Richmond Now! co-founders, Virginia Murphy and Rian L. Moses, have been friends for many years and have always bonded over art. In the Fall of 2018, Virginia (inspired by Rian’s recent sea themed artwork), asked Rian to do an art exchange. This became a collaboration called Sagittarius Tea (as both artists have Sagittarius sun signs). This collaboration series picked up steam when the world was just starting to deal with COVID-19, and there was a need for cathartic distraction. The results of their collaborations can be found on their instagram pages @art_with_virginia and @seaplus_rlmoses .
Through this exchange and friendship, Richmond Now! was born. They needed that same cathartic release they had during COVID-19, but wanted to help their community and not just themselves, when dealing with the anguish and grief of unarmed Black human lives being taken away by an unjust system of power and racism.
