Michelle Barnes bio
Co-Founder and Executive Director of the Community Artists’ Collective (The Collective)
a resident of the historic Third Ward Community having benefited from educational experiences at Jack Yates High School (1966), University of Houston (1970), Prairie View A & M University (2005) and the University of Life-Long Learning (on-going)
naturally collaborative and a team player
The Community Artists’ Collective is a community-based 501(c)(3) organization that, since 1987, has led change in service to the community through the arts. The mission of The Collective is to provide the educational and cultural link among African American artists and all communities inspiring unlimited creativity. This mission is accomplished through programs of excellence in Education, Exhibition, Community Development and Entrepreneurship generally in collaboration with other individuals, agencies and organizations. Through this work, services that engage people in generally underserved communities are bridged by the creative process to satisfying production and experiences.
The Collective challenges local artists to make their own career decisions, to produce work which truly reflects their unique vision and to work with our organization or some other organized effort to “give something back” to the community from which we have emerged.
Personal and Professional objective: To share my skills with other community-based entities to improve the effectiveness of the provision of services, facilitate the improvement of the quality of the lives of residents our community and thereby instill hopefulness for the futures of the individuals and families in the greater Houston area.
