Conversation | The Barnes Then and Now—Reflections on Art and Social Justice
Channel: Barnes Foundation
Date: 2022-09-29

The Barnes Then and Now conversation series brings together scholars and cultural leaders to reflect on the state of the Barnes 100 years after our founding.

In this dialogue, Mural Arts Philadelphia director Jane Golden and Val Gay, deputy director for audience engagement & chief experience officer at the Barnes, explore the egalitarian beliefs underpinning Albert Barnes’s creation of the Foundation in 1922. Why was Dr. Barnes so convinced his educational program would further democracy? What responsibility do cultural organizations have today in the fight for social justice?

Speakers
Jane Golden has been the driving force of Mural Arts Philadelphia since its inception, overseeing its growth from a small city agency into the nation’s largest public art program. Under her direction, Mural Arts has created over 4,000 works of transformative public art through community engagement. In partnership with innovative collaborators, she has developed groundbreaking and rigorous programs that employ the power of art to transform practice and policies related to youth education, restorative justice, environmental justice, and behavioral health. 

Valerie Gay is deputy director for audience engagement & chief experience officer at the Barnes. In her role, she oversees public and community programs and the Guest and Protection Services team and works to grow and sustain the Barnes’s relationship with audiences in the Philadelphia region. She earned a bachelor's of music in voice performance from the University of the Arts and a master’s of music in vocal performance and a professional studies certificate from Temple University’s Boyer College of Music and Dance. 

Roxanne Patel Shepelavy is executive editor and co-executive director of the Philadelphia Citizen. She has been a Philadelphia journalist for more than two decades and currently writes and edits stories about solutions to problems in Philly for the Citizen.

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About The Barnes Foundation:
The mission of the Barnes is to promote the advancement of education and the appreciation of the fine arts and horticulture.

Our founder, Dr. Albert C. Barnes, believed that art had the power to improve minds and transform lives. Our diverse educational programs are based on his teachings and one-of-a-kind collections. 

Philadelphia art collector, Albert C. Barnes (1872–1951), chartered the Barnes Foundation in 1922 to teach people from all walks of life how to look at art. Over three decades, he collected some of the world’s most important impressionist, post-impressionist, and modern paintings, including works by Renoir, Cézanne, Matisse, and Picasso. He displayed them alongside African masks, native American jewelry, Greek antiquities, and decorative metalwork.

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