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Philadelphia-based visual artist Lily Yeh is the founder, emeritus Executive Director, and lead artist of The Village of Arts and Humanities (http://www.villagearts.org). She is an international figure who combines public art and community action. "The Village" is a community of volunteers and paid workers who turn abandoned lots in North Philadelphia into community gardens, arts centers, and parks. The Village stands as a beacon of hope and pride in a struggling area of abandoned houses and every other urban ill you can imagine. It is beautiful, heroic, and the work of the many hands in that community. "I've come to conceive of The Village as a living piece of sculpture," she explains, "in which sculpture is a communal event. The walls are shaped and touched by people's hands, including as many people from the community as possible." The Village's primary focus has always been the North Philadelphia area, but Yeh has also taken the work to Nairobi, Kenya and has plans for "Village" projects in Ecuador and China. In addition to her work with The Village, Yeh is an accomplished painter and taught art and art history at the University of the Arts, Philadelphia for thirty years. She received her MFA in Painting from the University of Pennsylvania. For on-line publications about the Village of Arts and Humanities, see: Ford Foundation Leadership for a Changing World Forums: President's Committee on the Arts and the Humanities: Community Arts Network: Project for Public Spaces:
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