Community Engagement
My upbringing instilled in me a responsibility to utilize the talents my adoptive parents nurtured and a need to influence change so that others may have meaningful opportunities. As a child, I embodied unique experiences in some of the most rural parts of our country. Those lived experiences shape my philosophy of cultivating a sense of belonging through a shared purpose and mutual respect actualized through participation and active engagement. That knowledge fuels my personal obligation to use lessons learned so that the path for the next generation is better. This includes my commitment to an inclusive environment, one of belonging, one of transformation. I strive to demonstrate integrity, be responsive to the welfare of others, foster a positive climate based on trust and mutual responsibility, and exhibit sensitivity to and respect for multiple socio-cultural-geographical realities that advances the thoughtful and crucial dismantling of the colonial structures we have built.
Urban Arts Space
Serving for over a decade as Director of the downtown gallery and alternative performance space whose mission functioned as a laboratory for safe and collaborative learning and community engagement, Valarie Williams created accessible, free programming and exhibitions and tours that welcomed the community to exhibitions and experiences focused on how visual art can effect change and ignite conversations around societal issues. She led Urban Arts Space to receive Columbus Alive! “Best Gallery Award” seven years in a row (2010-2017), 2009 Greater Columbus Arts Council’s “Award for Risk and Innovation in the Arts,” and 2016 Ohio Museum Association’s award for “Best Exhibition.” Williams authored multiple grants and secured project and multi-year sustaining operating support from state and city organizations, along with donor and sponsorship support from organizations, individuals, and groups.
Partnerships
As Executive Director of The Arts Initiative, Valarie Williams designed and collaboratively established with the Office of the Executive Dean and Vice Provost of Arts and Sciences at The Ohio State University the administration of the Town and Gown Advisory Committee for the Arts. The committee welcomed over 20 partnerships with arts and non-profit organizations and enhanced the curricular and co-curricular experiences of community, students, and faculty with entities such as Columbus Museum of Art, Greater Columbus Arts Council, OperaColumbus, Columbus Association for the Performing Arts (CAPA), King Arts Center, BalletMet, Columbus Downtown Development Corporation, City of Columbus Mayor’s Office, Franklin County Adults with Disabilities, donors and alumni in the entertainment industry in Los Angeles, CA.
Royal Shakespeare Company/The Ohio State University Institution-to-Institution Partnership
Providing organizational leadership for a team of administrators, Valarie Williams administered multi-million dollar budgets for the institution-to-institution partnership between Ohio State University and Royal Shakespeare Company in Stratford-Upon-Avon, UK in collaboration with Ohio State University’s Office of the President and Office of the Arts and Humanities Divisional Dean. Through support of this partnership, over 100 public school teachers in Ohio and the surrounding states trained at the RSC in the UK, and RSC tours throughout the rural and urban areas in central Ohio reached over 10,000 school children.