Art180

[ We are artists, writers, musicians, poets, dancers and everyday people working to create change in young people’s lives through art. ]

About Art 180 180

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

Our Mission

ART 180 gives young people the chance to express themselves through art, and to share their stories with others.

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 billboards, art exhibits, poetry readings, CDs and DVDs.

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: Betsy Kelly

welcome Betsy!

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


Vice President: Tristana Nesvig Trani

Strategic Planner, Virginia Commonwealth University

Secretary: Katie Gilstrap

Senior Vice President, Marketing Director, First Market Bank

Treasurer: Celia Broadus

President, Accounting Strategies to Solutions

Executive Director: Marlene Paul

Co-founder, ART 180

Scott Blackwell

Senior Vice President, Workforce Resources, LandAmerica

Sam Davis

Principal, Relative Solutions


Audrey Givens

CPA, Gail Howerton, CPA, Tax and Financial Services LLC


Iris Holliday

Senior External Affairs Manager, Dominion Resources Services


Stuart Horsley

Vice President, U.S, Trust (Bank of America Private Wealth Management)
 

Heilbron Rushing-Cooper

Artist


Nikole Sarvay

Freelance writer and jewelry designer


Kim Smith

Communications Representative, Verizon Communications

Mary Dunne Stewart

Policy Director, Voices for Children

Phil Strunk

Attorney, BrownGreer, PLC

Eric Van Der Hyde

Financial Representative, Northwester Mutual