Empowered Players brings accessible theater to Fluvanna County
By Richard Townsley | July 29, 2025The nonprofit will soon be entering its 10th year, with no signs of slowing down.
The nonprofit will soon be entering its 10th year, with no signs of slowing down.
The zeal among students in the University’s arts scene doesn’t fade over the three-month academic break — it carries itself into opportunities wherever they can be found.
The Cavalier Daily spoke with four graduating current and former presidents of arts Contracted Independent Organizations, who reflected on their time leading their organizations and shared hopes for the future of the arts at the University.
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. Community building programming includes poetry critiques, gardening, music events and film screenings, alongside special events that can be found on the Visible Records website.
A joyful culmination of two semester-long courses, DRAM 4597 “Art of the Moving Creature” and DRAM 1220 “Art of the Creature," will parade anthropomorphic “creature” puppets through Grounds.
Zines are small booklets that can feature anything from stories to recipes to art to poems — the content is completely up to the artist’s choice. From recent on-Grounds workshops to city-wide festivals, community members all across Charlottesville have been getting the chance to exercise their creative skills through the unique art medium of zines.
Elizabeth Mirabal, third-year Spanish Ph.D student at the University, wrote “Herbarium” as a 205 page collection of free verse poems about the flora of Cuba. Two years ago, “Herbarium” was translated by a group of six undergraduate students in Professor Nieves Garcia Prados’ class, SPAN 4040, “Translation from Spanish to English.”
Experts at stitching different genres together into a patchwork quilt of their own design, The Cowboy Junkies have combined blues, country folk, rock and jazz into a completely unique sound.
Class of 2010 alumna Jenna Pastuszek will be paying homage to Judy Garland July 24-27 at the Ruth Caplin Theatre, singing the iconic performer’s uptempo medleys & ingénue ballads and incorporating personal stories in a cabaret performance.
Armstrong balances her life as a musician while educating University students through her unique musical and cultural perspectives.
From creating new characters and reworking scripts, to molding new spaces and norms in the theater industry, women directors at the University are forging a path forward for themselves and others.
Dove found herself interrogating Virginia’s “conflicted South” in her poetry as she settled into her position at the University, but not necessarily in the ways readers anticipated.
Whitaker is able to find true fulfillment in the performing arts, a passion which she will carry with her through the rest of her life and infuses into her work.
Through its digital platform, the organization aims to help others implement joy into their pre-existing routines by posting positive reminders and words of affirmation online.
What began as a hobby, slowly transformed into a passion for creating body art.
Founded in 2012, The Mighty is a student-run dance organization that provides beginner-friendly dance workshops for students interested in experimenting with the art form.
In recent years, contemporary folk artists have seen a surge in their streaming numbers, with artists who turn to the acoustic and authentic lyrical appeals rocketing to the top of the charts.
The book examines how female writers tempered by colonialism navigate multilingualism, demonstrating how language can simultaneously alienate and empower.
The 10 week-long after-school program brings together children from the Boys and Girls Club of Central Virginia with University student-artistic mentors.
The Filmmakers Society, or FMS, is the University’s only filmmaking-based Contracted Independent Organization.