Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Valerie Rich. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Valerie, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.

One of my most meaningful projects was my first solo art show. the show was curated by me and also included family members who are creative as well, they showcased there talents as vendors for the event. It was so amazing to see people viewing and purchasing the art work that spoke to them. All the stress that went with putting it together was worth it in the end. My soul was satisfied.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I live and work in Baltimore Md. I am a self taught Artist and creative. I am a Author of a book of poetry called “Window Pain” I also have had my poetry and artwork featured in several books and magazines such as Purple Poetry book, Hope Works and On Purpose Women . My creative journey started in 2012 when I was searching for an alternative for counseling. I joined a year long art group with weekly art prompts, through this process i found that others were being inspired by my work.. i continued to try every new class and art thing that was offered. Art was my new best friend. Art was freeing and i want to share that feeling with others. I started to host monthly meeting in my home focused on women and helping them to be inspired too. I am most proud of my passion to help women heal, to have a place to connect and share your story.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

Resilience is something i think of often, there are plenty of times when i wanted to give up because thing didn’t just fall together. I was blessed to have my own art studio. The space way big enough for small group, the rent was affordable and the area was nice. The problem was i couldn’t get enough people to participate even when sessions were free. I spent a lot of days waiting on people to show up. My problem may have been that I’m a little shy and not a social butterfly so getting people engaged in showing up was a problem. after a year I decided to let it go and start sessions at home. that space had great possibilities in hind sight. as much as i want to take a break i know people need my gift and so i press on.

How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?

I would love to see more spaces available for artist to share their work and to share their talent with others at a reasonable price.

Contact Info:

• Website: richcreativity.space
• Instagram: Painted_imagery
• Facebook: Valerie Rich
• Other: Facebook pages- Visionary journal and sharing space Healing artistry-a space for creatively grieving Sistah’s Friend