Pacia Anderson joined RAC in November 2021 as the Community Arts Training Institute (CAT) Program Lead. A graduate of the 2014 Cherokee Street CAT cohort, she has worked with RAC in a variety of capacities, including her roles as a founding Teaching Artist Institute facilitator, and as Project Manager of the Canvass Project pilot program.
Pacia’s professional work meets at the intersection of arts-learning, youth advocacy, and community development. She firmly believes in the power of collective work and operates from a personal philosophy that we are all responsible for the growth and wellbeing of one another. Her literary and visual arts practice centers communication, critical thought, and the reclamation of the cultural traditions of the African diaspora.
Pacia is an active collaborator across a broad spectrum of arts and community organizations. Her current partnerships include: Americans for the Arts, National Endowment for the Arts, Springboard to Learning, COCA, Freedom Arts Education Center, Good Journey Development Foundation, St. Louis Artist Guild, and the Cherokee Street Community Improvement District, among others. Pacia is an Urban Bush Women SLI alumnus, a New Leaders Council-St. Louis alumnus, and has trained with Lincoln Center Education. She is also a founding member of the youth-based art camp Cherokee Street Reach. In 2020, Pacia was named the Community Impact Artist by the St. Louis Visionary Awards. She currently serves on the boards of St. Louis Art Place, St. Louis Poetry Center, and Volunteer Lawyers and Accountants for the Arts.
Pacia received her Associate in Arts degree from Southwestern Illinois College in 2013.