about 

 

Valerie Bennett Gillespie was born in Austin, Texas and grew up in Dallas.  She graduated from Greenhill School in Addison and completed her undergraduate degree at Randolph-Macon Woman's College in Lynchburg, Virginia where she majored in Studio Art with a concentration in Spanish.  She attended the Universidad de Santiago de Compostela during her year abroad in 2000 and completed her Master's degree in Studio Art at New York University in 2010. A doctoral candidate in her final year, Valerie is currently teaching Middle and Upper School Art at Greenhill School.  She was a finalist for the Hunting Art Prize in 2011 and exhibited her series, "Motherhood" at the African American Museum in 2011 and has a show this year in 2019 at the African American Museum.