Calendar

National Geographic’s Planet or Plastic? exhibition showcases the global plastic waste crisis and highlights innovators working to solve this urgent issue. Featuring the work of researchers, scientists and artists, the exhibition traces the history of plastic and explores the devastating impacts of plastic pollution on our world’s oceans. The exhibition will also feature a look into the rise of single-use plastics due to COVID-19. Through powerful imagery, Planet or Plastic? makes the important case for the need to find a balance between using this material and protecting our environment.

Join us for an opening reception. Mixed media artist and Norfolk Public School art educator, Samantha Wegener combines ready made objects and pre-manufactured trinkets in a playful creative process sparked by inspiration from materials that best serve ideas quickly and succinctly. Put into a demonstratively visual language, vulnerabilities regarding labels she identifies with and labels others often bear are explored in her collaborative Labels project on display as part of this exhibition. Local artist Jazmine Sloan creates acrylic paintings that prompt viewers to think creatively, outside of the box, and beyond what they perceive. Her work represents emancipating yourself from the cage that is your mind. A founder of the Raven’s Fig Foundation, Jazmine strives to empower children and youth of color to express themselves creatively in visual arts and literature through the discovery of the African American culture.

See Bay Youth Orchestras stream of their live broadcasts on March 29. Available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MZaYO4Jz2rA and https://youtu.be/64jL8wlhFK4

Tribute is a national exhibition that features paintings from artists from across the country. This exhibition is open to 2D fine art and fine craft in all paint mediums. In theme and content, artworks should pay tribute to a person, place, or thing of great importance to the artist. The Tribute exhibition at d’Art Center is in honor of Barbara Fulp. Barbara was a resident artist at d’Art Center who passed in 2019. She is greatly missed by all who knew her.

Grammy Award winner Zakir Hussain has introduced the world to the tabla, the drum with a thousand voices. A national treasure in his native India, he is renowned for his genre-defying collaborations with such musicians as Yo-Yo Ma, Béla Fleck, Van Morrison, the Kodo Drummers and George Harrison, and choreographers Mark Morris and Rennie Harris. In this eagerly anticipated Virginia Arts Festival appearance, Hussain partners with Pezhham Akhavass on tombak and Iranian percussion, Marcus Gilmore on drums, and Abbos Kosimov on doyra and Uzbek percussion.

Don’t miss this co-production with Norfolk State University Theatre Company and Virginia Arts Festival, August Wilson’s How I Learned What I Learned will feature Anthony Mark Stockard (The Wiz, Parchman Hour: Songs and Stories of the '61 Freedom Riders) as August Wilson. The one-man staged reading will grace the Virginia Arts Festival’s new outdoor venue, Bank St. Stage, located in downtown Norfolk following all COVID protocols and social distancing guidelines. How I Learned What I Learned will run until April 25th. "WILSON’S PRIDE, HUMOR, ELOQUENCE, ANGER, STORYTELLING GIFTS, AND GENERAL EAGERNESS TO SOAK UP EXPERIENCE: IT’S ALL THERE." - THE BOSTON GLOBE

This unique ensemble believes in the unity that can be achieved through music–and they imagine their programs and projects with this in mind, redefining and reimagining the classical music experience. Known for their “invariably energetic and finely burnished” performances (The New York Times), the Catalyst Quartet seeks out music too seldom heard in the classical setting, including this program that exclusively features the music of Black composers. This welcome Festival return engagement will find the Catalyst players on the stage of the Attucks Theatre, in the tradition of this historic venue’s vital role: honoring the innumerable contributions of Black artists.

Calling all cardinals, parrots, flamingos and swans! Take flight on bike with this free, costumed ride looping from Norfolk's Lafayette Park along the Elizabeth River Trail and back to the Virginia Zoo. This is a casual paced ride open to all skill levels. In accordance with current COVID safety guidelines, attendance is limited and advanced registration is required. Registered riders will also receive a $5 discount code to purchase timed tickets to the zoo anytime between April 17 and June 30, 2021. Prizes will be awarded for the best adult and youth costumes. Be creative and make sure your costume can really fly on wheels! Need inspiration for a bird costume? Click here to see the Zoo's feathered friends. We will be practicing safe, social distancing and masks will be required. Helmets are strongly encouraged and are required for riders under the age of 14.

The story of Ryan Speedo Green’s journey from a bleak childhood that included a stint in juvenile detention to an internationally acclaimed opera career reads like a fascinating book–and in fact it has become one, with Sing for Your Life: A Story of Race, Music and Family. Raised in a housing project in Suffolk, VA, Green’s life was changed forever when he went on a field trip to the Metropolitan Opera with The Governor’s School for the Arts. Today he is a headline-making voice at the Met, along with being an ensemble member of the legendary Vienna State Opera. Hear this powerful singer perform opera favorites with young singers on the rise from the Virginia Opera Emerging Artists Program, backed by the Virginia Symphony Orchestra conducted by Adam Turner, the Artistic Director of Virginia Opera. A soaring evening of arias you won’t soon forget!

If you’ve been missing live classical music, be of good cheer! Three of the most beloved pieces in the repertoire will be featured in this spring concert on the Virginia Arts Festival Bank Street Stage. Villa-Lobos’ lyrical Bachianas Brasileiras No.5 joins the human voice with the instrument most often compared to the voice, the cello—eight cellos, in fact, providing a dramatic underscoring for the sensuous soprano tones. Dvorák’s classic Serenade for Wind Instruments showcases the rich sounds of the oboe, clarinet, and bassoon; and Gounod’s Petite symphonie bewitches the listener. Virginia Opera Artistic Director Adam Turner conducts this concert that features members of VAF Chamber Players, and a soprano from the Virginia Opera’s Emerging Artist Program. A spring night…gorgeous music…and the chance to rejoin with friends to hear the music you love…what could be better?

Join the Elizabeth River Trail Foundation, Rails-to-Trails Conservancy and trail lovers nationwide for National Celebrate Trails Day 2021! We’ll be hosting a full day of exciting events to celebrate the start of trail season — and officially opening our first signature trailhead at Plum Point Park.

The composer’s Symphony No. 4, a meticulously structured meditation on fate in four movements, follows with some of the most explosive brass and wind moments – a fitting addition to our celebratory season! Former VSO Assistant Conductor “Z” Kuwahara returns from his post at Russia’s famed Marinsky Theatre to lead the orchestra. Shizuo Kuwahara, conductor Andrew von Oeyen, piano

Aleea Slappy, Norfolk’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Officer, will give an update on Norfolk’s efforts and also share ideas with neighborhoods on engaging and recruiting a broad range of leaders to your organization.

Norfolk Recycles Day is a drive-thru, drop-off special waste collection for Norfolk residents. We will be accepting household hazardous waste, plastic bags and clear packaging wrap, and documents for on-site, secure shredding. Pre-registration is required.

A must attend event for all property managers and current or prospective landlords! Session topics include subject matter experts on: Fair Housing Becoming a Landlord Understanding Section 8 Maximizing Your Rental Property Rent Ready Norfolk Landlord Rights & Responsibilities

Join neighbors of Easton Forest to cleanup your curbside with Keep Norfolk Beautiful! All cleanup supplies will be provided, and COVID-19 safety protocols will be in place.

Neighborhood appearance is similar to a resume for your neighborhood. It is either a welcome sign to good neighbors or a possible warning. In this course, participants will first learn about the purpose and limitations for property maintenance code enforcement. The emphasis will then shift to how to encourage curb appeal beyond bare minimum.