What is Visible/Records?
According to their website, Visible Records (V/R) is “an artist-run gallery and studio space located in Charlottesville, VA.“ But that definition alone doesn’t fully convey all the roles V/R plays in Cville, in my opinion.
Visible Records is not only an affordable art studio and gallery space, but it’s also a variety event space, a meeting place for activists and diverse groups across Cville, a location to relax and take in the surroundings.
Most of all, it’s a blossoming community.
The following media was taken from my recent visits to Visible Records with the goals of (1.) learning what V/R is all about and (2.) discovering how it nourishes a lasting community.
Welcome to Visible Records!
Welcome to Visible Records!
Meet the Directors
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Morgan Ashcom (he/him) is the Founder and current main director of Visible Records, as well as the head of its Exhibition committee. Beyond V/R, he is an award-winning artist who produced and published a number of creative works ranging from artworks, books, and photography. Morgan has also previously taught at several universities, including Cornell University, Ithaca College, University of Hartford, University of Virgina, and Western Connecticut State University.
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Natasha Woods (she/they) is the current assistant director of V/R. Beyond that, she’s a filmmaker whose somatic works have been screened in many film festivals across the world. She also programmed several other events and screenings in artist spaces, from the Midwest to V/R.
Natasha was my point of contact to V/R who helped introduce me to the place, and she’s the main interviewee of all the upcoming audio break interview segments.
On 1740 Broadway Street, Charlottesville, VA 22902, Visible Records lies on the bottom right corner of a warehouse building complex, distinguished by the Augmented Reality murals on its outer walls. On regular weeks, V/R is open from Tuesday to Saturday, 11a.m.-5p.m.
Although it isn't rare for V/R to host an event outside those hours.Audio Break #1
Introducing Natasha
During my visits to V/R, I had the pleasure of interviewing its assistant director, Natasha Woods. You will hear from her throughout these “Audio Break“ sections as I ask her questions about V/R and the community there.
For this first audio break, Natasha gets into more detail about herself, how she landed in V/R, what her job entails, and what her thoughts are about the place. Click on the right modules to hear!
My First Visit to Visible/Records
This is a picture of the art studio hallway that first came into my attention after my arrival. When we met, Natasha was writing event dates down on the chalkboard to the side of the right staircase. She gave me a tour of the place and allowed me to settle in before we began the interview.
Besides Natasha and I, the place was quite empty on that Thursday morning, at least in the main area. There would occasionally be a local artist who would enter, sometimes to converse or have lunch with Natasha. Gentle but toe-tapping music was lightly playing in the background; sunlight brimmed through the glass of the open garage door, having the whole area be softly illuminated by natural light. It was very tranquil.
The decor and greenery help make the space feel lived in and authentic.
Audio Break #2
The Visible Records Community
Following the goals for my visits, most of my interview questions to Natasha relate to the V/R community, from what it aims to be and what obstacles hinder it from doing so.
Check out audio recordings on the right to learn more about Natasha’s thoughts about the V/R community, challenges it faces, and V/R’s current mission.
The Visible/Records Space
The Gallery
Like the name suggests, this hall on the far right side of the building is where V/R’s recurring art exhibitions are displayed.
Every two months or so, Visible Records partners up with artist(s) and/or activist organizations so they can work together to design and set up an exhibition within this gallery space. The pieces on display range from artwork of any genre, photojournalism, poetry and writings, audio recordings, infographics on current events, and physical artifacts.
The picture of the gallery shown here was taken during V/R’s “Through their Lens: Gaza untold stories“ exhibit. The exhibit consisted of photos taken in Gaza by a group of photographers, hoping to convey the realities of Palestinian lives in the midst of the Israel-Palestine conflicct.
Check out more of V/R’s gallery exhibitions here!
The Common Space
This large oriental rug marks the central common space area. This area essentially serves as V/R’s community gathering space, making it imperative for larger events like live shows, dance parties, or exhibition openings. I also found it to be a great general hangout space.
The area is quite roomy compared to the art studio hallway, allowing for seats and props to be rearranged to whatever the events require.
Check out V/R’s future common space events here!
The Front Entrance
Besides the wall murals, the front of V/R is unique for its glass garage door to the right of the entrance doors.
When left open, the garage door helps connect the indoor common space to the outdoors, whether to increase the space for events, give the plants more light, or brighten the atmosphere.
The Art Studios
V/R contains about 23 art studio rooms that artists can apply for to house and facilitate their creative endeavors. They are located throughout this hall shown to the right and divided between two stories, some on ground level and the others accessible through the balcony area.
Covered throughout this art studio hallway are a bunch of decorations, from plants, banners, paintings, t-shirts, pyramid ceiling decorations, etc.
As I better adjusted to the place, I also realized that a lot of the studios only had half doors or curtains. Natasha later explained to me in the interview that the studios were designed to have half doors on the bottom floor and no doors on the top.
For more details on the art studios and applying for them, click here!
Audio Break #3
The Artist Space
While preparing additional questions before my interview with Natasha, I took some time to observe the interior of V/R and became more curious of what went into the design of V/R’s interior space, as well as how it may enhance and uphold the community there.
Listen to Natasha’s elaboration on V/R’s evolving interior design and artist support.
The Common Field Gardens
While learning about V/R through their website, one tab caught my attention: the Common Field Gardens. Mentioned in the tab, the Common Field Gardens were originally a garden space that "some artists and community members decided to build... behind the warehouse building" that V/R is a part of. Built right before the COVID-19 pandemic, many people started regularly visiting this spot to care for garden. Fast forward to today, the Common Field Gardens is now a staple for the V/R community and others near the space, bringing in people who likely wouldn't have interacted with this community otherwise.The Common Field Gardens area has now split into 3 main parts: the original Common Field, the Solitary Gardens, and Operations of Care. The Solitary Garden Beds, in particular, are a part of a project created by jackie summell. The Solitary Gardens are dedicated to the prison abolition movement and "are gardened by people who are imprisoned, known as Solitary Gardeners, through written exchanges with those who tend the gardens," according to the page. Learn more about the Solitary Gardens project here!
If you want to help out or check out the gardens in action, the community gardeners usually tend to the beds every Sunday morning. Below are pictures I took when visiting and volunteering at the Common Field Gardens:
The Little Free Fridge
When the community members gathered the newly grown crops from the Common Field Gardens, those vegetables go to Cville Little Free Fridge, otherwise known as the community pantry in front of V/R.
Anyone around the warehouse building housing V/R can take out any of the food or snacks left in this little hut whenever they’d like for free, as well as donate more food to it (following the rules pasted on the fridge).
A worker at Decipher Brewing, the business behind V/R, kindly offered me some bread and dates from the fridge during one of my first visits. I declined the offer, though I honestly was tempted to have some of the refrigerated bread.
Check out the Little Fridge Instagram!
Audio Break #4
Common Field Gardens
For this break, I asked one of the veteran gardeners, Leine, to give their own thoughts about the Common Field Gardens and its community impact.
Click on the right audio modules to learn more about them.
The Community Potluck
Sitting down with my loaded plate, one of the gardeners invited me to their table where I mingled with some new faces:An adult software developer who works remotely for a big IT companyA young accountant and researcher pair who occasionally visits V/RA nice woman who went into Native American Studies at the University of North DakotaAn elderly lady who goes to technology classes taught by that same woman aboveAn old married couple from the Cville area who simply joined after seeing an advertisement for the potluck at the Downtown mall
And a bunch of other guests young and old, bringing their own backgrounds with them. I was the only current UVA student there, alongside my great unfamiliarity of the outer Cville area. Yet weirdly, I still felt welcome, like I already belonged to this community despite my actual newness to it.After helping out in the Common Field Gardens for a while, the gardeners and I went back to V/R for the Cville Community Potluck hosted there.All kinds of people—V/R staff and artists, Common Field gardeners, employees from businesses around the warehouse, recurring event attendees, new folk who came from advertisements—came along bringing a stunning selection of various dishes to try out.There were blueberry pies with Krispy Kreme donuts on the side,Scalloped potatoes, chili, some tasty rice dishes,Whole trays of veggies, crackers, meat and cheeses,Chickpea salad and chickpea marsala,And homemade soups from the potluck organizer, who’s an employee from the Infinite Repeats printing store next door.
I brought some bags of pretzels.*picture for reference* -->
Audio Break #5
Shared Values of V/R
On the topic of community, here are some thoughts from Natasha as I gave her the question,
“What values do V/R community members share?”
“Seeds of Connection: Dreams of Freedom” Exhibit
The following are collage of pictures taken during the opening of Visible Records' current exhibition "Seeds of Connection: Dreams of Freedom."This exhibition culminates the efforts and art pieces from activists for two prison abolionist community projects. The first one called The People's Paper Co-op originated in Philadelphia and strives to free incarcerated Black mothers and caregivers from their bails through their campaigns. The other is V/R's own abolitionist project collaborating with incarcerated people to foster the Solitary Gardens. Learn more about these projects through the previous links.The creations displayed below include campaign art and infographics from The People's Paper Co-op project; drawings, poetry and crafted flowers sent by prisoners who V/R connects with; and other artifacts made for the Dreams of Freedom Exhibit.
Audio Break #6
Dreams of Freedom Exhibit
To look more into the background and “behinds the scenes” aspects of the Dreams of Freedom exhibit, check out these audio recordings in which Natasha talks about the exhibit, as well as the Solitary Gardens, before its opening.
Thank you for coming this far!
I hope that this website has helped show you more about what Visible Records is all about, as well as the quirks and practices that allowed V/R to gather its diverse community it has today!
If you made it all the way to the end and are interested in engaging with Visible Records, do consider visiting these button links: Audio Break #7
Final Remarks
You made it to the last audio break, congrats!
Here are the final responses of my interview with Natasha, going over her closing thoughts about the adaptability of Visible Records. Also find out some ways you can get connected with V/R!
Information Sources Used:
https://www.visible-records.com/
https://morganashcom.format.com/
https://natashawoods.com/
https://solitarygardens.org/
https://peoplespaperco-op.weebly.com/