VCUarts Studio magazine

The 2020 issue of Studio, the annual magazine for VCUarts, featured stories and news about students, faculty and alumni from both the Richmond and Qatar campuses.

Stories highlighted how the school navigated a year of change, including the COVID-19 pandemic and a pivot to remote instruction; conversations about systemic racism; and how alumni and faculty members are tackling pressing social issues. Additional stories ranged from students who studied abroad to updates from alumni to one faculty member’s efforts to bring students’ creative thinking to the NASA patent office.

My role: I planned the issue’s content, drafted the majority of the copy, managed other writing staff, and coordinated with the design team on visual execution.

Home is where your friend is

It’s not often I get to write about myself, but in R-Home magazine’s Last Word column, I had the chance to tell the story of how I’ve been following my best friend from city to city.

It’s been more than 15 years since I lived in my childhood home in a small Virginia town at the base of the Blue Ridge Mountains. But I can still picture the route to Kamala’s house.

Take a left out of my driveway, and another left onto the main road. Drive a few miles and turn right onto Independence Boulevard. Go to the end, take a left, go under the bridge, take the next right, and I’m there.

It’s a route I’ve traveled countless times in the past 30-plus years.

Kamala loves to tell the story of how we met in a bathtub at the public library when we were both 3 years old. Filled with cushions and soft toys, the white claw-foot tub had been converted into a reading nook. That’s where we ended up next to each other during story time one summer day, our moms probably nearby chasing our younger brothers.

A practice for new parents

I've been practicing yoga for more than 15 years. But last year, during the most monumental shift of my life, I had trouble finding the time and space for this much-needed steadying influence.

I had a chance to write for Project Yoga Richmond's blog about the experience of re-envisioning my yoga practice after having a baby. I'm also an ambassador for the nonprofit studio, which is dedicated to making yoga accessible to all in the Richmond community. Bonus: the post is chock full of adorable photos of yogis practicing with their littles.

There’s a Zen proverb that tells us to let go or be dragged.

Parenthood is one of the great lessons in proving that statement. At a time when your life changes overnight, it’s hard to let go of the comfort and routine you found in your practice.

What is acro yoga anyway?

Once a month, I teach an acro yoga workshop for Project Yoga Richmond. The partner acrobatics and yoga hybrid can be hard to explain and, sometimes, even harder to convince people to give it a try. In this blog post for PYR, I tried to break down some of the barriers and encourage people to get off their feet and onto someone else's.

Maybe you’ve seen photos of people doing some acrobatic yoga and you’re wondering, what’s this class all about? Or maybe you’ve seen it on the schedule, and have wanted to try it, but you’re nervous to make the leap. We get it! That’s why we’re tackling some common questions and misconceptions.