African Storyteller, Playwright, and Producer Valerie Davis will be live March 16 at 7 p.m.ch

In honor of Women's History Month, The VAACC's highly acclaimed Virtual Artist Masterpiece Series is back for Part II on Mach. 16 at 7 p.m. with award-winning African Storyteller, Playwright and Producer Valerie Davis.

This event features a moderated interview discussion by VAACC Executive Director, Tamar Smithers, with the artist reflecting on her career and artistry, as well as a special in-character conversation with Martha Ann Fields, an enslaved woman who escaped slavery in 1863. Through her courage and resilience, she led her family to freedom at Fortress Monroe in Hampton, Va. The event will end with an audience Q&A.

Viewers must register in advance online for this free, virtual event hosted in part by the Virginia Beach Arts & Humanities Commission and Dominion Energy.

Valerie Yemimah Davis is a gifted and award-winning Djelimusa (African Storyteller), playwright and producer, who uses her talents to teach African and African American History and to promote awareness of lesser-known historical events and people. As a self-taught historian, Valerie draws upon the wisdom and spirit of her ancestors to bring their stories to life. Her signature performance is the Martha Ann Fields’ Story. A performance that has been received well by over thousands of students and adults in the Virginia area. She has written and starred in several one-woman shows focusing on domestic violence and historical women of courage. Giving a voice to not only Martha Ann Fields, but Coretta Scott King, Nancy Green (the first Aunt Jemima) Nanny, the wife of Gabriel, who led the slave rebellion in Richmond in 1800, and Harriett Tubman. Valerie is a recent recipient of the Royal Wolf Film Award for her work as a Narrator on "Until Caleb". 

As a playwright, she has been blessed to have several of her productions staged and presented at theaters to sold-out crowds. Recently she has taken her storytelling in a different direction by authoring her first book, "Spirit of the Hummingbird; Mom, Me and PSP".

All of her work is dedicated to her ancestors, the shoulders upon which she stands!