theShift | Monthly Series, July 2026

This month's voices are BNicki, content creator, host, and creative storyteller, Adolphus "Danja Mowf" Maples, Richmond-based creative director, DJ, producer, multimedia storyteller, and entrepreneur, and Metta Bastet, multi-award-winning producer, director, and filmmaker.

Our July conversation centers on Ability. Not as a barrier, but as a lens.

As Black creatives, we are often expected to push through. To figure it out quietly. To navigate our work, our industries, and our lives without ever naming the ways our minds and bodies require something different. The accommodations we have had to ask for. The adjustments we have had to make. The systems that were never designed with us in mind.

But some of us have found another way to look at it.

This conversation explores what it looks like to understand yourself more fully as a creative, to work with the way you are wired rather than against it, and to discover that the very things that make your journey harder might also be the things that make your work singular.

Your limitations are not the end of the story. They are part of the shortcut.

Doors open at 6:30 PM for a casual happy hour. Guests are welcome to arrive early, settle in, and connect with others in the room. Light bites will be available, and drinks can be purchased at the bar.

The program will begin promptly at 7:00 PM.

• An intimate and intentional space for listening and conversation
• Honest reflection on the creative journey
• Opportunities to connect with other creatives in the room
• A chance to explore the shifts shaping your own path

The Shift is open to anyone who considers themselves a creative and is looking for meaningful connections. We center those working in creative industries and those who work alongside us, but this space is open to all who value creativity, growth, and community.

Cost to Attend

Tickets for The Shift are free, but space is limited to keep the experience intimate and participatory. Please only register for a free ticket if you plan to attend. If your plans change and you are unable to join us, we kindly ask that you release your ticket so another member of the community can take your place.

We also offer a limited number of supporter tickets for those who would like to contribute to the work we are doing at Black Creatives RVA. Each supporter ticket includes admission plus your choice of a theShift notebook, sticker pack, or t-shirt.