‘Richmond feels like it’s filled with queer people:’ Ash + Chess on their trans positive brand and the LBGTQ+ community

When Ashley Molesso and Chess Needham, a queer and transgender couple from New York City’s Brooklyn borough, were looking for a new city to move to launch their fledgling stationery company, they chose Richmond.

“There is such a big queer community here,” said Molesso, who goes by the pronouns she/her, said. “It felt so welcoming. We saw Progress Pride and Trans flags everywhere. Lots of queer-owned businesses. It felt nice to see that New York isn’t the only progressive place in the world.”

“Richmond really feels like it’s filled with queer people,” Needham, who goes by the pronouns he/him, said.

Molesso and Needham started their artistic, LBGTQ+-positive stationery company, Ash + Chess, in 2015. Molesso was working in textile design, and Needham was a high school special education teacher.

Ashley Molesso (left) and Chess Needham stand in their home. “There is such a big queer community here. It felt so welcoming,” Molesso said.

Armond Feffer/TIMES-DISPATCH

Molesso had the idea to start a stationery brand, but Needham had doubts. “I was like, I don’t know. Selling cards for $5 a piece. I don’t know how you’d make a living off of that,” he said.

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They attended a big stationery show in New York. “We had 20 cards. We got a booth, and it just took off from there,” Needham said.

The Ash + Chess brand features greeting cards and art prints in bold, retro colors that often make a political statement and uplift the queer community. In 2018, they met the owners of the Mongrel gift shop in Carytown who talked up Richmond as a great place to live. They visited, and in 2019, they moved to Richmond to launch Ash + Chess full time.

“Their artwork really stands out. It’s bright and positive. It’s also trans positive, which we really liked,” Stan McCulloch, co-owner of Mongrel, said. “It’s positive in lots of detailed ways — from the type of font they use, to the colors they use. It follows through in all their aesthetic choices. Their business has taken off quite quickly.”

Ashley Molesso (she/her), left, and Chess Needham (he/him) play with their dog Pepper on Friday, June 3, 2022, in their home in Richmond. Chess and Ashley have their own art business selling homemade greeting cards and art prints.

Armond Feffer/TIMES-DISPATCH

Now Ash + Chess offers greeting cards, bumper stickers, embroidered patches like “Queer All Year” and graphic tees that say “Support Trans Kids.”

And they’ve since broken into publishing.

In 2020, they came out with their first book, “The Gay Agenda: A Modern Queer History & Handbook” (Morrow Gift, $19.99), an illustrated queer history art book.

Needham holds a tarot deck, “Queer Tarot: An Inclusive Deck & Guidebook,” he and Molesso made through their Ash + Chess stationery company.

Armond Feffer/TIMES-DISPATCH

This spring, they released “Queer Tarot: An Inclusive Deck & Guidebook” ($28) from Running Press, an imprint of the Hatchette Book Group.

“We thought, ‘Let’s make a deck that features queer people, that tries to be as inclusive as possible,’” Molesso said. They based their deck on the Rider Waite tarot deck. “That has lots of Euro-centric figures, like thin white people.”

“In our deck, we cast actual queer people to model the cards for us,” Needham said. “We have this wide range of representation. We cast queer people of all different sizes, races and abilities. We wanted people to be able to see themselves in it.”

“A lot of tarot has to do with self-questioning, intuition and introspection. People in the queer community do a ton of these things anyway. Queerness and tarot make a great fit,” Needham said.

The deck can be purchased locally at Mongrel, the Fountain Bookstore, the Quirk gift shop, and Small Friends Records & Books, among other places.

Ashley Molesso, left, and Chess Needham hold their custom-made Skittles bag in their home on Friday, June 3, 2022, in Richmond. ASH + CHESS art and stationery can now be found in over 600 stores across the world.

Armond Feffer/TIMES-DISPATCH

Most recently, Molesso and Needham were tapped to design the Skittles packaging for Pride Month.

For the past few years, Skittles has given up its signature rainbow during Pride Month to celebrate the LGBTQ+ community. This year, the packaging is gray again, but with a splash of color from six queer artists, including Ash + Chess.

“We’re so excited that we got approached. The prompt was how you see the rainbow and how you see the queer community. We took this as an opportunity to show what we want to see in the future,” Molesso said. “We came up with the concept of the queer world.”

Their Skittles design features a rainbow Saturn-Mars type of planet with a Progress Pride flag and the words, “We are everywhere.”

“The end message is that queer people have always been here and always will be,” Needham said.

Since moving to Richmond, Molesso and Needham purchased a house on the North Side in the Bellevue neighborhood that they’re outfitting in their colorful, retro style. They keep a studio at Studio Two Three, and when they’re not working, they’re hitting the nature trails at Three Lakes Park or Forest Hill Park with their dog, Pepper. They’re also enjoying the local dining scene with frequent stops at Pupatella, Stella’s, Sub Rosa Bakery, and Viet Garden on Brook Road.

“Queerness and art go hand in hand. Since moving to Richmond, we found the queer community is even bigger and stronger than we initially thought,” Molesso said. “It’s really nice to see that here.”

PHOTOS: Ash + Chess

Ashley Molesso, left, and Chess Needham hold their custom-made Skittles bag in their home on Friday, June 3, 2022, in Richmond. The Pride-themed Skittles can be found in stores around the nation.

Armond Feffer/TIMES-DISPATCH

Ashley Molesso adjust a frame in her home on Friday, June 3, 2022, in Richmond. Molesso and Needham created a lot of the art they hangs in their home.

Armond Feffer/TIMES-DISPATCH

Ashley Molesso (left) and Chess Needham sit outside their home in the Bellevue neighborhood. The couple moved to Richmond from New York City in 2019 to launch their LGBTQ-positive stationery company, Ash + Chess, full time.

photos by Armond Feffer/TIMES-DISPATCH

Ashley Molesso (left) and Chess Needham stand in their home. “There is such a big queer community here. It felt so welcoming,” Molesso said.

Armond Feffer/TIMES-DISPATCH

Ashley Molesso (she/her), left, and Chess Needham (he/him) play with their dog Pepper on Friday, June 3, 2022, in their home in Richmond. Chess and Ashley have their own art business selling homemade greeting cards and art prints.

Armond Feffer/TIMES-DISPATCH

Ashley Molesso holds the couple’s custom-made Skittles bag on Friday, June 3, 2022, in Richmond. Molesso and Needham were selected by Skittles along with a few other artists to create a custom design for Pride month.

Armond Feffer/TIMES-DISPATCH

Ashley Molesso, left, and Chess Needham hold their custom-made Skittles bag in their home on Friday, June 3, 2022, in Richmond. ASH + CHESS art and stationery can now be found in over 600 stores across the world.

Armond Feffer/TIMES-DISPATCH

Needham holds a tarot deck, “Queer Tarot: An Inclusive Deck & Guidebook,” he and Molesso made through their Ash + Chess stationery company.

Armond Feffer/TIMES-DISPATCH

ccurran@timesdispatch.com

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Twitter: @collcurran