One of our favorite festival traditions is the specially commissioned poster we release each year to celebrate the artists and traditions that will be hitting our stages. We’re excited to have Mickael Broth, also known as The NightOwl, as this year’s artist. Mickael is well known for the many murals he has painted around town and his involvement in the RVA Street Art Festival.
This year, Mickael’s art is not only being used for the official poster, but also for the official Richmond Folk Festival canned beer, a Hardywood Park Brewing hazy IPA appropriately called Folkus Pocus. Read more about the festival beer here.
The new poster will be unveiled on September 23, and posters will be available for sale at the Folk Festival at the two Plan 9 merchandise tent locations. Starting October 11, it will be available to purchase at Plan 9 Music in Carytown and online at Plan9Music.com.
Get to know more about Mickael Broth and his work on the festival poster
Q: Tell us a little bit about you and your background. Are you from Richmond?
I was born in DC and grew up in northern Virginia, but escaped to Richmond in 2001. I’ve lived here ever since with my wife, Brionna, and our five-year-old son, Maverick. I’m an artist and sculptor, although most people in town probably know me for my mural work (the witch in Manchester, Bernie Sanders in Scott’s Addition, Mellow Mushroom, the water tower atop the Interbake building, to name a few locally). I’ve written multiple books including Murals of Richmond (published by Chop Suey Books) and Gated Community: Graffiti and Incarceration, which documents my experiences in jail. Most days I spend welding sculptures in my studio, exploring with my son and our dog, or climbing with friends.
Photo: Bill Dickinson via flckr
Q: Have you attended the Festival before? If so, any good memories or thoughts about it?
Of course I’ve attended the Richmond Folk Festival before! It’s one of the coolest events in the city in my opinion. I love that it’s generally artists I’ve never heard of playing amazing music with incredibly varied influences and styles. I remember bringing my son for the first time a few years ago on a gorgeous fall afternoon, just sitting on the hill above Brown’s Island soaking up the last rays of sun and enjoying the beauty of the city and people enjoying music and culture together. I know that sounds cliche, but it really was the best experience.
Q. What was your inspiration/thought process for the Folk Fest poster design?
I’m pretty well known for my witches, as I’ve painted quite a few in murals over the years. Witches, as an archetype, occupy such an interesting place in American folk culture. To me, she represents a figure that is connected to the past, the natural world, and herself. She draws on these things for strength and inspiration. I suppose in some ways she’s an aspirational figure for me. And yeah, she’s playing an acoustic guitar... pretty predictable haha! But I just picked up an acoustic guitar last fall (from Fan Guitar and Ukulele) to learn on and really wanted to include mine since I got inspired to try to learn from a bunch of the folk music I dig.
Q. What are some of your favorite things to do in Richmond?
My favorite things to do in Richmond mostly revolve around exploring the river, islands, and parks. There’s still an amazing community of driven, creative people here making this place awesome. The DIY skate scene is making amazing things happen and the art community is stacked with talent. I got really into rock climbing last year and spent a ton of time lurking in the woods along the river searching for new climbing spots. I love going to the VMFA and ARCpark with my son. Beyond that, I love riding my bike around at night and taking in the energy of different parts of the city.
About Mickael Broth
Mickael Broth, also known as The Night Owl, is a Richmond, Virginia-based sculptor, artist, muralist, and writer. Mickael moved to Richmond in 2001 with the intention of painting as much graffiti as possible. His involvement in vandalism was halted abruptly with his arrest in 2004 and subsequent ten-month jail term for his crimes. Since that time, he has gone on to pursue an active (and legal) career in the arts.
He was awarded a Virginia Museum of Fine Arts Professional Fellowship in 2008 for his gallery work and has shown widely around the United States; from museums and galleries to alternative spaces and abandoned buildings. His work is held in numerous private and corporate collections. He has painted over 200 public murals throughout Richmond, the United States and Europe since 2012, in addition to helping curate multiple public art festivals. Through his mural work, Mickael has been commissioned by all manner of clients, from small local businesses and nonprofits to municipal governments and Fortune 500 corporations. He has been an active member of the community, working with youth groups, as well as leading volunteer groups in the creation of collaborative public art projects.
Mickael serves on the board of directors for the RVA Street Art Festival and has been instrumental in the curatorial direction of the organization since its formation in 2012. In 2013, he published Gated Community: Graffiti and Incarceration, a memoir detailing his experiences with vandalism and jail. In 2017, he was awarded a commission by the City of Richmond for the creation of a 15’-tall welded aluminum sculpture that has been installed in front of the Hull Street Library in Richmond’s Manchester neighborhood. Mickael’s second book, Murals of Richmond, which documents Richmond’s public art explosion, was published by Chop Suey Books in November 2018 and is currently in its second printing.
Since his first forays into sculpture in 2019, Mickael has obsessively pursued the discipline, creating dozens of sculptural works throughout 2020 and moving on to designing entire public spaces in 2021 while creating monumental scale works around the country.
Mickael Broth | he/him | thenightowlwashere.com | @thenightowl