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Virginia Capitol Connections , Winter 2013
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For the image, CultureWorks selected the world’s oldest known
tattoo, an inch-long group of three parallel lines that predates the
Egyptian mummies and was found in 1991 on a man frozen in ice.
Richmond’s largest tattoo company, River City Tattoo, agreed to
provide the company’s services pro bono.
CultureWorks launched the tattoo initiative at a press conference
that featured 12 newly-inked confirmed tattoo virgins—each with
a level of prominence in region. They included such persons as
Paul DiPasquale, sculptor of the Arthur Ashe and Neptune statues;
Jerry Williams, former television personality and owner of a video
production company; Jim Thomasson, recently retired Chief Engineer
for the Norfolk District Corps of Engineers; Maggi Beckstoffer,
President of MBM Marketing; and Brooks Smith, law partner at
Hunton & Williams and then President of the Richmond Business
Council. Smith got his tattoo as the press conference cameras
rolled: “I got inked because I believe in the enduring qualities of
art, because it makes me happy, and perhaps also to save my soul.”
What is the background of this organization that can transform a
person’s tattoo disdain into tattoo pride? CultureWorks resulted from
an 18-month community process that produced the 110-page Richmond
Region Cultural Action Plan on March 16, 2009. The process included
direct involvement of more than 3,000 residents of the region and was
steered by a 27-person task force that included not only individual
practitioners of arts and culture but also executives of the region’s
largest companies, leaders of the region’s major arts and culture
organizations, administrators from the region’s municipal governments,
and representatives from foundations and community groups.
The Plan’s fundamental recommendation was the creation of
a nonprofit organization that would provide service and leadership
to make the region’s arts and culture ever stronger. CultureWorks
is privately funded, has a self-appointed board of directors, and in
its first three years has established a get-things-done track record of
accomplishments and a brand of integrity, expertise, and fairness.
A few examples of CultureWorks’ accomplishments to date
include administering more than $1.4 million in arts and culture grants;
helping establish Richmond’s downtown arts district; providing direct
services to dozens of nonprofit, for-profit, government, and community
organizations; and having a helpful role in regional initiatives such as
the Capital Region Collaborative and the Amazing Raise.
CultureWorks has also established a significant national prominence
for Richmond’s arts and culture community including CultureWorks’
president’s election to chair the national Private Sector Council that
includes representatives of 22 cities including Charlotte, Cincinnati,
If you are a lifelong, confirmed, tattoo virgin, what could convince
you to get a tattoo? These days there are people inVirginia’s capital city
who are answering that question.
Jim Rothrock—a 62-year-old, confirmed, tattoo virgin—got a
tattoo. Tattoo-free Maggi Beckstoffer got the same tattoo and so did
Brooks Smith. And so have dozens of others.
The pied piper is CultureWorks, a nonprofit organization formed
in 2009 to provide service and leadership for arts and culture in the
Richmond region. CultureWorks gives grants, conducts advocacy,
provides a wide range of services and is a catalyst and convener
“As the recession blossomed we watched funders decrease their
funding for arts and culture while they increased funding for things
they considered ‘essential,’” explained John Bryan, president of
CultureWorks. “I thought it was time to make a bold statement that
confirms our belief that strong arts and culture are absolutely essential
for great communities. A meal can sustain someone for a couple of
days; a song in someone’s heart can last a lifetime.”
CultureWorks decided to make its bold statement by embracing the
most personally permanent and enduring art form: the tattoo. The idea
was to offer a real tattoo as an optional benefit to donors of $150 and
more. The tattoo would confirm a person’s belief that arts and culture
need to be considered permanent, enduring, essential elements of great
communities.
“We talked with donors and community members,” said Bryan.
“We realized that this could be a controversial initiative, and we were
not going to do it if there was pushback.” But there was no pushback.
“Once folks understood that our motive was sincere and for a heartfelt
cause, they embraced it.”
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Brooks Smith, founding
chair of CultureWorks
Board of Directors, and
member of the tattoo club.
Brooks Smith’s tattoo.
Tattoo club
member
Jim Rothrock,
Commissioner,
Virginia Department
of Aging and
Rehabilitative
Services.
Essential for
Great CommunitiesBy John Bryan