Viola Ratcliffe is on a mission to empower Birmingham’s creative economy to become a means of sustainable growth for the city and beyond. Meet this month’s inspiring FACE of Birmingham! Image: Create Birmingham
by Katie Leigh Matthews, Style Blueprint
Viola Ratcliffe has loved the arts for as long as she can remember — from elementary school art classes to earning her master’s in Art History. Now, as Director of Community Engagement at Create Birmingham, she helps connect locals to the city’s vibrant creative scene. For Viola, the arts are more than expression — they’re the heartbeat of a strong, united community. Get to know this week’s FACE of BHAM!
Viola Ratcliffe wears glasses and braided hair and gazes thoughtfully to the side against a gray-striped background, wearing a green top and a patterned shawl, her expression exuding strength.
“We are all artists and creatives because to live is to create,” Viola tells us. “The arts enable us to understand who we are and help us to determine where we need to go.”
First, tell us about you. Have you always been interested in the arts?
I grew up in Montgomery and am the oldest of four. Throughout my childhood, I also lived in Washington D.C., Annapolis, Maryland, and Iowa City, Iowa. I’ve always enjoyed creating art. When we lived in Iowa, my elementary school had a great arts program, and we learned pottery, painting, and weaving. I also grew up going to museums and traveling to cities like Chicago and Washington D.C., so my love of travel and culture started young.
How did you find your way to Create Birmingham?
I’ve worked at various arts non-profits throughout my career, including the Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts and Bib & Tucker Sew-Op. In 2022, I was transitioning out of my role as Interim Director at Bib & Tucker, and I started working with Create Birmingham as a facilitator for their CO.STARTERS program.
I loved the experience, and when I realized that they were hiring for a Community Engagement Manager, I applied for the position and was elated when I got the job! Last year, I was promoted to being the Director of Community Engagement, which has allowed me to expand my role and impact at Create. I love what I do, and it’s been a fun journey!
Tell us about your role as Director of Community Engagement for Create Birmingham and a facilitator with CO.STARTERS.
As Director of Community Engagement, I like to describe my role as being a conduit between the programs we facilitate and the community we serve. I work most closely with our creative entrepreneurship and community arts programs and am responsible for developing and managing the majority of our community arts initiatives.
I facilitated the Bessemer CO.STARTERS program from 2022 to 2023, and it was a very impactful experience. I learned so much about our region’s creative entrepreneurship community and discovered incredible small businesses and nonprofits that were doing amazing work in the face of substantial challenges and barriers.
I still work with the CO.STARTERS program, and due to our work and partnerships in Bessemer, we’ve been able to offer even more opportunities to that community, including holding a month-long series of Business of Creating workshops this past February and partnering with the City of Bessmer to administer the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) Recovery Grant.
Can you share a special moment or achievement you’ve experienced with Create Birmingham?
Our annual Community Arts Program is always especially meaningful, but last year’s program, Joe Minter Is Here,” was profoundly impactful. I feel so fortunate to have had the opportunity to work so closely with Joe, 1504 Narrative Studio, Navigate Affordable Housing partners, and the Titusville community to celebrate the life and work of one of Birmingham’s most prolific artists.
I highly encourage anyone interested in Birmingham’s art and history to visit Joe Minter’s African Village in America. It is a global treasure, and thanks to the Mellon Foundation, we are now working with Joe Minter and LaStarsha McGarity, Legacy Museum Conservator and Co-Director at Tuskegee University, to ensure its conservation.
In 2024, Create Birmingham joined several organizations to host an exhibition celebrating the artistic and cultural contributions of Joe Minter, a local artist and visionary whose works have graced the most prestigious arts institutions in the country. Image: Instagram
We are grateful to all our sponsors:
From your experience, what makes the arts such an effective tool for strengthening communities?
They are the foundation of every community. We are all artists and creatives because to live is to create. The arts enable us to understand who we are and help us to determine where we need to go. They are a catalyst for economic growth and sustainability, and they are vital to our education. And so often, it is the arts that bring us together when we feel most divided.
Are there any Create Birmingham events or initiatives coming up that you’re particularly excited about?
Yes! We have two upcoming workshops for the Jefferson County Memorial Quilt, our 2025 Community Arts Project. A community-based initiative, this project seeks to reckon with central Alabama’s haunting history of racial violence and propel racial reconciliation through the co-construction of a Jefferson County Memorial Quilt, which will be created in honor of the 33 African-Americans who were lynched in Jefferson County from the mid-19th through the mid-20th century.
Our next sewing workshops will take place on May 8 at Sloss Furnaces and June 28 at Bessemer Public Library. These workshops are free to attend and open to anyone who would like to create a block for this quilt (sewers and non-sewers alike). For more information, visit our website.
What do you like to do when you’re not working?
I like to spend time with my family. My husband and I have two daughters, and I am currently pregnant with our third. I love to read, garden, and hike. Really, I’m happy anytime that I’m outdoors! I like to travel, whether it’s catching an international flight or just taking a road trip to a cool destination. I also enjoy painting and working with my hands.
Who or what is inspiring you right now?
Musically, I’m loving Doechii, SZA, and Tems. I like to read a variety of authors. This spring, I read Imani Perry’s Black in Blues: How a Color Tells the Story of My People, and that book has been living with me for the past few months. I keep going back to it.
What is your best piece of advice?
Proceed, and be bold! I first saw this in an Amos Kennedy print in my 20s, and I’ve held on to it ever since. I now have this print at the entrance of our home, and I love it.
Aside from faith, family, and friends, name a few things you can’t live without.
Sunshine, a warm breeze, good food, laughter. I really don’t need much to be happy!
LIGHTNING ROUND!
Last delicious local meal: My husband took me to dinner at Automatic Seafood for my birthday. It was my first time eating there, and one of the best dinner experiences I’ve ever had.
Favorite place to vacation: A beach. I don’t really care where, as long as there is sand, ocean, and warm sunshine.
Your go-to gift to give: Money. I know it’s not the most creative gift, but I have a lot of nieces and nephews, and it’s the gift I know everyone will appreciate. I also love to give flowers, especially fresh cut from a garden or florist.
Favorite recent TV show binge: This is a not-so-recent series, but last summer, I binged Sprint on Netflix, and it is still one of my favorite watches. It’s a docuseries that follows the lives and races of the world’s top track stars; I learned so much. It was just good TV!
