Bird Cox
Bird is the founder of Quarry, a creative community space for adults, as well as the executive director of Richmond Young Writers, a writer for Richmond Magazine, and owner of seasonal pop-up Bizarre Market. As a community organizer for artists and writers, her top priority when opening Quarry was to create soft, curious space where people could develop new creative practices or revive existing ones in a low-pressure, supportive environment. Rather than focusing on skill-building alone, Quarry invites participants to make time for themselves to experiment, play, and make meaning with others. Guides at Quarry offer experiences in visual arts, language, philosophy, mental health, self-care practices, and environmental stewardship.
Establishing access to creative resources is a motivator for Bird. Quarry's financial model ensures that all people can participate; experiences are low-cost or free, and all are available for free by request. Richmond Young Writers also offers partial or full tuition assistance for all workshops. In 2022, Bird developed the Free Verse program, through which she works on communication skills and creative projects with youth experiencing incarceration at the Chesterfield Juvenile Detention Center.
Bird's friends call her 'German Shepherd' because she herds people together. She knows that we build resilience in community; that creative expression in the company of receptive people restores us to ourselves.