Yancy Villa-Calvo is an interdisciplinary artist who seeks to create awareness, engage in conversation, and encourage action on issues of social justice, equity, and community prosperity.Villa-Calvo is a 2020-2021 Kennedy Center Citizen Artist Fellow. In 2019, she was recognized as one of "40 Change Makers Who Have Made Memphis Better in the Past 40 Years." Internationally, she was selected by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Mexico and the Ministry of Culture as one of the USA artists to work on binational art initiatives for public diplomacy. She is a recipient of grants and art commissions from the Smithsonian Latino Center, the National Association of Latino Arts and Cultures, the Tennessee Arts Commission, ArtsMemphis, UnidosUS, the Funders' Network, the UrbanArt Commission, and the City of Memphis, among others.Her work appears in diverse forms ranging from visual art to artivism to performing art to urban planning. The creative process starts by questioning current systems and social dynamics. It encourages her to produce asset-based artwork that is aesthetically and emotionally powerful and that emphasizes dialogue, participation, and action. Her art form provides a platform to see that within our complex humanity there exists common ground and encourages civic engagement for the betterment of our shared space.She received her formal art education at Christian Brothers University and Memphis College of Art with a B.A. in Psychology, a B.F.A. in Studio Art, and an M.B.A. She volunteers at Latino Memphis and serves on boards and committees including Overton Park Conservancy, ArtsMemphis, The Brooks Museum, and LeBonheur Children's Hospital National Leadership Council.She frequently exhibits in solo shows, group shows, and collaborative projects. Her artwork is displayed in private collections in the United States, Mexico, Spain, Colombia, Israel, and the Netherlands. She is a member of the National Association of Latino Arts and Cultures and the International Association of Art USA.