Charlottesville, colloquially known as C'ville, is an independent city in Virginia, United States. It is the seat of government of Albemarle County, which surrounds the city, though the two are separate legal entities. It is named after Queen Charlotte. At the 2020 census, the city's population was 46,553. The Bureau of Economic Analysis combines the City of Charlottesville with Albemarle County for statistical purposes, bringing its population to approximately 160,000. Charlottesville is the heart of the Charlottesville metropolitan area, which includes Albemarle, Buckingham, Fluvanna, Greene, and Nelson counties.
Albemarle County is a county located in the Piedmont region of the Commonwealth of Virginia. Its county seat is Charlottesville, which is an independent city and enclave entirely surrounded by the county. Albemarle County is part of the Charlottesville Metropolitan Statistical Area. As of the 2020 census, the population was 112,395.
Rita Frances Dove is an American poet and essayist. From 1993 to 1995, she served as Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress. She is the first African American to have been appointed since the position was created by an act of Congress in 1986 from the previous "consultant in poetry" position (1937–86). Dove also received an appointment as "special consultant in poetry" for the Library of Congress's bicentennial year from 1999 to 2000. Dove is the second African American to receive the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry, in 1987, and she served as the Poet Laureate of Virginia from 2004 to 2006. Since 1989, she has been teaching at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, where she held the chair of Commonwealth Professor of English from 1993 to 2020; as of 2020, she holds the chair of Henry Hoyns Professor of Creative Writing.
Boyd Calvin Tinsley is an American violinist and mandolinist who is best known for having been a member of the Dave Matthews Band.
Coran Capshaw is an American music industry executive, entrepreneur and founder of Red Light Management, a company that represents recording artists.
The Virginia Film Festival is a program of the University of Virginia in Charlottesville. The film festival is held annually, usually in late October or early November.
Natasha Trethewey is an American poet who served as United States Poet Laureate from 2012 to 2014. She won the 2007 Pulitzer Prize in Poetry for her 2006 collection Native Guard, and is a former Poet Laureate of Mississippi.
John D'earth is an American post-bop/hard bop jazz trumpeter born in Framingham, Massachusetts, who has appeared on recordings by Dave Matthews and Bruce Hornsby as well as recording a number of CDs on his own. He currently resides in Charlottesville, Virginia.
Eduardo Montes-Bradley is a documentary filmmaker known for Evita, Rita Dove: An American Poet, and Harto The Borges. His most recent films are Black Fiddlers and Daniel Chester French: American Sculptor He’s currently working on The Italian Factor: The Piccirilli Story.
The position of Poet Laureate of Virginia was established December 18, 1936 by the Virginia General Assembly.
Wendy Repass is an American folk singer-songwriter located in Charlottesville, Virginia.
Joshua Coyne is an American musician and composer.
Carolyn Kreiter-Foronda was named Poet Laureate of Virginia by the Governor, Tim Kaine, on June 26, 2006. She succeeded Rita Dove and served in this position from June 2006 – July 2008. While serving as Poet Laureate, Carolyn started the "Poetry Book Giveaway Project" and added the "Poets Spotlight" to her webpage highlighting one poet from the Commonwealth each month, in addition to traveling widely to promote poetry in every corner of Virginia.
The Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress, commonly referred to as the United States Poet Laureate, serves as the official poet of the United States. During their term, the poet laureate seeks to raise the national consciousness to a greater appreciation of the reading and writing of poetry. The position was modeled on the Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom. Begun in 1937, and formerly known as the Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress, the present title was devised and authorized by an Act of Congress in 1985. Appointed by the Librarian of Congress, the poet laureate's office is administered by the Center for the Book. For children's poets, the Poetry Foundation awards the Young People's Poet Laureate.
Julian Bond: Reflections from the Frontlines of the Civil Rights Movement is a documentary film by Eduardo Montes-Bradley for Heritage Film Project, a portrait of social activist and former Georgia legislator Julian Bond.
Sonata Mulattica : A Life in Five Movements and a Short Play is a collection of poems by U.S. poet laureate Rita Dove, published in 2009, about the life of George Bridgetower. Bridgetower was a biracial musician who was friends with Beethoven. Beethoven's Kreutzer Sonata was originally dedicated to Bridgetower, and was originally entitled "Sonata mulattica composta per il mulatto Brischdauer [Bridgetower], gran pazzo e compositore mulattico"
The history of the University of Virginia opens with its conception by Thomas Jefferson at the beginning of the early 19th century. The university was chartered in 1819, and classes commenced in 1825.
Charlottesville Opera, before 2017 known as Ash Lawn Opera, is an opera company, founded in 1978 in Charlottesville, Virginia. For the company's first thirty years, performances were held in the boxwood garden at Ash Lawn-Highland, the home of President James Monroe. Since 2009 performances have been held at the renovated Paramount Theater in downtown Charlottesville.
Heritage Film Project is a film-production studio and film distribution company established in Charlottesville since 2010. It was founded by Eduardo Montes-Bradley and Soledad Liendo in 2008.
Vinegar Hill was one of the earliest neighborhoods in Charlottesville, Virginia. Originally a predominantly Irish neighborhood, located near downtown, it was bordered by West Main Street to the south, Preston Avenue to the north, and 4th Street to the west. When it was first populated by African American families in the early nineteenth century, it was called "Random Row." George Toole, a local Irish-American resident, began calling it Vinegar Hill to memorialize the Battle of Vinegar Hill. It was incorporated into the city in 1835. Vinegar Hill is remembered now for the city of Charlottesville's invasive urban renewal project begun in 1964 that razed the majority black neighborhood.
