Where Art and Community Meet: Crossroads Art Center

For more than two decades, Crossroads Art Center has been a creative hub where artists and art lovers meet in the heart of Richmond. Home to hundreds of local and regional artists, the center showcases everything from paintings and photography to sculpture and fine crafts—offering an ever-changing reflection of the region’s vibrant arts community.

We spoke with the owner of Crossroads Art Center, Jenni Kirby, to learn more about how the gallery continues to nurture creativity, connect artists with audiences, and celebrate the power of art to bring people together

CultureWorks: Crossroads Art Center has become a beloved gathering place for artists and art lovers alike. How did it all begin, and what inspired its founding?

Jenni: Crossroads Art Center was formed initially by a group of artists who had been at the Shockoe Bottom Art Center. Shockoe Bottom Art Center was moving to Petersburg, and we did not want to go to Petersburg. So a group of us formed a nonprofit and created that nonprofit, which was not named Crossroads at that point. And then we found the building. James Bassfield and I did all the space planning. Once that space planning was done and we presented to the building owner and then to Wells Fargo to get a loan to do the build-out. They all asked for personal guarantees, and nobody was left standing but James and I. We then decided that we were not going to let everybody else tell us how to spend our money, since we were going to have to do the personal guarantees, we formed Crossroads Arts Center.

CultureWorks: How do you select and support the artists who exhibit with you?

Jenni: You have to go through a jurying process to be able to show at Crossroads and be an artist in residence. We don't have specific mediums that we're looking for. We're looking for quality of work and interesting, different things that we haven't seen before in the art world, because we stay about 95% full.

CultureWorks: What role does the center play in helping emerging artists find their audience?

Jenni: Basically, we advertise the heck out of this place. So that is how emerging artists find their audience. We have a large, robust marketing program that we market the art center. Our job is to drive as many people into the art center as possible and to have as many people go to the website where we sell art as possible to get eyes on the artist's works and sell the work.

CultureWorks: Can you share a story about a memorable artist exhibition or collaboration that really embodies what Crossroads is all about? 

Jenni: Last year we collaborated with Tiramisu for Breakfast’s Christine, and we did a project with McDonald's where we actually had the artists create artwork that were inspired by their trips to McDonald's or just McDonald's in general. Part of the fundraising for that went to the Ronald McDonald House.

CultureWorks: What excites you about the direction the Crossroads Art Center is heading?

Jenni: So right now we are, you know, just continuing to increase sales. We've got a great staff that is in place. So I am just happy with the constant flow of how everything is going, it is making it able for me to take some well-needed time off after 20-some years of working seven days a week. So that is what I'm excited about with the direction Crossroads is taking, is having a staff that can take over some of my responsibilities so I am not here seven days a week.

CultureWorks: What's one thing you'd like every visitor to feel or experience when they walk through your doors?

Jenni: Everybody's welcome. Do not judge a book by its cover. We have so many different types of people that come in. We have so many different groups. We have lots of groups that come in that are elderly, there are special needs, and we welcome all of them because they all need to be exposed to art and it gives them pleasure and it gives us a great deal of satisfaction to be able to share the art center with them and hopefully brighten their day and inspire them.