Gallery5 celebrates its twelfth birthday with fire, music and more

First Fridays are always a special affair in downtown Richmond, but  April 7 was just a tad more exciting as Gallery5 celebrated its twelfth year anniversary with the presence of fire dancers, live music, an array of vendors and of course, a variety of artwork.

Gallery5 was founded by Amanda Robinson and opened as a certified 501(c)3 nonprofit in April 2005. Though Robinson left in 2013, the venue has continued as a nurturing space Richmond based artists, comedians, designers  musicians and other creatives by providing them a platform to exhibit their work to a likeminded community.

The venue was originally built in 1849 and operated as the Steamer Company No. 5 — the  the oldest firehouse in Virginia on record and oldest police station and jailhouse in Richmond. It later became the Virginia Fire & Police museum and was named a National Historic Landmark. Regardless of historical value, the building of 200 W Marshall faced constant threats of being demolished before it was bought and reopened as Gallery5 a dozen years ago.

Since it’s opening, Gallery5 has been so successful in blending art and the community that the idea of demolition is almost laughable.

The communal space celebrates Richmond’s history by  maintaining the stylistic open-layout aesthetics of mid 19th century buildings characteristics of the  Jackson Ward district. In many ways, the Gallery5 also continues in the tradition of  public-service by hosting multiple fundraising events for other nonprofits which  focus on intersectional issues on racial inequality, education and poverty, to name a few.

“I’ve been coming to Gallery5 since I first moved to Richmond from Newark,” said Jenna Kremper. “It gets crowded often but you know it’s worth it. It isn’t just go
od vibes and good music, they focus on a lot of good causes too.”

As Gallery5 celebrated its twelfth birthday, the line to join in the festivities winded down Brooke Road. For Ryan Murphy, a 2015 VCU Graduate who was visiting from Raleigh, N.C, the line is worth the wait.

Siona Peterous, Spectrum Editor