Check Out V.L. Cox’s Story

Today we’d like to introduce you to V.L. Cox.

Hi V.L., we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today.
I was born in 1962 in Shreveport Louisiana and raised in Arkansas. I acquired a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Henderson State University in 1991.

A professional artist of 30 years, my work has been highly active in projects that involve Human Rights and Equality. In 2015 I launched my National ‘End Hate’ project, an anti-discrimination series based on segregation-era doors in response to HB1228, a cruelly crafted, dangerous Religious Freedom Bill in Arkansas which would have brought back Jim Crow laws overnight denying LGBTQ+, African Americans, Muslims, Jews, Asians, etc, life-saving medical care or even a sandwich in a restaurant. This powerful series employed authentic and found objects that created a visceral, historical presentation commenting on relevant human rights issues that continue to be under attack by the deadly scourge of White Supremacy. The doors were placed twice on the steps of the Arkansas State Capitol and then twice at the base of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. The response was overwhelming. Images of the door installation went viral and were seen on Yahoo News, USA Today, in numerous newspapers across the country, and in international Art Magazines.

The work has opened at prominent locations such as The LGBT Center in New York, NY, The Virginia Longwood Center for the Visual Arts Museum in collaboration with the Moton Museum where the Vice Presidential debates were held, the Rosa Parks Museum in Montgomery, Alabama coinciding with the Equal Justice Initiative, National Memorial for Peace and Justice opening, and the Virginia Holocaust Museum in Richmond, Virginia. It opened on September 27th, 2019 at the Delta Cultural Center in Helena, Arkansas to commemorate the 100 Year Anniversary of the Elaine Massacre. After a two-year hiatus due to COVID and a second invitation from the Rosa Parks Museum, in 2021 the work went back on the road. It is currently on exhibit at The Annex Gallery in Cincinnati, Ohio.

I left the South 1.5 years ago, relocated to Peekskill, New York, and reside in the Artist District.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
It has not been a smooth road, but that was to be expected considering the subject matter and the level of activism.

When I first created the Door Installation, I was threatened online by a Ku Klux Klansman in Arkansas with vile comments and white supremacy propaganda. After handing his info over to the FBI, I then kept a loaded shotgun by my studio door for two years. Financial struggles were also tough due to the fact that before the museum tours I was personally driving the End Hate Doors around the state of Arkansas in the back of a pickup truck to different cities and towns helping implement Equality Ordinances and Protections for LGBTQ+.

Afterward, during the museum tour, many smaller venues did not have stipend budgets, but their outreach was so strong they made up for it with incredible community outreach, teacher workshops, and lectures. I have stayed in so many hotel rooms over the past seven years I’ve lost count, but all that being said, it’s all been worth it. Millions of people around the world have seen the pieces and I have rarely encountered a negative response. Simplicity, Authenticity, and honest conversation is the key.

As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
The Arts are a different language, a means of communication that if presented properly, crosses religious and political boundaries with ease. I use my work to break down those barriers, communicate, preserve history and serve as a reminder of the horrific past and present historical moments in our timeline that need to be remembered and addressed. These issues we are painfully having to deal with today, white supremacy, fear, intimidation, tainted religion, misogyny, the whitewashing of history, and biased media lies, are not new and have hidden in the dark underbelly of society until resurrected by those with a greedy, self-serving agenda.

These cruel obstacles are intentional and successful, for many in power have discovered that it is extremely lucrative to sow fear and maintain division. Even today, sifting through the onslaught of fear-mongering and misinformation on the internet is brutally time-consuming and exhausting, which is why a lot of people choose the easy path of tribalism instead of facts and truth. I use the Arts along with a personal narrative as a tool to share my experiences and portray accurate historical context with authentic historical objects. This has opened the door to much-needed conversations with people that are different from me, vote differently than me, believe differently than me, and pray differently than me, yet because of the simplicity and truthfulness of the work we were able to carry on civilized conversations in a respectful manner. I have learned after talking to hundreds of thousands of people across the country face to face instead of behind a keyboard, that what we see on entertainment ratings-driven media and rogue websites is not an accurate reflection of the majority of real America. I would go as far as to say that 80-90% of the individuals I have met, regardless of our differences, are weary of this intentional division, have a great deal of diversity in their own families, and are ready to move forward.

Have I also learned a lot from these individuals with different points of view that I did not know before? Most definitely. Accurate messaging instead of misinformation is our greatest challenge, but the one thing I will not budge on is Civil Rights. There is no room for compromise when someone is being made a second-class citizen in the United States of America and there is no excuse to not treat everyone equally with dignity and respect. None.

A little background info. I grew up in a broken home. My parents divorced and my father, being from a rural community with limited opportunities, was forced to travel to Texas to work in the oilfields. My mother retained custody and the courts removed me from my home at the age of 12 due to severe physical and emotional abuse from an addicted, alcoholic mother and made my grandmother my legal guardian. My grandmother was a sweet little second-grade school teacher, didn’t have a racist bone in her body, and was sitting in a church pew every time the door opened. She was a true woman of faith who obediently lived the words “Love one another” and sweetly hugged a sobbing 18-19-year-old girl at the kitchen table one dark night assuring her she was loved more than she could imagine as her granddaughter came out to her as a lesbian. All that being said, despite the turmoil and abuse, I have lived a privileged life. I feel I have a personal responsibility as a white woman who grew up in the Jim Crow South with privileges that were not made available to others, to strive for equality and civil rights for everyone. I’ve lived through desegregation, seen the horrors of cross burnings, black student lockers set on fire in a school, young white males starting a ‘BTA’ (Back To Africa) movement at my high school, and the N-word being tossed around in public and religious settings as casual as biscuits being passed around the dinner table. I’ve seen teenagers beaten because they were effeminate, preachers that spew that Blacks and Gays are marked by God and deserve to die from the pulpit while visiting rural country churches, and after being raised by the Greatest Generation whose grandfather was in the 1st Division and wounded on the WWII battlefield, I have zero tolerance for Nazis.

I’ve been an artist of 30+ years, walked away from my previous artistic career path and life, and have answered the calling for justice and equality. I will never be the same. I am forever committed to this path and will use whatever talents and skills I have available to continue to bring about change.

What do you think the key to happiness is?
Kindness, Integrity, Manners, Diversity, and Authenticity. Because it matters. It separates us from a hateful, savage existence.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.vlcox.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/vlcoxart/
• Facebook: V.L. Cox – Not public. Must be confirmed upon request
• Twitter: @vlcoxart
• Youtube: V.L. Cox