Norma Cunningham, a longtime resident of Goodyear and co-founder of Vision and Sound: An African American Experience, has been named Goodyear’s 2021 Citizen of the Year.
Cunningham, an inaugural member of the city’s Arts and Culture Commission, has been an important influence in Goodyear’s approach to the arts, commissioner Guylene Ozlanski explained.
“Norma was one of the original Arts and Culture Commission members and really began to shape what our whole entire arts and culture programming looks like for the city of Goodyear,” Guylene said in a video released by the city.
“I just can’t think of a better person to receive a Citizen of the Year award,” she said.
For years, Cunningham worked in the corporate world as an event planner, while her husband Michael made his living as a chef and visual artist.
Eventually, Cunningham decided her talents would be best put to use as an art curator, working to highlight Black artists, including her husband.
“I said, ‘You know what? The world needs beautiful art, and so that’s what we’re going to do,” she said.
“We did not have any places that displayed Black art,” Cunningham said. So she and her husband set out to create a space Goodyear lacked.
In 2016, the Cunninghams co-founded Vision and Sound: An African American Experience, a gallery featuring Black artists from around the country.
The gallery is one of a kind in the West Valley, and features artists of all disciplines, including visual art, photography, music and film.
“Most people had not been exposed to this, especially in the West Valley,” she said.
But when the gallery went virtual in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, suddenly Vision and Sound’s reach far surpassed Goodyear and surrounding cities.
“The wonderful thing was, we had people internationally watching the videos and lectured and being part of discussions and visiting our virtual gallery,” Ozlanski said.
“We had people from Europe, from Germany from Africa tuning in to the virtual (exhibits), Cunningham said in the video. “It shows me that there is a need for this, and we have to keep it going.”
Sometimes, Cunningham thinks of taking a step back and enjoying her retirement, but her passion for her work keeps drawing her back in.
“I keep threatening to retire,” Cunningham said, “and then the next year starts up and somehow or other, there I go again.”
On Monday, Goodyear publicly honored Cunningham at a City Council meeting, which Cunningham and her husband both attended.
“Norma is an invaluable…asset to our community and her contribution to the arts will have a lasting impact on our city,” Mayor Joe Pizzillo said as he read the proclamation naming Cunningham citizen of the year.
Vision and Sound: An African American Art Experience opens every February for Black History month. For more information visit their website, visionandsound.org.
Madeline Ackley is a Phoenix-area native who joined Independent Newsmedia in July 2021 as a reporter for the Goodyear-Litchfield Park Independent. She is passionate about delivering hyperlocal coverage of issues that matter to her community.
She has previously covered immigration, policing, homelessness, veteran’s issues and breaking news and her byline has appeared in The Arizona Mirror, The Arizona Republic, The Phoenix Business Journal and Cronkite News.
Madeline is passionate about animal welfare and the environment. She loves to cook, travel and spend time with her family.
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