecture field for seven years, his passion for public art pushed him to start a career as an artist. Public art has always inspired Glass with its power to influence and uplift the surrounding community. With every opportunity Glass is given to create, he tries to convey a message that connects his art to the community. Drawing on his architecture background, he creates images that reference architectural drafting practices by using sharp lines, scale, and balance in each piece. Bright colors and unpredictable lines and shapes convey energy and movement.
Glass’s work isn’t just a single canvas, print, or mural. One of the things he enjoys most is creating multilayered projects that amplify many voices. In 2020, he founded two large projects, Mending Walls and All In Together, which address the civil unrest and pandemic raging in our country. This was a way for Glass to process current events and share that opportunity for expression with others through art. Glass seeks to use his art as an inspiration and healing tool in the community and provide a great example of a working Black artist.
Speakers
Ashley Hendricks
Host, NBC 12 On Your Side
Valerie Cassel Oliver
VMFA’s Sydney and Frances Lewis Family Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art
Hamilton Glass
Artist, Muralist, and Project Creator
Kourtenay Plummer
Sculptor and Creator of Vessels for Honorees