Valley dealership expands; new bus routes; street art in Waynesboro — The buzz
Laura Peters
STAUNTON - A Valley auto group is expanding one of its dealerships, there are two new bus stops in the Fishersville area and check out this new street art in Waynesboro — here's the buzz.
Dealership
Just two years after Carter Myers Automotive announced it would be adding a fifth dealership to its Staunton-area group, it's now expanding even more.
In 2016, the group announced it would sell and service new and pre-owned Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep and RAM vehicles and would be operating under the name Valley Chrysler Dodge Jeep RAM.
Valley Chrysler Dodge Jeep RAM joined CMA’s four existing Valley operations — Valley Honda, Valley Nissan, Valley Subaru and Valley Volkswagen. The collection of car dealerships are sectioned together by the Va. 262 and Interstates 81 and 64 exits on U.S. 11.
Now, Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep and RAM dealership is growing.
According to plans submitted to Augusta County, the business was approved for a new 26,625-square-foot dealership expansion. According to documents, this will be a re-work of the existing business already on site and an expansion of that footprint.
Valley Chrysler Dodge Jeep RAM was initially housed in an existing automotive facility with factory-trained service technicians and salespeople in the car dealership's corridor.
Not including CMA's Staunton car dealerships, the auto group also owns seven other dealership in Central Virginia. In the Richmond area, CMA operates Colonial Honda, Colonial Kia, Heritage Chevrolet and Gateway Hyundai. In Charlottesville, it operates Colonial Auto Center, Colonial Nissan and Volvo of Charlottesville.
Bus routes
Beginning Oct. 15, BRITE Bus will be adding two stops in Fishersville.
The new stops will be in the Myers Corner development. The following are the two new stops:
- Gosnell Crossing and Myers Corner Drive
- Myers Corner Drive and Old Oaks Drive
Both will be served by the 250 Connector, eastbound and westbound, a release said..
Benches and other amenities may be added in the future, the release said.
Fishersville has now become the central hub for the service with a BRITE Transit Facility. The BRITE Bus program has also been awarded a contract for transit service provision to Virginia Regional Transit, which means nine new silver buses and one new trolley have been brought into service.
Street art
Three artists used a vacant downtown property as their artistic canvas this weekend during the fourth annual Virginia Street Art Festival.
The three artists showcased during this event were Nils Westergard, Julia Chon and Terry Ward.
Nils Westergard is an internationally renowned artist, whose work has been featured worldwide in spaces as diverse as London, Prague, Berlin, the Hague, Belgium and the Czech Republic.
He is a Richmond-based artist and a lot of his work has been part of the Richmond Mural Project.
He shares that "a duality is present in that which we put forth and that which is communicated unconsciously through our bodies. In my work I suspend these moments of tension to find the awkward edges of composure and plumb the shadows of warmth and unrest,” a release said.
Julia Chon is an emerging artist, recently recognized as a Teen Entrepreneur by Instagram, a release said.
The 18-year old Chon works in the Washington, D.C. area. She has a 132 foot long mural in POW! WOW!, an international mural festival in Washington, D.C., on the Metropolitan Branch Trail. She takes inspiration from traditional Korean cultural symbols and seeks to unite the traditions of her grandparents with a contemporary aesthetic in her art, the release said.
Terry Ward’s art has been on display at MoMA, The Corcoran, and a Smithsonian-affiliate, as well as on digital highway billboards from Los Angeles to Chicago, the release said.
Four museums plus Al Gore and Jimmy Carter own Ward art, as do famed artists Sally Mann and Cy Twombly, the release said. He’s a recent resident of Waynesboro, and joined the festival this year as a stencil artist.
The Virginia Street Arts Festival is sponsored by E-N Computers and W. Lowrie and Jillian Tucker. In past years, the festival painted murals on the E-N Computers building in Basic City and on walls at Basic City Beer Company.
This is first year of bringing the artistic festivities into downtown Waynesboro.
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The buzz is a short recap of area business trends. Send ideas to reporter Laura Peters at lpeters@newsleader.com or follow her @peterslaura and @peterpants.