Lily Yeh

Lily Yeh is a Chinese-American visual artist and community organizer known for her leadership in the creative placemaking movement and her impact on community art initiatives. After earning an MFA from the University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Fine Arts, Yeh spent more than three decades as a professor of painting and art history at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia. A pivotal moment in her career occurred when dancer and educator Arthur Hall invited her to create a public art installation in an abandoned lot in North Philadelphia. This project led to the founding of The Village of Arts and Humanities, a nonprofit organization serving over 10,000 low-income youth and families across a 260-square-block area of North Philadelphia.

During Yeh's 18 years as founder and executive director, The Village of Arts and Humanities became a model for community building through art, receiving recognition such as the Coming Up Taller Award from the President's Committee on Arts and Humanities and the National Endowment for the Arts, the gold medal Rudy Bruner Award for Urban Excellence, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Governor's Award for Environmental Excellence. Yeh has received numerous fellowships and awards, including a Pew Fellowship in the Arts, a Lila Wallace-Arts International Fellowship, and honorary doctorates from Villanova University, Syracuse University, and the University of Massachusetts. Her work in community art and creative placemaking has been recognized by organizations worldwide.

Yeh later founded Barefoot Artists, Inc., a nonprofit organization that applies her community art methodology to projects internationally. Through Barefoot Artists, she has led projects in Rwanda, Kenya, Ghana, Ecuador, Palestine, and China, focusing on training local residents, organizing communities, and using art for healing and rebuilding. Notable projects include the Rwanda Healing Project, where Yeh worked with genocide survivors to create the Rugerero Genocide Memorial, and her collaboration with migrant children at the Dandelion School near Beijing, which she documents in her book "Awakening Creativity." She also co-authored "Healing from Genocide in Rwanda: Rugerero Survivors Village, an Artist Book."

Yeh's life and work are featured in the documentary film "The Barefoot Artist," directed by Glenn Holsten and Daniel Traub. Her papers are preserved in the Archives of American Art at the Smithsonian Institution. Yeh has delivered a TED Talk titled "How Art Transforms Brokenness Into Beauty." She has also led community workshops in Asheville, North Carolina, supporting residents affected by natural disasters. Yeh's career demonstrates the role of visual art, creative placemaking, and community engagement in fostering healing and transformation.