Name: [SOLD OUT] Business, Belonging, and Black Richmond: Stories from Jackson Ward and Beyond
Start: 2026-04-16T18:30:00-04:00
End: 2026-04-16T19:30:00-04:00
Location: 200 N Arthur Ashe Blvd, Richmond, VA, United States, Virginia 23220

[SOLD OUT] Business, Belonging, and Black Richmond: Stories from Jackson Ward and Beyond

[UPDATE] This event has SOLD OUT! Please be wary of resellers. Tickets to VMFA events are not transferrable or refundable. Tickets obtained by unauthorized sources may be void.
Inspired by "Alvin Lester: Portraits of Jackson Ward and Beyond," this program brings together Alvin Lester and several individuals he photographed nearly four decades ago. Their conversation will consider the history, resilience, and continuing evolution of Richmond’s Black business districts. Join us for an evening that reflects on the lasting significance of Jackson Ward and the ways Lester’s portraits continue to illuminate Black enterprise, leadership, and creative community in Richmond.
In the late 1980s, Lester documented community leaders, entrepreneurs, and cultural stewards whose work sustained Jackson Ward and surrounding neighborhoods during periods of economic transition and urban change. Now reunited in conversation, the artist and his sitters will discuss what it meant to be photographed then and what it means to see those images today.
Lester will be joined by Shakia Gullette Warren, Director of Richmond’s Black History Museum; Janine Bell, Director of the Elegba Folklore Society; Hazel Trice Edney, journalist and founder of the Trice-Edney Newswire; and Neverett Eggleston III, a prominent third-generation business owner.