V.L. Cox was born in 1962 in Shreveport Louisiana and raised in Arkansas. She acquired a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Henderson State University in 1991.

Cox is a professional artist of 30 years whose work has been highly active in projects that involve Human Rights and Equality. In 2015 she launched her National ‘End Hate’ project, an anti-discrimination series based on segregation era doors in response to HB1228, a dangerous Religious Freedom Bill in Arkansas. This powerful series employs authentic and found objects that create a visceral presentation commenting on raw emotions and relevant human rights issues that continue to be important topics in the 21st century. The doors were placed twice on the steps of the Arkansas State Capitol 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 as far away as India and South Korea.

In 2020, Cox was one of twenty artists in the nation to be featured in "Ministry of Truth: 1984/2020,” a New York City billboard project which made the New York Times “Most Important Moments in Art in 2020” list. Her 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, the Virginia Holocaust Museum in Richmond, Virginia and the Delta Cultural Center in Helena, Arkansas to commemorate the 100 Year Anniversary of the Elaine Massacre. In 2023 Cox was awarded a Distinguished Alumni Award from Henderson State University and in 2024 was one of 120 artists selected nationwide for the exhibition ‘Into Action 2024’ sponsored by Taskforce, promoting change and the power of voting during the Democratic National Convention in Chicago.

Cox currently lives in the Artists District in Peekskill, New York.

SOLO EXHIBITIONS

• End Hate Doors, St. Paul St. Andrew United Methodist Church, Upper West Side, New York, New York 2024
• Rosa Parks Museum, Watchfires, Montgomery, Alabama, 2022
• Watershed, Iridian Gallery, Richmond, Virginia, 2021
• Break Glass, The End Hate Collection, Delta Cultural Center, 100-Year Anniversary of the Elaine Massacre, Memorial Dedication, Helena, Arkansas, 2019-20
• Break Glass, Virginia Holocaust Museum, Richmond, Virginia, 2018
• Break Glass, Rosa Parks Museum, Coinciding with the National Memorial for Peace and Justice Memorial, Montgomery, Alabama, 2018
• Break Glass, Longwood Center for The Visual Arts, Farmville, Virginia, 2017
• A Murder of Crows, Fayetteville Underground Gallery, Fayetteville, Arkansas, Made possible by a grant from the Walmart Foundation, 2017
• End Hate, Installation, Two-year reunion, Lincoln Memorial, Washington D.C., 2017
• A Murder of Crows, The Center, New York, New York, Made possible by a grant from The Kors Le Pere Foundation, 2016
• A Murder of Crows, New Deal Studios and Gallery, Little Rock, Arkansas. 2016
• End Hate, Installation, Lincoln Memorial, Washington D.C., 2015
• End Hate, Installation, Arkansas State Capitol, Little Rock, Arkansas. 2015
• University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, Arkansas, 2014
• Images of the American South, THEA Foundation, Little Rock, Arkansas, 2010
• Origins M2 Gallery, Featured Artist, Little Rock, Arkansas, 2009
• Remy Fine Art, Featured Artist, Ft. Smith, Arkansas, 2007
• Art House on Routh, Dallas, Texas, 2004
• Gallery Art Space, Dallas, Texas, 2002

GROUP EXHIBITIONS

• Into Action 2024, A Festival of Art, Ideas and the Power of Voting, TaskForce, Resolution Studios, Chicago, Illinois, 2024
• It’s Time, Chroma Gallery, Katonah, New York, 2024
• Bending the Arc, Annex Gallery, Pendleton Art Center, Cincinnati, Ohio, 2022
• Spliced Connections, An invitational, intergenerational exhibit with community-based conversations. Jamaica Center for Arts & Learning, Queens, New York, 2022
• Ministry of Truth: 1984-2020, Save Art Space / Art at a Time Like This, New York, New York, 2020
• Art Elevated, The Garment District / Artrepreneur, New York, New York, 2018
• Distinguished Alumni Exhibition, Henderson State University, Arkadelphia, Arkansas, 2015
• Transformation and Creation, Historic Arkansas Museum, Little Rock, Arkansas, 2008
• White Canvas Gallery Richmond, Virginia, 2007
• Louis Aronow Gallery, Union Square District Location, San Francisco, California, 2004
• Cantrell Gallery, Little Rock, Arkansas, 2004
• Cudahy’s Gallery, Richmond, Virginia, 2003
• Doors, Floors and Windows, Jay Etkin Gallery, An exhibition of Contemporary, Folk, and Ethnographic Works of Art. Memphis, Tennessee, 2003

REVIEWS

• “This Peekskill Artist Promotes Social Justice in Her Work,” Westchester Magazine, June 2024
• ”Interview,” Up Close with V.L. Cox, Andy Hammerstein, Connect Magazine, February 2024
• “Lest We Forget: VL Cox and Stephen Mangum’s Art Uses History to Forge a Better Future,” ÆQAI, January 2023
• “Interview,” Voyage Ohio, December 2022
• “Interview,” CALS, March 2022
• “The Most Important Moments in Art in 2020,” New York Times, Save Art Space / Art at a Time Like This - Ministry of Truth: 1984-2020
• “Ministry of Truth Now Open for Viewing,” FAD Magazine, London, November 2020
• “Ministry of Truth: 1984/2020, an Exhibition in Response to the Political Situation,” Somewhere Magazine, London, October 2020
• “Ministry of Truth: 20 Billboards across NYC Address Politics,” Whitewall Art, New York, October 2020
• “Leading Artists Create Billboards in Response to the Current U.S. Political State, Erected across the Five Boroughs of New York City” HYPEBEAST, Hong Kong, October 2020
• “An Orwell-inspired Billboard Project Considers the State of US Politics”,” Hyperallergic, September 2020
• “Arkansas Artist Opens Doors to Let Everyone in with Artwork Speaking up for Human Rights,” Arkansas Democrat Gazette, High Profile Section, May 10, 2020
• “V.L. Cox’s Search for Forgotten Rationality,” Soiree Magazine, October 21, 2019
• “Queer Artists in Their Own Words: V. L. Cox Fights for Equality from the Deep South,” Hyperallergic, June 5, 2019
• “Challenging the Narrative through Art,” Museums Conference, University of Leicester, UK, September 2018
• “Break Glass: The Art of V.L. Cox – A Conversation to End Hate,” Virginia Holocaust Museum, September 2018
• “Break Glass Exhibit at Rosa Parks Museum,” Montgomery Advisor, April 2018
• “Confronting Racism: A Conversation to End Hate,” RVA Magazine, August 2018
• “Breaking Glass: V.L. Cox Creates Art to End Hate,” GAYRVA Magazine, March 2018
• “A Much-Needed Conversation,” Montgomery Advertiser / USA Today Network, April 27, 2018
• “Door Sculptures Bring a Message to End Hate to DC”,” Creators/VICE Magazine, May 19, 2017
• “North Little Rock Artist Hopes Exhibit Starts Conversations about ‘Ugly ’Legacy’ of Bigotry,” Arkansas Democrat Gazette, October 22, 2017
• “V.L. ’Cox’s “Murder of Crows Tackles Hate Head-On,” Arkansas Times, March 3, 2016
• “Arkansan of the Year,” Arkansas Life Magazine, December 2015
• “Artist Spotlight,” Rock City Life, 2015
• “Visionary Arkansans,” Arkansas Times, August 2015
• “Visualize Freedom,” FORGE, The Magazine of Ellis College, Henderson State University, Summer 2015
• Arkansas Life Magazine, June 2015
• “Spotlight,” UALR, The Arkansas Journal of Social Change and Public Service, March 20, 2014

AWARDS AND HONORS

• Distinguished Alumni Award, Henderson State University, 2023
• Best Artist: Best of Arkansas People and Politics, Arkansas Times Magazine, 2019
• Best Artist: Best of Arkansas People and Politics, Arkansas Times Magazine, 2017
• Arkansan of the Year, Arkansas Life Magazine, 2015
• Best Artist: Best of Arkansas People and Politics, Arkansas Times Magazine, 2015
• Visionary Arkansan, Arkansas Times., 2015
• Distinguished Alumni Exhibition, Henderson State University, Arkadelphia, Arkansas, 2015
• Nomination: Governor’s Art Award, Little Rock, Arkansas, 2011
• Art across Arkansas, THEA Foundation and The Clinton Presidential Library, Little Rock, Arkansas, 2009
• Arkansas Governor’s Mansion, Little Rock, Arkansas, 2009-2015
• Selected for the U. S. State Department Invitation, Art in Embassies Program, Democratic Republic of Congo, 2008
• Selected for 50th Delta Exhibition, Arkansas Arts Center, Little Rock, Arkansas, 2007
• Selected for 1999 International Women’s Works, Juried by Susan Sensemann, , Chicago, Illinois, 2007
• Purchase Award. “Arkansas Arts Statewide Annual Art Competition,” Juried by nationally known photorealist Robert Cottingham, Little Rock, Arkansas, 1991

SELECTED COLLECTIONS

• The Morris Museum of Art, Augusta, Georgia
• Historic Arkansas Museum, Little Rock, Arkansas
• Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts, Little Rock, Arkansas
• Longwood Center for the Visual Arts Museum, Farmville, Virginia
• United States Department of Housing and Urban Development, Washington, D.C.
• Julia J. Norrell Collection, Washington, D.C.
• President William Jefferson Clinton, 42nd President of the United States, New York, NY
• Tyson World Headquarters Corporate Collection, Fayetteville, Arkansas
• Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute, Little Rock, Arkansas
• Acxiom Corporation, Little Rock, Arkansas
• Senator David and Barbara Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, Fayetteville, Arkansas

SPEAKING AND PRESENTATION

“Conversation with V.L. Cox (End Hate Doors)” honoring the historic vote in early May at the United Methodist Church’s General Conference to
remove 52 years of discriminatory language against the queer community in the denomination’s Book of Discipline, including marriage and ordination bans.

“How Direct Dialogue Through the Prism of Art Can Change Hearts and Minds” Ciena Corporation, Pride Global Webinar, June 2024

“Remaking American Democracy: The Ballot and Beyond” The Workers Circle, November 2022, New York, New York

End Hate/Social Justice, Columbia Climate School / Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory Secondary School Field Research Program (SSFRP), Palisades, New York

EDUCATION

1988-1991 BFA, Henderson State University

ORGANIZATIONS

• Gamma Xi Phi (ΓΞΦ), nation’s leading fraternal organization for artists. Charter Member of the Iota Chapter, serving Montgomery, Alabama, and Southeast Alabama.
• Mattachine Society, Washington, D.C., Advisory Board Member
• Henderson State University, Arkadelphia, Arkansas, Alumni Board Member