Meet Vanessa Stokes, a photographer and community organizer based in Chicago. She is also the founder of VS Creative Consulting, LLC, an artist representative firm where her main client is Dorrell Creightney, Vanessa’s late Father who opened the first black-owned photography studio in Chicago in 1969. Vanessa has hosted a series of art pop-ups, workshops, classes, performances, and artist residencies in public places underutilized in the Austin community. She created the Art & Culture Committee at Austin Town Hall Park to offer a space for artists to create, showcase and sell their art, and to expose the neighborhood to arts programming. 

Join us as we discuss placemaking, creating positive stories, fear and the importance of public art to serve communities. 

Links in this episode

Vanessa Stokes Instagram

Vanessa Stokes Facebook

Symposium on Racial Reconciliation

Kindred Creatives Collective