Valerie Noisette is a Haitian-American artist who was born in Queens, New York on February 1st, 1982. She spent the majority of her life in Chicago, and later on moved to Miami to complete her studies in International Relations. Since she was a child, she always had a fascination with Haiti and knew that one day she would find her way back to the land of her ancestors. The earthquake of 2010 in Haiti marked the beginning of Noisette’s spiritual quest as a visual artist and led her to explore a different dimension of her identity- a part of her that was dormant inside. Haiti became the place where her art began to flourish. Using her environment as her inspiration, and immersing herself in a culture that was part of her roots, yet foreign to her growing up, Valerie used art as a way to explore herself and her relationship to the world around her. Since moving to Haiti in 2010, Valerie has participated in several local exhibits, and her artwork was featured in various international exhibits: South Korea, Martinique, Guadeloupe, Romania, and the U.S. In addition, Valerie co-founded Kolektif 509, a platform used to support emerging and established contemporary Haitian artists. Since it was founded in 2014, Kolektif 509 has exposed the works of over 85 contemporary artists and has organized over 30+ exhibits. Valerie’s goal was to give more visibility to Haitian artists in Haiti by creating opportunities to showcase their work to a wider audience both locally and internationally. Through Kolektif 509, Valerie has organized community projects where she used art as a tool for social transformation for youth in vulnerable areas. Kolektif 509 has played an active role in the art world in Haiti and is one of the founders of: Contemporary Art Thursdays, which is held the last Thursdays of the month and is intended to stimulate dialogue around art and give artists opportunity to share their thoughts and ideas. Wearing three hats- artist, curator, and humanitarian- has allowed Valerie to have a 360 degree perspective on the world of art and she strongly believes that art can transform lives, bring communities together, and tackle social injustices in an innovative way.