JULY 2025
 
Beat the heat with arts programming at the library!
 
Check out all of the cool arts events happening this month and be sure to save your favorites to your calendar. 
 
Reminder: there will be no First Friday in July.
 
Introducing: the Summer Concert Series!
 
 
Summer Concert Series: Spicy Meatball, Kitchenette, Glycine (DC) 
Saturday, July 12, 6:00pm
Main Library - Library Park

Join us for free live music from local legends all summer long! Concerts will take place in Library Park (behind the Main Library) on the second Saturday of June, July, and August. We will feature a different sound from Richmond’s DIY world for each performance, ranging from Jazz to Hardcore to Experimental. Experience Richmond’s unique independent spirit outside of your favorite local library!
Reminder: we're taking a break
from First Fridays in July! Come by anytime to see these fantastic exhibits that opened in June.
Dash Shaw
6/6 - 7/29,  9am - close
Main Library - Dooley Foyer
 
Dash Shaw is a cartoonist and animator. His most recent graphic novel, Blurry, 2024, from New York Review Comics, was named a graphic novel of the year by The New York Times, The Washington Post, Forbes, and others. He’s also the cartoonist of Discipline, New School, Bottomless Belly Button, BodyWorld, and others. He’s written and directed two animated features, most recently the 2021 film Cryptozoo which won the Sundance Next Innovator Award and was nominated for a John Cassavetes Independent Spirit Award. He lives in Richmond, Virginia.
 

John Vasquez Mejias 
6/6 - 7/29, 9am - close
Main Library - Gellman Room

John Vasquez Mejias is a cartoonist and performer recently based in Brooklyn, New York, yet his character is shaped by his years in the Bronx as an arts teacher. He self-published his graphic novel The Puerto Rican War: A Graphic History in 2020. It was republished by Union Square & Co. in 2024 and is currently up for a Will Eisner Awards nomination. He has recently finished carving a graphic novel that depicts the life of Puerto Rican revolutionary Lolita Lebrón due out sometime in the future.
 
 
Vincent Hayden
6/6 - 7/29 , 9am - close
Main Library - Second Floor Gallery

Vincent Hayden has been creating art in Richmond, Virginia under the name Anne Chovy for 5 years.
 More Arts Programming
Movies @ Main: Daisies (1966) by Věra Chytilová - 7/8 at 6pm
 
 
Indoor Plant Workshop - 7/12 at 2pm - Registration Required!
 

 
Kanopy Pick of the Month
Ran (1985)
Dir. Akira Kurosawa
Beat the heat with this incredible adaptation of King Lear! In the 16th century, Lord Hidetora decides to retire and share his territory between his three sons, Taro, Jiro and Saburo. The latter foreseeing difficulties, opposes his decision.


Richmond Public Library
101 East Franklin Street, Richmond, Virginia 23219
(804) 646-7223
https://rvalibrary.org/