Although we won’t be dancing and celebrating in person this year, the show will go on “virtually” with new musical performances that are exclusive to this festival, highlights of favorite artists from past festivals, cooking demonstrations, fun family activities, and so much more!
And what would a Folk Festival be without its highly sought-after poster?
For our 16th Folk Festival, artist Shannon Wright joins an illustrious group of Richmond artists including Hamilton Glass, Noah Scalin, Katie McBride, Bizhan Khodabandeh, Chris Milk Hulburt, Matt Lively, Ed Trask, and many others. The new poster will be unveiled at approximately 5:30 pm, September 23, watch on Facebook Live for your chance to win a signed print!
Posters will be available for sale online or at Plan 9 Music in Carytown starting September 24, along with other great festival merchandise.
Get to know a little bit about Shannon Wright
RFF: Tell us a little bit about you and your background. Are you from Richmond?
Shannon Wright: I’m actually from Fredericksburg VA, born and raised! But I moved to Richmond once I got into VCU back in 2012 and I’ve been here ever since.
RFF: Have you attended the Festival before, if so any good memories or thoughts about it?
SW: Surprisingly, I have not. I’ve been meaning to attend but something always seems to come up, whether it was a long work weekend or attending a comics convention that just so happened to fall on the same weekend.
RFF: What is your process for creating designs/paintings?
SW: I tend to start with familiarizing myself with the overall themes of the project before diving into sketches. I make a list of words and imagery to get started, to get the gears going, and then I try to nail down 3 ideas/sketches based on the things from my list. For me, the sketch phase is not only the most important part, but also my favorite. It’s where I get to be messy and craft. It’s the foundation for the rest of the piece and without that solid foundation and direction, you can’t really build on the rest. My sketch phase is also the time where I figure out values so I’m not wrestling with them later during the coloring process, which is the hardest part for me. So I go from ideation to sketches, to inks, to colors (with edits in between each process).
RFF: What was your inspiration/thought process for the Folk Fest design?
SW: My process for the Folk Fest design was pretty much the same as my normal process for illustrations, but with some alterations. Half way through I had to take a different approach with themes because it shifted from capturing the outside celebration of the Richmond Folk Festival to this virtual environment we’ve all had to adopt. Because of that shift, I tried to explore what it looks/feels like experiencing a virtual concert while social distancing. What that might look like in a fun and exaggerated way. So some themes I went with was the inclusion of screens since for the time being, that’s how we’re going about staying connected to one another. But I also didn’t want to strip away the concert aspect of well...a concept. That’s why I made sure the performer was still present and highlighted despite being separated from the audience in this shared space. Overall, my inspiration was the happiness and togetherness music brings us even when we’re miles and miles apart. Cheesy, I know.
RFF: Anything else you would like us to include?
SW: I’d just like to say I’m really happy I got to design this year’s poster! I hope I can attend the festival in person down the road because I know it’s nothing short of amazing.
See more of Shannon’s work online and make sure to tune in for the LIVE unveiling event September 23, at approximately 5:30 pm.