Here’s a roundup of news briefs from around Southwest and Southside. Send yours for possible inclusion to news@cardinalnews.org.
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New Music + Technology Festival bringing programming to Taubman Museum of Art
Virginia Tech’s annual New Music + Technology Festival is growing its map.
The event’s longtime presenters, the School of Performing Arts and the Institute for Creativity, Arts and Technology, are teaming up this year with the Taubman Museum of Art in Roanoke for the festival, which runs Wednesday through Saturday.
The Cube, at Moss Arts Center, will host the shows between Wednesday and Friday. Acts on the schedule there include “new renaissance” artist The Honourable Elizabeth A. Baker — debuting her bass saxophone- and electronics-centric “Hologram” — along with the university’s Linux Laptop Orchestra and multiple faculty members.
The festival closes Saturday in Roanoke, with new pieces from the October Sky Ensemble, a group of faculty members performing on tenor vocal, violin, cello and percussion.
It’s the eighth time around for the New Music + Technology Festival, and as usual, it’s free. You’ll still need tickets for the Cube concerts, along with a parking pass, but not for the Taubman show.
See the full list of performers and get more information at sopa.vt.edu/events/performances/2025/04/sopa-newmusictechfestivalspring2025.html.
— Tad Dickens
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UVA Wise to host Southwest Virginia Economic Forum
Registration is open for the 10th annual Southwest Virginia Economic Forum, scheduled for May 22 at the University of Virginia’s College at Wise David J. Prior Convocation Center.
This year’s theme, “Meeting the Moment, Shaping the Future,” will celebrate the region’s achievements while focusing on efforts that will create future opportunities.
Attendees can participate either in person or virtually.
The agenda features talks by Christine Chmura, chief executive officer and chief economist of Chmura Economics & Analytics, and Hamilton Lombard, estimates program manager for the Demographics Research Group at the University of Virginia’s Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service, as well as a panel discussion with leaders from various state agencies.
Breakout sessions will address topics such as downtown revitalization, community resilience, tourism, energy and agriculture. The Virginia Rural Center will debut its Rural Virginia Opportunity Dashboard, a digital tool that offers reports and trend data, plus information on funding opportunities.
The forum will run from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. and will be followed by a free regional housing symposium from 3 to 5 p.m.
Early bird registration, which runs through Friday, is $20 to attend virtually or $40 in person. After Friday, the price increases by $5.
More details and registration information are online at the forum website.
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Blacksburg nonprofit hopes to provide prosthetics for amputees in Ukraine
A Blacksburg nonprofit plans to travel in May to Ukraine to provide prosthetic legs to people who are now amputees because of the war.
Hope to Walk is seeking to raise $15,000 for its mission. BUZZ Live!, which features Southwest Virginia nonprofits and musicians in a talk-show format, will host a one-hour show at 7 p.m. Thursday at Church on Main in downtown Blacksburg. The show is free and will also be live-streamed to the Facebook and YouTube channels of both @buzz4good and @hopetowalk, according to a new release from BUZZ.
Founded in 2014 by certified orthotist and prosthetist Phil Johnson, Hope To Walk offers prosthetic legs to people in need. Each leg is donated and fitted free to an amputee.
Johnson and assistant Max Faublas are scheduled to travel to Ukraine in May, when they plan to outfit at least 20 amputees with prosthetics.
Donations to cover trip expenses and 20 prosthetic legs can be made at http://hopetowalk.org/donate/.
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Virginia Humanities announces grants, sponsorships
Virginia Humanities has announced $211,897 in grants and sponsorships to 19 nonprofit organizations across the state.
The following grants and sponsorships were awarded during the first quarter of 2025, according to a news release from Virginia Humanities:
Grants:
- Heritage Day Festival: Interpretation and Tradition: Montgomery Museum of Art and History, Christiansburg: $4,991 to support a series of lectures and events by Appalachian musicians and luthiers.
- Montañitas Re-Imagined Website and Archive: Lua Project, Charlottesville: $5,000 to support the final stage of an oral history project collecting stories of Latino/a participants who have settled in the Shenandoah Valley.
- Monacan Indian Nation Powwow: Monacan Nation Cultural Foundation, Madison Heights: $5,000 to support expanded programming at the 32nd Annual Powwow.
- Maciilan Paih (Remember Who Was Once There): Patawomeck Indian Tribe of Virginia, Fredericksburg: $4,890 to support the construction and implementation of four markers commemorating the Patawomeck Tribe.
- The History From the Old Brick Church Self-Guided Tour: St. Luke’s Historic Church and Museum, Smithfield: $1,721 to support the second phase of a self-guided tour that will expand its content to include Indigenous, African and European histories related to 17th-century Virginia.
- Virginia Soundscapes: Staunton Music Festival, Staunton: $4,000 to support a series of public events that will bring together eight living Virginia composers in conversation to increase public awareness of the creative work being done in Virginia today.
- Utilizing Humanities Scholars in the Exhibit Development of an American Journey: American Frontier Culture Foundation, Staunton: $10,000 to support a new exhibit, “American Journeys,” that will explore the lived experiences, cultural contributions and interwoven histories of Indigenous, European and African American people.
- Displaced from the Birthplace of America: College of William & Mary, Williamsburg: $20,000 to support a documentary film, “Displaced from the Birthplace of America,” which will examine the displacement of Black communities during the creation of commemorative landscapes at Colonial Williamsburg.
- The John Mitchell Jr. Project: Firehouse Theatre Project Inc., Richmond: $20,000 to support a new play that will share the story and legacy of John Mitchell Jr. and the Richmond Planet newspaper.
- Living Legacies: African American History in the Fredericksburg Area: Fredericksburg Area Museum and Cultural Center, Fredericksburg: $20,000 to support a new exhibition, “Living Legacies: African American History in the Fredericksburg Area,” highlighting the role African Americans have played in shaping the nation.
- Hampton Storytelling Year-Round Program: Hampton Storytelling, Hampton: $20,000 to support storytelling programs including Storytelling Series, Story Swaps, Storytelling Academies and the third annual Everybody’s Got a Story festival.
- Hidden in Plain Sight: Black Workers in Augusta County and Staunton, 1840-1940, Mary Baldwin College for Women, Staunton: $18,868 to support a new exhibition, “Hidden in Plain Sight: Black Workers in Staunton/Augusta County, VA, 1840-1940,” which will expand previous work to additional local Black neighborhoods.
- Laying the Leavy and Keeping the Poor: Lynnhaven and Elizabeth City Parish Records, 1723-1831: The Episcopal Project, Richmond: $10,196 to support the digitization of the earliest extant Vestry Books of two parishes in Virginia’s Tidewater: Lynnhaven Parish and Elizabeth City Parish.
- Local Middlesex County History Curriculum Development of Educational Materials and Display: The Middlesex County Museum and Historical Society, Saluda: $13,231 to support the development of a curriculum of educational materials focused on Middlesex County history that meet Virginia State SOL guidelines.
- Youth Education, Events and Fellowship Program: The Muse Writers Center, Norfolk: $20,000 to support an expansion of the organization’s annual youth education programs, young writer events and fellowship program.
- Youth Literary Arts Programming: The Podium Foundation, Richmond: $10,000 to support an expansion of the organization’s weekly youth literary arts programming, including the Teen Scene, Power of the Pen, Prep Your Next Step and Teen Professional Conference.
- Virginia Children’s Book Festival: Promoting Literacy and Storytelling Across Virginia: Virginia Children’s Book Festival, Keysville: $20,000 to support the Virginia Children’s Book Festival, a three-day celebration of books, storytelling and literacy.
Sponsorships:
- Salve Virgen del Socavon: Fundacion Socio Cultural Diablada Boliviana, Fairfax: $2,000 to support a free event showcasing Bolivian culture through dance performances.
- Virginia Silk Road Fair: Ana Care and Education Uyghur Programs, Chantilly: $2,000 to support a free Turkic Festival to celebrate and unite Uyghur, Uzbek and other Turkic cultures.