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Yancy Villa is a socially engaged artist and civic design consultant who seeks to create awareness, engage in conversation, and encourage action on issues of social justice, equity, and community prosperity.

Having lived in third world countries and working in underserved communities in Memphis led Yancy to integrate public art, creative practices, and community planning, with a focus on neighborhood revitalization. She created Go Engage Memphis Soul (GEMS), an asset-based social practice and consultancy that works in urban planning and placemaking using art with a social equity approach while celebrating unity, diversity, and inclusion.

Her work appears in diverse forms ranging from visual art to artivism to performing art to urban planning and has been recognized by grants and commissions from the National Association of Latino Arts and Cultures, UnidosUS, Smithsonian Latino Center, Tennessee Arts Commission, City of Memphis, UrbanArt Commission, and ArtsMemphis among others. Selected by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Mexico, Villa is a Mexican-American artist developing binational art initiatives for public diplomacy.

Her formal education is from Christian Brothers University and Memphis College of Art with a B.A. in Psychology, a B.F.A. in Studio Art, and an M.B.A. She holds certificates from the Thomas S. Kenan Institute for the Arts at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts as a Creative Catalyst, UrbanArts Commission Institute at the Regional Arts Commission of St. Louis, MO, and the Advocacy Leadership Institute of National Association of Latino Arts and Cultures in Washington, D.C.

She serves on boards and committees of organizations, including Overton Park Conservancy, Building Memphis, ArtsMemphis, The Brooks Museum, Latino Memphis, and the LeBonheur Children’s Hospital. She is a member of the National Association of Latino Arts and Cultures and the International Association of Art U.S.A.

Work appears in , , ,

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