Care rough a Lens
New works about lives well-lived find a home at The Span Center
By Joan Tupponce
The character lines reflected in the faces of the caregivers and centenarians exhibited at e Span Center speak to their years spent living, loving and caring for family.
e center’s photo-narrative exhibit, which opened on June 9, includes two photo and video components: “Keep Moving Forward,” highlighting and celebrating caregivers, and “Home is Everything,” which focuses solely on centenarians and their stories of what home means to them.
Professional photographer Penelope Carrington, the artist behind both photo projects, collaborated with the sta from the gerontology department of Virginia Commonwealth University’s College of Health Professions to interview and capture images of caregivers and centenarians for the works. e idea for the exhibit, on permanent display at e Span Center, stemmed from the longstanding partnership between e Span Center and VCU Gerontology.
“ is project — seeing how art can make a di erence in li ing up stories — is one that we have wanted to work on for years,” says Gigi Amateau, assistant professor of gerontology at VCU. “We had
the idea of bringing these stories into two di erent areas. It has been inspiring.”
e “Keep Moving Forward” project features portraits of caregivers taken during the center’s Poetry on the River program, which promotes caregiver relaxation in nature. In the fall, the group ventured to the gardens and nature center at Maymont and went on a boat ride along the James River. e natural se ings helped the caregivers relax and reflect on their roles, says Christopher Leighton, vice president of brand and outreach at e Span Center.
“ e day was about respecting what they go through,” Leighton says. “[For them] caretaking is a 24-hour job. We wanted to give them respite from the role of caregiver and introduce them to a community.”
Carrington spent the day with the participants to speak with them and capture their experiences. She wanted her photographs to show the spontaneous moments of joy the caregivers had during their outing.
“It’s nice to get a break, get in touch
with nature and take in the joy of everything,” says Carrington, whose mother was a caregiver for her own mother. “ is is a way to give back as well.”
e “Home is Everything” centenarian project celebrates the lives of elders and their connection to where they live. Twenty locals over the age of 100 were interviewed about what home means to them, and 12 were chosen to be highlighted in the photo and video clip exhibit. e photos of each centenarian are accentuated by a rich red background that makes each portrait pop, just like the poignant stories they share through video.
“ esestoriesprovide a deeper understanding of Virginia’s cultural, social and racial dynamics and amplify the voices of people who have lived through significant historical periods,” says Alexa Van Aartrijk, annual fund and event manager for e Span Center.
Capturing the images for both projects was meaningful for Carrington, who says, “It showed just how interconnected we all are.” R
Visitors view the “Keep Moving Forward” exhibit at The Span Center.
or many, entering or attending a video game tournament might feel unfamiliar or even out of reach. In the common imagination, competitors hunker with their computers in isolated dark rooms wearing headsets and pounding energy drinks. And, sure, that describes some players, but many video game enthusiasts celebrate their shared interests in popular venues across Richmond.
e number of people in the U.S. who play video games is growing, according to the Entertainment So ware Association. As of 2025, more than 205 million individuals, or about 64% of the population, know their way around a controller. e ESA notes that 76% of adults feel that engaging with video games brings people of all backgrounds together, and 72% have played with others in person or online.
Fueled by the desire for a stronger social community post-pandemic, local meetups and tournaments have been on the rise. It’s currently possible to find a game-related public event in the Richmond region every week. Corey Ingles, the public events coordinator and assistant brewer at e Answer brewpub near Willow Lawn, says they open their doors for gaming meetups to provide entertainment and a place for players to gather, as
well as to be a community hub.
It’s a mission shared by Dakotah Coates, co-owner of the video game store and arcade DawnStar in Sco ’s Addition. “Anybody can just play games with their friends over at their house. It’s more about cultivating community around a singular game or a singular thing that’s incredibly important, because there’s so many people who are so passionate about it and want to go and experience a competitive scene,” Coates says.
Austin Okeefe, a volunteer assistant organizer for DawnStar’s ursday night Super Smash Bros. Melee tournaments, says the experience can help individuals break out of their shells. “A lot of people
come out and they’re able to talk to people and do social interactions and stu like that, which I feel like is pre y big, especially in an online era,” Okeefe says. e socialization aspect a racts many to join events, including local pros. Cory Hong began playing Melee, a 2001 fighting game featuring Nintendo characters, casually at age 7 and started entering competitions at age 14. He has traveled across the country and internationally to tournaments, achieving a worldwide top 100 ranking in 2023; he is currently ranked No. 6 in the game within the Maryland and Virginia area. Now 32, Hong says these days he mostly plays for enjoyment. “I still want to win, but I
used to be way more hardcore — like, I’d practice every day,” he says. “But not anymore; it’s just for fun. I love the game still, and I play, and I like to see my friends.”
Richmond is home to a robust Smash scene, with weekly tournaments drawing players from Virginia and out-of-state who range in age, skill level and background. “If I went back and told myself as a kid, ‘ ere’s going to be a tournament in Richmond that has about 30 people,’ … I would be in disbelief,” Hong says. When he first began competing, there were only a few dedicated players in Richmond, he adds. “We were driving around two hours to get to a 30-person tournament, and now it’s like I’ve got a 20-person or
30-person tournament that I can walk to. at’s mind-blowing.”
IT S A SMASH
ey come armed with custom-modified controllers and strategies honed by both mistakes made and successes achieved. ey wait for their bracket to come up, take their seats, and start mashing buttons and making calculated moves with clacks of their joysticks. Selecting recognizable Nintendo avatars such as Mario, Pikachu and Kirby, players take on their competitors to be the champion (usually winning a small monetary prize). is is a Super Smash Bros. tournament. ose looking to join a Super Smash Bros. Melee (played on the Nintendo GameCube) or a Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (a 2018 Nintendo Switch title) event don’t have to wait very long. Melee tourneys are hosted on ursday evenings at DawnStar, once a month on rotating Sundays at e Answer, and the last Sunday of the month at Vasen Brewing Company in Sco ’s Addition. Ultimate competitions are held on ursday nights at e Answer and every Sunday at DawnStar.
In 2019, co-owners Coates, Meaghan Riley and Andrew Griimoiire opened DawnStar in Scott’s Addition. They hosted pop-up tournaments mostly using Coates’ personal Switch console and projector. Even before they opened the business, however, the trio had been fueling the budding local tournament scene by hosting events at e Veil Brewing Co. and Mexican restaurant TBT El Gallo. After a two-year hiatus forced by the COVID-19 pandemic, DawnStar revived its gaming events in 2021, this time at e Answer. ey hosted competitions at the brewpub until 2023, when they relocated to a larger space on West Clay Street in Sco ’s Addition and moved their events to the new venue.
On Sundays, Madison Turner, in the guise of RVA Smash, hosts Ultimate tournaments at DawnStar. Turner started RVA Smash a er e Forge, a game
shop that had held tournaments, closed in 2020. She partnered with Castleburg Brewery until it, too, permanently closed. Seeking a new location, Turner o ered to organize DawnStar’s Ultimate tourneys.
A competitive player herself, Turner thinks most in-person tournaments have an empowering atmosphere and that unsportsmanlike conduct among competition gamers is mostly a misconception, although there are always exceptions. “I think that it’s not just playing the game that people love, and I think that Super Smash Bros. as a whole has always been a series that people really cling onto and just love and want to continually get be er at. ... I do think that we provide a sense of community for that,” Turner says. “I always try to foster a very friendly, welcoming environment for everyone. I want everyone to feel comfortable and to know that they belong.”
e atmosphere is similar at Vasen’s “It’s Not You, It’s Melee” monthly tournament, which has been organized by Kyle “Ego” Baske e and Kay “BabyRat” Morgan for two years. e event regularly hosts 30 to 40 participants and, on occasion, more than 100 people come out to play. ey might include out-oftowners looking for a tournament, top East Coast Melee players (many from the area), novices and newcomers. One of the hallmarks of the series is that, win or lose, everybody fist-bumps a er their match.
Morgan is a gamer, but they still needed assistance from Baske e when when learning the Melee world prior to hosting the series. “It took me probably five months of playing to be able to watch it and know what was going on on the screen,” Morgan says. “Even though I struggle with competition — I’m very competitive, and this is a game that is very hard, and people are very good at it — people’s passion for it is infectious.”
CHOOSE YOUR FIGHTER
Smash isn’t the only game in town. RVA Fighting Game Community hosts
More than 30 participants regularly attend the “It’s Not You, It’s Melee” monthly tournament at Vasen Brewing Company to compete in Super Smash Bros. Melee.
a er the launch of a 2019 pilot program, esports is now a sanctioned activity through the Virginia High School League, which governs high school sports across the commonwealth.
MISSING LEVELS
Despite the growing esports infrastructure in the region, Richmond lacked a large championship until last year, when ImmerseCon, a STEM skills expo
and gaming convention, hosted the inaugural RVA Esports Championship. According to Andrew Gnux, operations manager for ImmerseCon, the organizers wanted to create a competition that brings together gaming communities across all genres. “Our ultimate goal is to build the RVA Esports Championship into … its own separate event and build something large-scale,” Gnux says. “We focus on opening this event up to the amateur gamer, the semi-pro gamer, the pro gamer — anyone can compete at this event. Competition in esports and gaming is about fun, it’s about community, it’s about making friends and finding people to play with.”
ImmerseCon and the RVA Esports Championship return to Richmond on Aug. 30-31 at the Hilton Hotel & Spa Short Pump. is year’s tournament titles are Call of Duty, Mario Kart 8, Rocket League, Street Fighter 6, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate and Tekken 8. Participants can enter a maximum of two game tournaments, and winners will receive a trophy and prize money. A $55 ticket grants two-day admission to ImmerseCon, registration in two games and access to the Cyber Dungeon Challenge (a mobile app scavenger hunt).
ere’s also room for expansion in the local tournament gaming community, despite its rapid post-pandemic growth. For example, games such as Super Smash Bros., Tekken and Halo are o en played, but popular esports titles such as Rocket League, Fortnite and many sports collections (Madden NFL, NBA 2K, etc.) have yet to find traction in the area.
“I’ve tried doing FIFA. I know there’s a big following with FIFA and all of these sports games and stuff like that,” The Answer’s Ingles says. “I’d say there isn’t really much of a market. … Forza Horizon is a really big multiplayer [racing] game, but yeah, it really depends on the game. But I also think a part of it is, a lot of those games you can already get that multiplayer experience at home.”
Brewpub The Answer hosts Halo LAN Party nights on rotating Fridays.
The inaugural ImmerseCon in 2024 hosted the rst RVA Esports Championship in Richmond. The event returns Aug. 30-31.
EASY MODE
Join in on some casual noncompetitive play
“Answer These Hands Casuals”
RVA Fighting Game
Community o ers matches in titles including Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising, Tekken Tag Tournament 2 and more every second and fourth Wednesday at brewpub The Answer. 6 to 10 p.m. Free admission. start.gg/hub/rva-fgc
DraftCade
More than 75 classic arcade games including BurgerTime, Donkey Kong and more located at Short Pump Town Center. 4 to 10 p.m. Monday-Thursday, 11:30 a.m. to 1 a.m. FridaySaturday, 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday (21 and up after 7 p.m.)
$10 admission includes unlimited plays all day. draftcade.com/richmond
Halo LAN Party
Free-to-play Halo nights hosted at The Answer on rotating Fridays. Begins at 6:30 p.m. facebook. com/theanswerbrewpub
Retro Room
Classic free-to-play games on a rotating basis including Mortal Kombat, Super Mario Bros. and more titles on select dates at Funktastic Meads in Midlothian and additional area venues. instagram.com/ retroroomrva
games, collectibles and more for sale from local vendors, as well as some opportunities for casual gaming, on select dates at locations around Richmond. Free admission. instagram.com/ retrovibesmarket
Retro Vibes Market
Presented by Rewind Vintage and Furnace Pizza, peruse classic
Building on the idea that home online gaming may be a reason some titles haven’t taken o in the local in-person tournament community, Ingles says there’s a di erence when it comes to “old school” nostalgic multiplayer co-op. He cites Halo night at e Answer: “I think a lot of people who are coming out, they grew up going to their friend’s house, carrying their CRT and then just staying up all night. Whereas a lot of the sports games it’s like, you can do that, but a lot of those people are like, ‘Well, I can just do that home kind of thing,’ which makes sense. I think it takes the right kind of game, and I think Super Smash Bros., a li le bit of Call of Duty and, if I’m being biased, Halo is one of those games that you can’t really get that experience online.”
Conversely, there’s concern that some games may be overrepresented, especially within the local Smash community. ere
Retro Video Game Night
Presented by Replay Music & Games, purchase games and play
interactive titles such as Dance Dance Revolution, Guitar Hero and more every other Tuesday at Crazy Rooster Brewing Co. in Powhatan. 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. Free admission. instagram.com/ replaymusicandgames
free-to-play games. rvaretro.org
RVA Retro Gaming
Purchase, trade and play classic video games during the group’s Retroswap events on select dates at The Answer and additional area venues. Free admission and
are at least three public tournaments per week, which gives players flexibility but also may force them to choose specific events because they can’t a end all of them.
“It’s like a double-edged sword,” Super Smash Bros. Melee player Hong says. “We’re ge ing so popular in Richmond. More people are running events, so then the events’ a endance gets spread too thin. Back in the day, we had what was called a monthly, so we would just have one tournament a month and it made it more special.”
Hong notes that a small percentage of a endees join all of the events, but it’s more common for players to choose one each week or month. “ at’s the pros and cons. It’s nice that we have events, but it makes them almost too saturated in a way. Obviously, everyone tries to come to every event. I go to everything,” he says.
StarCade
Dozens of arcade games including Battletoads, The House of The Dead and more located inside DawnStar. 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily. $10 admission ($15 on Saturdays) includes unlimited plays. dawnstar videogames.com
IT S IN THE GAME
With more people playing video games and seeking connections beyond the screen, finding events to enrich the hobby or support a potential profession is only ge ing easier. Diverse o erings appeal to both casual and hardcore players and the field is wide open to anyone who wants to organize events for games not yet represented on Richmond’s competition calendar.
“Locally here, there is a really great incentive to come out and play with other people, which is the camaraderie. We have community events that we like,” Morgan, the Melee tourney organizer, says. “Not everybody needs a thing to connect over, but I think for a lot of people … this is a place to go make real friends shoulder to shoulder, where you don’t have to be so vulnerable. You just say, ‘Hey, do you want to play some games?’” R
Taylor Hollander, Orchard House Middle School teacher
