Venus Williams is helping to save the childhood home of music icon and civil rights activist Nina Simone.
The tennis champion, who is also an entrepreneur and arts patron, has been working with the National Trust for Historic Preservation and its African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund to restore and preserve the Nina Simone Childhood Home. Williams teamed up with artist Adam Pendleton to curate artworks sold at an online auction and in-person exhibition to benefit the project.
"Nina Simone's legacy is what put people like me on the map today. I have opportunities to do what I love, pursue my dream because of the work that she and many others like her have put in," Williams said in a film put out by Pace Gallery, where the auction exhibition and gala was held Saturday. "People don't know enough about what she's done."
