Visible Records
Visible Records is an artist-run gallery and studio space located in Charlottesville, VA. We seek to provide central Virginians with studio membership, exhibition space, artist residencies, and programming, with a focus on compelling contemporary arts.
Visible Records provides national and local artists with the space and tools to expand their practice and to build creative community by:
Providing 24/7 access to studios for artists who have complex work schedules
Prioritizing affordability of studios
Establishing artist residency opportunities for Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC), & low-wealth artists
Partnering with BIPOC and low-wealth artists, organizations and community organizers, to provide direct support, facilities, and space
As a brand new arts organization that opened during the pandemic (November 2020), the shift in global pace of activity proved to be a blessing in disguise. The need to prioritize social distancing and safety meant that we committed to growing our community slowly. For the first four months, we operated at half capacity, and for a moment there in the summer reached two-thirds. The slower pace of growth has allowed us to be intentional about creating containers for people to engage with each other, rather than focus on recruitment and filling the space. This looked like reading groups, movie screenings, outdoor social activities, and informal skill shares between artists in the space. For many, Visible Records became a healthy balance of work and social life- in a time when most struggled to find either, nonetheless in tandem.
Growing our community slowly allowed us to focus on what each artist needed to be as successful in the space as possible. In our first year, we have fully or partially subsidized five studio spaces for artists at Visible Records through individual donations. We sourced collective tools and knowledge for a communal woodshop (complete with a mandatory safety training), and we help artists furnish their studios from materials and supplies around our warehouse community.
Rather than begin hosting exhibitions in our gallery space during the pandemic, we offered the space to the Charlottesville Mutual Aid and Beyond Policing campaigns to host community programming and realize their vision of a Free Store. Twice a week from January to July, the gallery doors were open for folks to grab essential and fun items, all for free. Artists volunteered to help cultivate a community garden, and the produce went directly to the free store. Volunteers also supported the execution of The Solitary Gardens, a project at the intersection of art and gardening that uplifts the voices of people who are incarcerated.
Our first exhibitions in the gallery space were "Tiahue Tocha" by Colectivo Rasquche, followed by "Is This the Place?" with artists Liz Zhang and Natalie Romero as part of the Inaugural Freeman Artists Residency.
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/visible_records/