Rosie Gordon-Wallace

Rosie Gordon-Wallace

Rosie Gordon-Wallace’s professional background belies her current passion. Knowing her just a few years ago, one might never have guessed that this licensed medical microbiologist and former senior consultant for Searle Pharmaceuticals from 1981-1999 is now the founder and senior curator of Diaspora Vibe Gallery and Diaspora Vibe Cultural Arts Incubator, one of the most talked about art incubator spaces in Miami. Gordon-Wallace, always a passionate lover of art, made up her mind in 1996 to devote herself full time to the gallery she created and developed. Diaspora Vibe Gallery, which specializes in Caribbean and Latin American Art with an emphasis on exhibiting emerging artists, supports the development of new work by resident artists by offering workshops and other skill-building opportunities for young artists. The gallery also provides educational and outreach programs for the community. In the past, Rosie Gordon-Wallace has been awarded The African Heritage Cultural Arts Center 3rd Annual Calabash Amadlozi Visual Arts Award, International Businesswoman of the Year, One of South Florida’s 50 Most Powerful Black Professionals of 2007, The Images and Voices of Hope: What works: From Inspiration to Action award; The Champion of the Arts Award; The Red Cross Spectrum Award for Culture; The Women in International Trade Businesswoman of the Year award, and the Miami Beach Black Advisory Board Award for Arts and Culture. Diaspora Vibe also partners with the Florida Center for Literary Arts’ “ One Community One Book” initiative, which sponsored a Conversation with Edwidge Danticat at Diaspora Vibe Gallery. The gallery featured artists Adrienne Chadwick, Francesca Lalanne, and Hubert Neal, Jr, in “Juxtaposition”; Asser St Val, Rosa Naday Garmendia, Onajide Shabaka and Jacqueline Gopie during Art Basel Miami Beach and installation artist Jacquenette Arnette and Suriname artist, Kurt Nahar. http://www.dvcai.org. In addition, Diaspora Vibe Cultural Arts Incubator, Inc. the not-for-profit arm of DVG was awarded an Andy Warhol Visual Arts Initiative award, Elizabeth Firestone Graham Foundation, The Dade Community Foundation, The Carl & Toni Randolph Charitable Fund at Dade Community Foundation, The Buddy Taub Foundation, The Ford Foundation, The National Endowment for the Arts, and the Miami-Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs. Funds support The Caribbean Crossroads Series from May through October, the International Cultural Exchange, Artists in Residence programs and the << Off The Wall Experimental Series>> and Studio Art Initiative. A community activist, she is dedicated to women’s issues and causes, and of course, the artists she mentors, supports and nurtures. She is married to artists’ advocate Roy Wallace. Rosie has served on many non-profit boards, The Adrienne Arsht Center for Performing Arts, Miami Dade College Art and Design Museum, National Performance Network| Visual Arts Network, Bayshore Lutheran Church and Design and Architecture High School.