Valerie V. Gay
Valerie V. Gay is a performing artist as well as a civic leader and arts administrator. She has developed a unique blend of skills, which allow her to seamlessly interact in arts and business settings.
An accomplished singer, Ms. Gay’s performing repertoire includes singing in operas, solo concert recitals and conducting ensembles in special events across the Philadelphia region as well as nationally and internationally. Ms. Gay is hailed as a soprano whose voice is capable of a wide variety of styles and genres. In 2006, she founded Fortress Arts Academy, which provides experiential access to music, for children and adults, especially those in lower economic areas, and in July 2012, was appointed Executive Director of Art Sanctuary.
Awarded Grants
2014
Art and Change Grant (ACG)
Related grantees
Overview
Valerie’s project, ROW:HOMe, or Reclaim Our Wall: Helping Ourselves Modify, brings together the neighbors on and around the 900 block of South Paxon Street in Southwest Philadelphia to create a mosaic mural. Not only will the mural engage community and bring beauty to its surroundings, but it will also evoke history and purpose to a wall that divides the community and typifies the blight and general sense of neglect felt and seen in the community. Community members will donate much of the mural’s materials and work together to install the mosaic, demonstrating the importance of art in community engagement. Valerie hopes that the project will preserve and honor past and present communities on the block and amplify the voice of a neighborhood that often goes unheard.
