About Valley Place Art Collaborative
Award winning artist, Luis Peralta Del Valle was born in Nicaragua in 1980 and migrated to the U.S. in 1986. At the age of 13 he started paint-ing graffiti murals in the District, Maryland and Virginia. A few years later at Bell Multicultural High School he began his formal artistic education, continuing his studies at the Corcoran College of Art and Design.
In 2013 Luis was selected as the winner of the East of the River Distin-guished Artist Award. That year he was also a finalist for the District of Columbia 28th Annual Mayor’s Arts Awards. These accomplishments preceded the presentation of the National Museum of Catholic Art and Library National Artist Award by Prince Lorenzo Maria De Medici in 2014, and his selection as the artist commissioned for the 2015 Beijing / District of Columbia Sister Cities Project. The latter project resulted in a panda statue painted by Del Valle that was given to the Mayor of Beijing as a state gift from Mayor Muriel Bowser. Del Valle is also the recipient of the 2015 National Museum of Catholic Art and Library Portrait Award. In 2017 Luis was honored with the NCIS Director’s Coin by NCIS direc-tor, Andrew L. Traver. In 2019 Luis was awarded 2nd place in the Chro-ma International Juried art exhibition by Art Impact international.
Luis received his first commission from the fitness franchise Body by Jake after his 16th birthday. Since then he has been commissioned by other businesses, foundations, public institutions, museums and private collectors to create murals, portraits, sculptures, and paintings of various themes. Luis has exhibited his works at various museums and institutions including; NCIS headquarters, V.A., Vatican City, The Embassy of Italy, The Frederick Douglass National Historic Site, The Historical Society of Washington DC, The Vatican Embassy in DC and the Frederick Douglass Isaac Myers Museum in Baltimore, MD.
Luis continues to grow his unique personal artistic sensibility remaining an active leader in the metropolitan arts world. His commitment to the arts community is well known in the District of Columbia and abroad.
Luis believes that artistic development is a critical element in community development; the arts facilitate improvement in quality of life by provid-ing tools to modify behaviors through the channeling of self- expression into productive work.
Luis Del Valle, President
Mēlani N. Douglass,
Board Member
Healer, conceptual artist and curator Mēlani N. Douglass is the founder of the awardwinning Family Arts Museum—a migratory institution focused on the celebration of family as fine art, home as curated space, and community as gallery. Inspired by the birth of her daughter, Mēlani started her own museum, reimagined her studio practice, and refined her innovative approach to community engagement, audience development, and exhibition design.
Mēlani’s art and life practice is rooted in rituals of healing informed by mitochondrial memories, ancestral technology, the web of interdependency, and communal connections. Sought out for her unique approach to community engagement, she works with museums, businesses, and other cultural institutions to redefine audience development using her Transformative Engagement Method to create symbiotic relationships between institutions and the public that move from inspiration to engagement and then action.
Mēlani was recently named East of the River Artist in Residence serving Ward 8 with a focus on Anacostia. She is currently the director of public programs at the National Museum of Women in the Arts. Her work has been highlighted by the New York Times, Atlas Obscura, Shondaland, Bmore Art, American Museum Alliance Magazine, Baltimore Magazine, Artnet, and National Geographic.
Executive Board
A Capitol Hill resident for 35 years, and now a 10-year resident of Anacostia, Adele is a founding member of Theater Alliance which was formed when she was on the board at the Capitol Hill Arts Workshop. In 2001 she and her late husband bought a property at 1365 H Street NE, Washington, DC, turning it into a small independent black box theater. This theater, The H Street Playhouse, proved to be one of the catalysts for the explosive growth that has happened on this corridor—a commercial strip that had remained mostly boarded up since the 1968 riots. In 2009 the theater was the recipient of the Committee of 100s Vision Award as well as the Herrema Architectural Award for Adaptive reuse. She has been intimately involved in local economic development, first as a member of the H Street Merchants Association and then as a board member of the H Street Main Street organization, she has also been a member of CHAMPS, Capitol Hill Chamber of Commerce and is a recipient of the Capitol Hill Community Achievement Award. In Anacostia she serves on the board of and is a member of the executive committee of the Anacostia Business Improvement District. She was recently elected to the board of St. Coletta School.
In 2012 she founded the Anacostia Playhouse which opened its doors in August 2013. The Playhouse now serves as a neighborhood hub for the performing arts drawing participants and audience from both sides of the Anacostia River. As such it helps play an integral role in the economic revitalization of historic Anacostia and Ward 8. In 2014 she and her daughter, Julia, were awarded the Washington Post Innovative Leadership Award as part of the Helen Hayes Awards. In January 2022 she stepped down to help fund Valley Place Arts Collaborative formed to support East of the River artists in all disciplines and to bring productions, events and arts education into our community.
An actor and freelance graphic artist, she co-founded the successful Voice of the Hill newspaper, which was sold in 2007. She has served in the Capitol Hill public schools, fashioning after school programs for at-risk children. A graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, she is the recipient of that school’s Alumni Award of Merit.
Adele Robey, Secretary
Jay Sun is a multi-dimensional artist. Born and raised in Washington DC’s Anacostia region, he has been a community leader in arts, sports and politics. After graduating from the University of the District of Columbia in 2000, he worked as a writer and producer for Black Entertainment Television. He is a recipient of an NAACP Image award for his work on Teen Summit and was featured on ABC Nightline with Dan Rather for his work on Cita’s World.
In 2003, Jay returned to DC to start his own production company and to help build his community in Anacostia. Since then, he has completed films, stage plays, workshops and albums that have greatly contributed to the culture of Washington DC.
Jay has been an advocate for youth development and alternate education, partnering with organizations such as The Southeast White House, DC Dream Center, Global Kids, Shaw Community Center and several other youth based non-profit organizations for over 20 years. Eventually partnering with members of his own community to form their own non-profit, Cedar United, Inc.
One of Jay’s proudest accomplishments is coordinating an after-school program at Anacostia High School and also coaching varsity football and basketball.
In 2006 and 2010, Jay Sun campaigned for mayor of Washington DC to highlight the political contradictions his community faces and to heighten awareness about local electoral politics.
Jay has had several artist residencies with John Hopkins University, Sibley Hospital, Washington Performing Arts and Honfleur Gallery.
His mission is to heal the world through art
Jay Sun is a multi-dimensional artist. Born and raised in Washington DC’s Anacostia region, he has been a community leader in arts, sports and politics. After graduating from the University of the District of Columbia in 2000, he worked as a writer and producer for Black Entertainment Television. He is a recipient of an NAACP Image award for his work on Teen Summit and was featured on ABC Nightline with Dan Rather for his work on Cita’s World.
In 2003, Jay returned to DC to start his own production company and to help build his community in Anacostia. Since then, he has completed films, stage plays, workshops and albums that have greatly contributed to the culture of Washington DC.
Jay has been an advocate for youth development and alternate education, partnering with organizations such as The Southeast White House, DC Dream Center, Global Kids, Shaw Community Center and several other youth based non-profit organizations for over 20 years. Eventually partnering with members of his own community to form their own non-profit, Cedar United, Inc.
One of Jay’s proudest accomplishments is coordinating an after-school program at Anacostia High School and also coaching varsity football and basketball.
In 2006 and 2010, Jay Sun campaigned for mayor of Washington DC to highlight the political contradictions his community faces and to heighten awareness about local electoral politics.
Jay has had several artist residencies with John Hopkins University, Sibley Hospital, Washington Performing Arts and Honfleur Gallery.
His mission is to heal the world through art
Jason Anderson
(Jay Sun),
Founding Member
John A. Johnson is a Native Washingtonian and is the 2022 Artist in Residence at the Honfleur Art Gallery in Washington DC. He is the founder and creator of Verbal Gymnastics Theater Company and also moonlights as a Poet/Playwright. Mr. Johnson holds a B.A. in theater form the University of the District of Columbia and uses his background in theater to create a unique interactive experience when writing and performing. Mr. Johnson has worked as a drama therapist with a partnership with the Districts Youth Services Center. Some of Mr. Johnson's early career accolades include being a published author of a book of poetry called Love for Her. He has written and produced six plays that reflect and celebrate the culture of his native city Washington DC. He has also been a three-time Artist Fellow of the DC Arts Commission.
Other honors include participation in Sounds of the Underground DC HIP HOP Theatre festival one act plays. His most recent contribution is to a radio project at American University WAMU 88.5 in conjunction with the Association of Independent Radio called Anacostia Unmapped which captures the narratives of local residents in rapidly changing communities East of the River in Washington D.C. Mr. Johnson has been recently exploring an innovative form of theatre/storytelling called Playback Theatre which he performed at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC, where he used his experience in theater to explore the emotional impact of September 11 with improvisational storytelling. Playback Theatre is now giving area-wide performances to a wide variety of audiences helping foster meaningful discussions about race, generational disparities, and economic challenges that come with development in Washington, DC with residents that live in the predominately African American neighborhoods.
John A. Johnson, Treasurer
Jay Sun is a multi-dimensional artist. Born and raised in Washington DC’s Anacostia region, he has been a community leader in arts, sports and politics. After graduating from the University of the District of Columbia in 2000, he worked as a writer and producer for Black Entertainment Television. He is a recipient of an NAACP Image award for his work on Teen Summit and was featured on ABC Nightline with Dan Rather for his work on Cita’s World.
In 2003, Jay returned to DC to start his own production company and to help build his community in Anacostia. Since then, he has completed films, stage plays, workshops and albums that have greatly contributed to the culture of Washington DC.
Jay has been an advocate for youth development and alternate education, partnering with organizations such as The Southeast White House, DC Dream Center, Global Kids, Shaw Community Center and several other youth based non-profit organizations for over 20 years. Eventually partnering with members of his own community to form their own non-profit, Cedar United, Inc.
One of Jay’s proudest accomplishments is coordinating an after-school program at Anacostia High School and also coaching varsity football and basketball.
In 2006 and 2010, Jay Sun campaigned for mayor of Washington DC to highlight the political contradictions his community faces and to heighten awareness about local electoral politics.
Jay has had several artist residencies with John Hopkins University, Sibley Hospital, Washington Performing Arts and Honfleur Gallery.
His mission is to heal the world through art
Mēlani N. Douglass,
Board Member
Healer, conceptual artist and curator Mēlani N. Douglass is the founder of the awardwinning Family Arts Museum—a migratory institution focused on the celebration of family as fine art, home as curated space, and community as gallery. Inspired by the birth of her daughter, Mēlani started her own museum, reimagined her studio practice, and refined her innovative approach to community engagement, audience development, and exhibition design.
Mēlani’s art and life practice is rooted in rituals of healing informed by mitochondrial memories, ancestral technology, the web of interdependency, and communal connections. Sought out for her unique approach to community engagement, she works with museums, businesses, and other cultural institutions to redefine audience development using her Transformative Engagement Method to create symbiotic relationships between institutions and the public that move from inspiration to engagement and then action.
Mēlani was recently named East of the River Artist in Residence serving Ward 8 with a focus on Anacostia. She is currently the director of public programs at the National Museum of Women in the Arts. Her work has been highlighted by the New York Times, Atlas Obscura, Shondaland, Bmore Art, American Museum Alliance Magazine, Baltimore Magazine, Artnet, and National Geographic.