Recipient Information
Location
Bessemer, Alabama
Year of Award
2021
Grant or Fellowship
Leaders of Color Fellowship
Grant Amount
$0
Viola Ratcliffe
Program Manager, Bib & Tucker Sew-Op
Viola Ratcliffe is an arts administrator and educator, whose work explores the intersection of art and activism. A native of Montgomery, Alabama; she earned her undergraduate degree in Art History from the University of Alabama and her master’s degree in Art History from Bowling Green State University. As the former Curator Specialist of the Troy University Rosa Parks Museum, Viola has travelled the country and the world studying the relationship between art, memorial, and activism. In 2014 she was selected to take part in Bowling Green State University’s Fulbright- Hays “Walking Witness” program, which provided her with the opportunity to travel to Europe to study the history of Ohio Holocaust survivors. Currently, Viola works as program manager for Bib & Tucker Sew-Op in Birmingham, AL; an arts non-profit that is a hub for sewing activities that promote empowerment, education, and economic opportunity. She is also the founder of Elynn & Rose, LLC, a venture that honors and celebrates the journey that is womanhood and girlhood, and whose mission is to create opportunities for women and girls through entrepreneurship, education, creation, and exploration. Viola currently lives in Bessemer, Alabama with her husband and her two young daughters.