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Mary Catherine Dunnigan is given a tour of Shannon library while in a wheelchair, and a man points out areas in the room while pushing her chair.
Architecture

At 103, Former UVA Librarian Revisits a Transformed Main Library

"It doesn’t have that old book smell.” That was one of the first details Mary Catherine Dunnigan noticed as she entered the University of Virginia’s Shannon Library for the first time in decades earlier this month. Dunnigan, who recently turned 103, chose to celebrate her birthday by returning to the University, where she spent years working as a librarian and director of the Fiske Kimball Fine Arts Library. She began working there more than 50 years ago, in 1973.

https://news.virginia.edu/content/103-former-uva-librarian-revisits-transformed-main-library

A gallery of 10 book covers, 5 on top and 5 below, evenly spaced on an orange background.
Creative Writing

UVA Librarians Share Their Must-Read Books for Summer

The extra daylight hours summer brings also mean more time for reading. Whether you’re spending the season by the beach, lounging at a pool or holed up inside with the AC blasting, summer’s more relaxed pace invites you to crack open a book and immerse yourself in a new world.

https://news.virginia.edu/content/uva-librarians-share-their-must-read-books-summer

A book cover with a close up photo of a child's knees, with the word Alleghania in white letters across the front.
Creative Writing

Arts This Week: Michael Snyder’s Alleghania

You’re listening to WTJU Charlottesville. At New Dominion bookshop, photographer and filmmaker Michael O. Snyder will host a book talk where he will speak about his new book, Alleghania. This event takes place Saturday, June 28 from 7pm to 8pm. For Arts This Week, we chatted with Michael Snyder.

https://www.wtju.net/arts-this-week-michael-snyders-alleghania/

A picture of the installation at Visible Records. It is a projection of a woman surrounded by household objects, and it is projected onto various 3D white objects.
Visual Art

Visible Records’ ‘Return of the Triumphal Mother’ Illustrates the Overlap of Art and Life

“Return of the Triumphal Mother” at Visible Records shares a series of new works by Dani and Sheilah ReStack, including a site-specific projection installation. The exhibition by the ReStacks, who are life partners as well as frequent artistic collaborators, “continues their imagining of queer family, desire, relationship and fantasy.” In service of this, the artists engaged in a call-and-response form of production—creating works that are simultaneously distinct and connected—offering audiences a single-channel video projected over an installation, along with a collection of six photograms, a two-dimensional drawing, and a mixed media work combining two-dimensional and sculptural elements.

https://c-ville.com/visible-records-return-of-the-triumphal-mother-illustrates-the-overlap-of-art-and-life/

Organist Barbara Moore stands in the UVA chapel in front of the organ that she frequently plays.
Music

Six Decades of ‘I Do’s’: UVA’s Longest-Playing Organist Remembers 400-plus Weddings

Barbara Moore has achieved a feat no other person in the world can claim: She has performed at more than 400 weddings in the chapel at the University of Virginia. “Oh my,” she recalled. “Gee. I know I’ve played about 700 weddings, but not all of them are at the chapel. So, I’d say maybe two-thirds of them, 400-plus, 450, something like that.” She played her first wedding when she was 16 years old. Born and raised in Charlottesville, she still remembers her first ceremony in the chapel – one of hundreds she’s meticulously recorded in compact, spiral notebooks during the last 60 years.

https://news.virginia.edu/content/six-decades-i-dos-uvas-longest-playing-organist-remembers-400-plus-weddings

A picture of a Visible Records event, where people are gathered outside at night in front of a bonfire.
Visual Art

Visible Records is Not Your Typical Art Gallery

Tucked away in the Belmont neighborhood of Charlottesville, a former data warehouse has been transformed into an affordable artist-run gallery and studio space. Opened in 2021, Visible Records was created with the goal of providing both central Virginians and global artists with 24-hour studio access, community programming and artist residencies.

https://www.cavalierdaily.com/article/2025/05/visible-records-is-not-your-typical-art-gallery?ct=content_open&cv=cbox_latest

A picture of UVA student Tyler Ruvolo standing in Shannon Library surrounded by bookshelves.
Creative Writing

UVA Fourth-Year Business Student Blends Real-World Concerns Into Fantasy Novel

When University of Virginia fourth-year student Tyler Ruvolo takes a break, he escapes into a fantasy world of his own making. Ruvolo, an economics and commerce major from Long Island, New York, sees economic theory and business practicality as a perfect marriage. “Economics provides the theoretical framework, it provides a baseline in an imagined world,” Ruvolo said. “Then commerce gives the tools to actually make it real. It gives you the ability to communicate your vision.”

https://news.virginia.edu/content/uva-fourth-year-business-student-blends-real-world-concerns-fantasy-novel

Daniel "Cosmo" Kuzmick standing with his arms crossed and smiling. He is in the UVA Drama Building.
Visual Art

Charlottesville Senior Finally Calls Himself a Hoo

Daniel “Cosmo” Kuzmick has lived in Charlottesville for more than 12 years, but never felt connected to the University of Virginia. Until now. At age 71, he’s taking two courses at UVA: The Art of Moving Creatures and Introduction to Movement. He’s auditing the courses through Virginia’s Senior Citizen Waiver Program, a statewide program that allows Virginia residents 60 years and older to take courses tuition-free at public institutions.

https://news.virginia.edu/content/charlottesville-senior-finally-calls-himself-hoo

An image of two students browsing records on shelves with the label WTJU showcased on the center shelf.
Music

College Radio Is Not Dead

Mary Hall and Jacob Hobbs smile at each other from behind their microphones. The WXTJ studio at the University of Virginia (UVA) is dim, lit only by a string of white Christmas lights dangling across the ceiling and the glow of a computer screen that brightens Hall’s face. A big-bellied, three-foot-tall teddy bear sits on a shelf, leaning into a corner as if listening to the show; the walls are lined with posters from station-sponsored events on the Charlottesville campus. Hall and Hobbs are seniors and four-year radio vets—and the studio is clearly their happy place—but they’re still students dealing with grad school applications (he’s a computer science major, she’s a theater major, and both plan to pursue a master’s degree) and the start of spring classes (it’s their first show of 2025).

https://www.aacu.org/liberaleducation/articles/college-radio-is-not-dead

The cast of Into the Woods rehearses in costume and with props.
Drama

Back ‘Into the Woods’: UVA Alum Directs Magical Homecoming

After choreographing and watching the Broadway musical “Into the Woods” dozens of times, you might think University of Virginia alumnus Matthew Steffens would be tired of the show. But when Virginia Theatre Festival artistic director Jenny Wales asked Steffens if he would be interested in directing a production of “Into the Woods” for the festival’s 51st season, he jumped at the chance.

https://news.virginia.edu/content/back-woods-uva-alum-directs-magical-homecoming

Two singers from The New Dominions acapella group are performing on stage.
Music

The New Dominions 35th Anniversary Concert Captivated Audiences

The New Dominions a cappella group celebrated its 35th anniversary concert Saturday evening in the Chemistry Building with unique pieces sung by both alumni from varying years and current New Dominion members. The concert included two acts from current student singers and with a set in the middle of the concert wholly dedicated to alumni performances. The evening showcased the a cappella group’s camaraderie and the special place it has in the heart of the University.

https://www.cavalierdaily.com/article/2025/04/the-new-dominions-35th-anniversary-concert-captivated-audiences?ct=content_open&cv=cbox_latest

A group of students talk with Elizabeth Mirabal about her poetry publication at a small table.
Creative Writing

The Origin, Translation and Publication of Elizabeth Mirabal’s “Herbarium”

Publishing house Valparaíso Editions’ newest poetry publication, “Herbarium” was written by Elizabeth Mirabal, third-year Spanish Ph.D student at the University. Originally from Havana, Cuba, Mirabal wrote “Herbarium” as a 205 page collection of free verse poems about the flora of Cuba.

https://www.cavalierdaily.com/article/2025/04/the-origin-translation-and-publication-of-elizabeth-mirabals-herbarium?ct=content_open&cv=cbox_latest