RICHMOND, Va. — Walking around Richmond in 2025, it's hard to miss the many creatively colorful and interesting murals that decorate buildings and alleys across the city.
But it wasn't always like that.
In the 2010s, the Richmond Mural Project helped solidify Richmond as a place for both local and international artists to shine.
"When Mayor Dwight Jones announced that Richmond would have an official arts district downtown [2011], I felt like it was the perfect time to approach Shane with the idea that murals could play an important role in defining this new district," RVA Magazine publisher Tony Harris said about his role, along with Shane Pomajambo (the founder of Art Whino), in supporting the Richmond Mural Project. "We moved forward with bringing international muralists to Richmond, as there were fewer than five local muralists at the time, which wasn’t enough to support a full-scale mural festival. The idea was that by bringing in experienced, well-known artists, we could inspire local talent and kickstart a mural movement in the city. And it worked."
The first batch of Richmond Mural Project art was created in 2012.
A dozen internationally known muralists converged in Richmond in July 2013 as part of the second annual Richmond Mural Project.
CBS 6 unearthed a video report produced that week and decided to share the original report, along with some updates.
"Has it really been 12 years? It’s hard to believe how much time has passed since that incredible mural project began," Shane "Art Whino" Pomajambo said when contacted this month. "What started as a one-month yearly art show, similar to the ones I had done the two years before moving that year to Richmond, quickly evolved into something far beyond anything I could have imagined."
Pomajambo recalled the invitation from Harris to visit Richmond.
"I had no idea I’d end up falling in love with this cool, young, hip, artsy town. There was a pulse here—raw creative energy just waiting to be channeled," he said. "As I met with the mayor’s office, they shared their mission to create an official arts district and at the same time I also kept hearing the same story from building owners: they loved Richmond, but wished there were more feet on the street to help local businesses thrive. And that’s when the light bulb went off — like a cartoon moment, with big bubble thoughts popping over my head. I just said, 'Why not? Why not dream big? Why not turn Richmond into a global destination for mural lovers? Why not give others the same chance to fall in love with the town that had already stolen my heart?'"
Former CBS 6 reporter Mark Holmberg met with some of the artists as they created some of Richmond's most memorable murals.
Stormie Mills
"The idea of a vampire or a Dracula is kind of like somebody that's in the limelight but doesn't want to be in the limelight," artist Stormie Mills said about the Dracula mural he painted on a building at 300 W. Broad Street. Mills told CBS 6 at the time that he enjoyed meeting people in the cities and towns where he painted.
"You get to talk to them about their life, and it'll inform the next work that you do," he said. "My work is about the human condition and about being a person alone in the city, and art is actually a vehicle for people to communicate."
Before he came to Richmond, Mills said he painted in New York, Los Angeles, Miami, London, and Greece for the 2002 Olympics.
"I'm lucky I have a passion to do something, and if you live life without passion, it's a sad life," he said.
CBS 6 caught up with Mills in 2025 to ask what he remembered about this time in town.
"I knew nothing of Richmond prior to arriving so it was an education into some of the sadder moments of American’s history," he said. "I felt that weight whilst I was there. To an outsider there seemed to be a lot of contemporary young vibrancy particularly in the food scene, I’d never seen before in other cities, the thoughts carried by young people were about change and growth but the weight of history, wow."
Mills said that history influenced his work.
"I tried to be smaller and more intimate," he said. "One time whilst working on a wall in The Fan a homeless guy was dumpster diving nearby. Afterwards I was able to give him some food and some money. He was the only person around the entire time. We had watched each other out of the corners of our eyes, both seeing what was happening in our space, looking for an accord."
Harris recalled Mills as one of the nicest people he's ever met.
"He was living in Perth at the time, and Shane flew him in to paint his little character all over town," Harris said in 2025. "He started in spots we knew he was working on, then would wander off and create some in unexpected locations. Kind of his own person that would make friends everywhere he went. He even mailed a copy of his book from Australia, and we spent a few nights chatting about his experiences traveling the world and painting murals."
In the years since his Richmond experience, Mills has continued painting both "in the streets in galleries."
"In 2022 I completed a commission of two sides of a new building with a reflective landscape, I wanted to share the view that people inside the building would see with those that walked past, this was in Perth Western Australia," he said and shared video of the project. "Next year I will have a retrospective of works in The Art Gallery of Western Australia, so I am working on that now."
Natalia Rak
Artist Natalia Rak was relatively new to murals when she arrived in Richmond.
"I started three years ago. So I'm young in this art," the Polish artist said in the 2013 interview.
For her, the mural lifestyle married her two loves — art and travel.
"They sponsored us. [Our] accommodation here, eating and travel to here and come back to Poland," she said about the lack of formal pay for her work. "I love it and I love to travel. This is my first time in the USA."
Harris recalled Rak and the Polish artists known as Etam Cru didn’t speak much English beyond what they’d picked up from listening to 90s East Coast hip-hop.
"Our conversations were a mix of trying to understand each other and decoding their hip-hop lingo, which was sometimes oddly placed but funny as hell," he said. "Etam Cru [was] the group behind the Moonshine mural at the 7-11. I remember [Rak's] mural being placed between two buildings, making it not very visible, but she still made the most of it."
Aaron "Woes" Martin
Aaron "Woes" Martin brought his panda aesthetic to W. Cary Street.
"A big old, chubby panda bear," the Hawaiian artist said when asked to describe his contribution painted on the side of what is now City Beach restaurant.
He agreed that getting to see the world was a huge perk of the job.
"I'm more addicted to travel now, rather than trying to make too much money or whatever. I just want to, like, get myself engulfed in different cultures and meet other artists across the world," he said.
"Aaron Woes was a personal favorite of Shane’s and was involved in almost every project Art Whino did," Harris said. "I considered him the Art Whino mascot with his signature pandas. Aaron was a super nice guy and worked incredibly fast. His artwork was accessible and appealed to young kids and families, making him a great fit for live painting programs during our meet-and-greet events. He was always ready to chat with people, and his presence was really positive and welcoming."
These days, Martin is recovering from multiple eye surgeries and his family has created a GoFundMe to help cover the artist's healthcare costs.
While this article focused on three artists who visited Richmond that year, Pomajambo pointed out that Richmond is home to many acclaimed artists and muralists.
"Richmond is thriving," he said. "Not just from the tourism the murals brought in, but also because of the incredible artists and community leaders like Ed Trask, Hamilton Glass, Mikael Broth, and so many others who kept the creativity flowing. They launched their own projects, festivals, and events, and continue to make RVA the vibrant, magnetic, and inspiring place I first discovered. To witness what it’s become—and to know I helped spark that journey—means everything."
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