ART 180 creates and provides art-related programs to young people living in challenging circumstances, encouraging personal and community change through self-expression. Our group is based in Richmond, Virginia.

Our Values

We Believe in
Creative Expression
Everyone will be free to be an artist who can give birth to a masterpiece, because we recognize that innovation is the heartbeat of growth.

We Believe in
Communication
We seek to provoke ideas and stimulate conversation that encourages self-awareness and expression of diverse perspectives, remove barriers of fear, create a better understanding of humanity, and illuminate hope.

We Believe in
Compassion
We advocate kindness to heal division and resolve conflicts, because everyone has a right to be heard, to experience love, and to be treated with dignity and mutual respect.

We Believe in
Community
We value the importance of collaborative relationships, which celebrate diversity. We recognize that by sharing together we're capable of making even greater creative contributions that can enhance the well-being and quality of life for the whole.

We Believe in
Change
We embrace change as a gift that empowers young people to transform our world through creative expression. It provides opportunities to be passionately engaged in a natural process of learning, challenging complacency and discovering opportunities to live a meaningful life.

Our Vision

Our work with young people will turn lives and communities around 180 degrees.

Our Operating Model

ART 180 partners with other nonprofit organizations to serve children living in challenging circumstances in Richmond, Virginia. Through our programs, youth discover ways they can positively engage in and influence their surroundings. Professional artists and volunteers work with youth after school for 12 weekly sessions. Each program grows from the needs and interests of the group of young people being served. The young artists are asked to explore crucial personal statements that reinforce their sense of identity and purpose, such as: What is a hero? What do I want people to know about me? How can I make my community a better place? Programs culminate with some kind of public presentation of artwork. These have included city billboards, exhibits at art galleries, and a compilation CD of poetry. By merging the private creative experience with a public showcase, ART 180 offers youth a safe way to talk about what matters most to them, while offering the community a compelling way to hear it.

Our Motivation

To quote Rita Dove, former U.S. Poet Laureate, "If our children are unable to voice what they mean, no one will know how they feel. If they can't imagine a different world, they are stumbling through a darkness made all the more sinister by its lack of reference points. For a young person growing up in America's alienated neighborhoods, there can be no greater empowerment than to dare to speak from the heart--and then to discover that one is not alone in one's feelings."

Our Staff

Executive Director: Marlene Paul Marlene is a Richmond native whose educational career started at Crestview Elementary, the site of ART 180's "I Am" project. She graduated from James Madison University, where she studied art until switching her major to communication. Her background includes communicating in many forms: writing, editing, public relations, and publications management. She's worked in several interesting environments on the path to a more meaningful career, including a professional association for CPAs, a theme park's PR department, a startup magazine published by Southern Living, and an advertising agency. She was also a freelance writer off and on for more than 10 years. She co-founded ART 180 in 1998. Development Manager: Aimee Koch With an undergraduate degree in American Studies from Amherst College and a Masters of Fine Arts in photography from Washington University in St. Louis, Aimee is one of those ambidextrous types who enjoys both making art and administering it behind the scenes. She recently received Virginia Commonwealth University’s Certificate in Nonprofit Management and serves on the board of Friends of Art at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. Before joining ART 180, she served as the Gallery Administrator and Development Director at 1708 Gallery in Richmond, Director of Operations at Art4Love in New York City, and as an Admissions Counselor at Washington University. She continues to pursue her art in between it all, exhibiting her photography nationally. Program Manager: Eric Anderson Program manager Eric Anderson was born in Decatur, Illinois, but grew up in Northern Virginia's Prince William County. He attended community college in Woodbridge, graduating with an AS degree in general studies. Eric has worked in many fields including defense contracting, retail, city government, and local nonprofits. He has lived in the City of Richmond for 10+ years and become very active in community and neighborhood work as well as local and state politics. In 2003 he ran unsuccessfully for City Council in the 6th district ward. Eric is a graduate of LMR and The Thomas Sorenson School for Political Leadership and currently sits on the board of directors for the Virginia State Manufactured Housing Board, the Hull Street Merchants Holiday Parade Committee, Mayor Wilder's Neighborhood Roundtable and other political and civic organizations. Eric most recently worked in the City of Richmond's Sheriff's Office and became ART 180's new program manager in August 2006. In this role he works with our partners and program leaders to see that children's voices are heard in the community. Office Manager: Sue Wimett Sue is an Ohio girl who found her way to Richmond by way of Georgia. She studied accounting and finance at Dalton College and liberal arts at Virginia Commonwealth University. After 11 years with Massey Energy (formerly A.T. Massey Coal Company), she joined SunTrust Bank and became vice president-treasury management sales. When her job was moved to Atlanta, Sue decided not to return to banking and instead took early retirement. She spent a year volunteering and immersing herself in hobbies such as bicycling, gardening and baking before deciding to return to the workforce part time and share her diverse skills with a nonprofit organization. In February 2005, ART 180 became that lucky nonprofit.

Our Board of Trustees:

President: Sue Ann (SAM) Messmer Chief of Staff, Office of the President & VP for Univ. Outreach, VCU Heilbron Rushing-Cooper, Artist Vice President: Tristana Trani Strategic Planner, Virginia Commonwealth University Secretary: Katie Gilstrap Senior Vice President, Marketing Director, First Market Bank Treasurer: Celia Broadus Comptroller, Memorial Child Guidance Clinic/ChildSavers Executive Director: Marlene Paul Co-founder, ART 180 Immediate Past President: Anji Stinson Attorney, McGuire Woods, LLP Ting Bresnahan Marketing specialist, Baskervill Sam Davis President, Service First, LLC Barbara Fultz President, Fultz & Associates Iris Holliday Senior External Affairs Manager, Dominion Resources Services Hugh Jones Executive Director, The Salvation Army Boys & Girls Club Nikole Sarvay Freelance writer and jewelry designer Kim Smith Communications Representative, Verizon Communications