Venus Williams‘ love and admiration for world-renowned music legend and civil rights activist Nina Simone is well known. She has hailed Simone’s work and legacy to be an inspiration for herself and many others like her across the globe. Williams, also known to be an arts patron, has been on a mission to preserve and restore the childhood home of Nina Simone in collaboration with the National Trust for Historic Preservation. According to her, the success of the project had a profound impact, more than the immense wealth she has accumulated in her tennis career.

Recently, the tennis champion co-curated artworks along with artist Adam Pendleton to be sold at an online auction and in-person exhibition at New York’s Pace Gallery to raise funds for the preservation project. She took to Instagram to express her gratitude for being able to contribute to this noble project.

Venus Williams is grateful for being part of the Nina Simone project

The auction exhibition for the fundraiser of the project was held at the Pace Gallery in New York last Saturday. The event turned out to be a huge success, with the 7-time grand slam singles champion flaunting a stunning Louis Vuitton attire at the gala. Still reeling over the success of the fundraising exhibition, Venus Williams recently expressed her gratitude for being able to be a part of preserving Simone’s legacy in an Instagram story. She shared Pace Gallery’s post about the event on the story, with the caption, “Being a part of preserving Nina Simone’s legacy was a dream come true for me 🌟🌟 this is what life is about!🌟”

The auction, conducted by Sotheby’s, was a great success. They comfortably outdid their stated target by collecting close to $6 million for the restoration project. After sharing such a heartfelt and overwhelming reaction to her association with the project, Williams, with a current net worth of $95 million, emphasized the fact that life’s pleasures are always found in such noble acts. Her involvement in this $6 million aid for a ‘dream’ project made her grateful for life, which perhaps even her enormous wealth was unable to do.

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The project was made possible by the efforts of Williams and various other artists

As Nina Simone’s childhood home was on the verge of being demolished in 2017, four artists from New York stepped in. Painter Adam Pendleton, sculptor-painter Rashid Johnson, filmmaker and collage artist Ellen Gallagher, and abstract artist Julie Mehretu purchased the house situated in North Carolina in a bid to restore the property and preserve Simone’s legacy. After this, they joined hands with Venus Williams and the National Trust for Historic Preservation to bring their vision to full fruition. The auction exhibit held at Pace Gallery comprised artworks from various other artists apart from the four.

Just like Venus herself, it was truly heartwarming for all her fans to see her being associated with the legacy restoration project of the late music legend.

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