In Eva Davidova’s “Intentions. Transfer and Disappearance II,” part of the InLight art exhibition, a short animated film transforms and distorts a face. Photo courtesy of 1708 Gallery

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Richmond artist Amy Smith created a lighted garden for the annual outdoor light festival. Photo courtesy of 1708 Gallery

Clay flowers with LED lights set up as a community garden.

Light boxes with the faces of Richmonders who have helped build up the arts community.

Video of participants’ emotions mapped on to the projection of an artist’s face on the wall.

Members of recovery organizations holding lanterns while they sing amidst the crowds.

These are just a few of the 23 art projects that can be found at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts (VMFA) on Nov. 16 from 7 p.m. to midnight, and Nov. 17 from 7 to 10 p.m., as part of 1708 Gallery’s InLight Richmond. The 1708 Gallery first developed the InLight exhibition in 2008 to celebrate the gallery’s 30th birthday.

“The outdoor exhibition is meant to both highlight different parts of the city, and take art outside of the walls to make it more accessible,” said Erin Willett, the gallery’s coordinator and operations manager.

Each year, InLight is held in a different Richmond location, although the gallery has returned to some locations. This is the second time, for instance, that InLight will take place at the VMFA. Because of the museum’s support, 1708 Gallery will host the public art display for two nights instead of just one, as they do in other locations.

Uniting the community

Over the years, the exhibitions have focused on various themes. This year, the gallery’s staff decided to focus on the idea of community.

Editorials have described two different Richmonds: an RVA that embodies creativity and growth, and a Richmond that is divided and struggling.

“We wanted to figure out how we can create one Richmond and deal with the struggles Richmond has,” Willett said. “We wanted to show that Richmond is creative, growing and strong. We wanted to bring forth the idea of a unified Richmond.”

About 70 artists shared their vision of an art work relating to the theme of community. Kimberli Grant, the curator of modern and contemporary art at the Chrysler Museum in Norfolk, chose over 20 artists to exhibit during the event.

While some of the participating artists live in Richmond and thus address the RVA community specifically, others come from locations all over the world and address the theme in more general ways.

Artists near and far

One of the Richmond-based artists, Kevin Orlosky, has been involved with Arts on Wheels for many years. For InLight, he built light boxes with photographs of different people who have contributed to the Richmond arts community.

InLight visitors will have the opportunity to physically move the blocks and create sculptures with them. The artwork thus emphasizes both the metaphorical and literal building blocks that make our community.

The artist who lives the farthest away, Sara Choo Jing from Singapore, focuses on dance and movement. In her work, “Art of the Rehearsal,” she displays a three-channel video projection of dancers dancing into and out of different scenes and landscapes, thus suggesting the idea of a literal community of artists.

“In this one exhibition,” Willett said, “we have an artist who has dedicated his life to the arts community in Richmond and an artist who works literally half a world away.”

Like Orlosky, artist John Freyer, a professor at VCU, addresses the Richmond community specifically. He participates in several community projects, including Rams in Recovery. That organization hosts a choir for those affected by addiction, allowing them to come together to sing and express themselves.

For InLight, members of the choir will be holding lanterns while walking through the crowds. They will then slowly merge together and begin singing.

Other participating artists include:

• Amy Smith, a Richmond-based artist who will create the community garden display,
• Logan Dandridge, a Richmond-based filmmaker who deals with issues of race and class,
• Barak Chamo, a media artist and creative technologist and resident of New York-based Lightbox Labs,
• Beth Reitmeyer, a Nashville-based artist who “likes to make people happy with her colorful installations,”
• Richmond-based artist Junoh Yu, who creates hopeful moments based on his painful childhood in Korea, and
• Richmond-based dancer and choreographer Michelle Koppl, who will prevent a site-specific work that explores the relationship between natural and urban environments in the city.

Expect big crowds

InLight attendance has grown dramatically, with an increase of nearly 5,000 people in just a few years. Last year, roughly 16,000 attended, and more are expected this year at the two-night event.

The event kicks off Friday, November 16 with a Community Lantern Parade, which will gather at 7 p.m. and then begin processing around the VMFA grounds at 7:30. All are invited to participate in the parade.

Attendees can either bring their own lanterns or make them at several different workshops leading up to the event, and at 6 p.m. both evenings.

The VMFA is located at 200 N Blvd., Richmond. To learn more, see https://www.1708inlight.org/about-inlight.