1708 Gallery

1708 Gallery is a nonprofit arts organization founded by Richmond artists in 1978. The gallery's mission is to present exceptional new art. is committed to providing opportunities for artistic innovation for emerging and established artists and to expanding the understanding and appreciation of new art. The gallery began in Shockoe Bottom at 1708 East Main Street in Richmond, Virginia, taking its name from its original street number. The gallery is currently located at 319 West Broad Street in a section of the city's art district called Monroe Ward. 1708 Gallery is one of the oldest artist run galleries in the United States and an active example of Richmond's many artist-run galleries. It is also a popular venue for First Friday opening art receptions.
History and administration of 1708
In September 1978, a group of artists from Virginia Commonwealth University including Joseph H. Seipel, Richard Carlyon, Gerald Donato, Tom Chenoweth, James Bradford, Dan Brisbane, Davi Det Hompson, Ron Coleman, John Crabbs, Tom DeSchmidt, Willie Hall, Chris Hayman, Heather Holden, Richard Kevorkian, Sharon Lawless, James Miller, Harold North, Curtis Ripley, Chris Silliman, Lester Van Winkle, Brett Wilson, and Morris Yarowski searched for a space for the "risk-taking work of contemporary artists." They founded 1708 Gallery, a nonprofit arts organization run by artists, in a warehouse at 1708 East Main Street in the flood zone of Richmond's Shockoe Bottom. There they presented alternative art forms, large-scale pieces, and experimental works of art not shown in commercial galleries at that time.
Gallery exhibitions
In April 1990 in the original Shockoe Bottom location, with visiting artist-in-residence Louise Odes Neaderland, 1708 presented Art Ex Machina, National Copier Art Show, curated by Anne Savedge and Mitzi Humphrey.
A 1708 biographical installation piece, 18,621 Days by Joseph H. Seipel, was cited by Style magazine as an example of boundless art with its award for 1999 Critics Choice: Public Art. Monsters and Heroes at 1708 in 2008 was curated by Christina Newton and included artists Diego Sanchez, Richard Bledsoe, Andrea Brady, Mark Bryant, Wolfgang Jasper, Dave Moore, and Fred Weatherford.
One of several memorial retrospectives for Richard Carlyon was featured at 1708.
In 2004, Brawny Art: Paintings by Bill Fisher and Diego Sanchez was shown at 1708. 1708 member Amie Oliver was curator of Arcadia, an exhibition of landscapes.
Satellite exhibitions and performances
1708 satellite exhibitions included the VSPA (Virginia Society of Photographic Artists) exhibition Anne Savedge: A Photographic Survey with VSPA Friends in 2013, with works by Anne Savedge, Barbara Ames, Etta Edwards, Marsha Polier Grossman, Alice McCabe, and Willie Anne Wright.
Live mural painting of Exquisite Corpse took place at 1708 in 2014. Mary Jane Parker showed in Night Sky in 1999.
NIGHT LIFE, a video projection in 2016, was part of the collaborative project ANIMAL LAND by Alyssa Salomon and Anne Wright, created for 1708's annual one-night exhibition InLight. The deer shown in NIGHT LIFE were filmed within Richmond’s James River Park, less than four miles from Scott's Addition Historic District where the lighting extravaganza was installed.
'The Hair Craft Project began with a gallery talk with Henry Drewal, Ruti Talmor, and juror Lowery Stokes Sims
led by artist Sonya Clark, The Hair Craft Project was based on the premise that hairdressing is the primordial textile art form and that hairdressing is the earliest manipulation of fiber toward an aesthetic and functional purpose. Artists from VCU’s Craft and Material Studies program participated in the project.
In 2013, 1708 honored the memory of local artist Cindy Neuschwander by establishing a scholarship in her name. In conjunction with Firehouse Theatre, 1708 sponsored a dedicated Friday performance of the play POP, giving 100% of ticket sales to The Cindy Neuschwander Scholarship Fund, established to give a $1000 scholarship to a graduating high school senior.
In 2018, 1708 Gallery again sponsored the annual juried exhibition InLight outdoors in the garden of the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. The 2018 InLight was the 11th of the traditional weekend shows of light-based art and performances which precede the Community Lantern Parade.
Fundraisers
Each winter 1708 presents Cabin Fever, an auction fundraiser for the gallery. In 2017 Cabin Fever featured work by guest artist Sonya Clark, chair of the Virginia Commonwealth University's School of the Arts Department of Craft/Material Studies. Also represented were artists Sally Bowring, Amie Oliver, Aimee Joyaux, and Gordon Stettinius.
Another fundraiser is Monster Drawing Rally, which was inspired by a similar event in San Francisco and elsewhere.

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