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Transcript
My name is Renay Warren. I was born and grew up on the Lower Hill District, approximately 5 minutes away from the Center and attended Miller Elementary School actually, which was directly across the street from where I lived and 5th Ave. High School as well as Brashear High school and actually I came here to the Center as a kid when it was called the Ozanam Center, and I belonged to a volleyball tournament and we played right outside here in the parking garage.
I had a wonderful childhood. I was blessed with two incredible parents and as a kid, I always had a great interest in the arts and my parents really nurtured my creativity. I can recall my dad working very hard to buy me my first sewing machine, but there was a time when I really wanted to design clothing for Broadway musicals that went in a different direction, but that was an initial goal and my parents were very instrumental in supporting that.
Art has been a gift to me. It’s a gift that was given to me by God. I come from a very artistic family where I have a brother that’s a chef. I have a sister that’s an artist, so I think it’s basically in our DNA. My dad was a Carpenter. self-taught a business owner, and I would watch him in admiration because at that time period there were very, very few African American men that owned a business. I would watch his talents and I think it was just innate that that talent was given to me, but in a different sense.
I went to Penn State, spent my first two years at Penn State Altoona, and the last two years at State College. So Penn State wasn’t the goal. The Fashion Institute of Technology was the goal, and that just wasn’t the direction. I guess I was supposed to go at that point, but I did find a great deal of joy and excitement in the direction in which I ended up. I’ve worked for some of the best stores and most upscale stores in the city as a buyer, so I did get those opportunities to spend a great deal of time in New York and would do buying trips to New York. A buyer is someone that works in the store and they actually purchase the clothing. When you go into a store and shop, all the clothing that is there, was purchased by a buyer, so I’ve had wonderful experiences where I’ve met designers that have been launching their careers where I’ve attended these events and parties with some of your top designers in the country. It’s been a great experience, one that I don’t take lightly. They rebuilt the Hill, the homes look wonderful, but there’s nothing to support that. That energy is lacking from a business perspective, I think something that’s lacking is the lack of business. There’s no restaurant I would like to see wonderful small restaurants in the area, a place where you can just go and have a great meal. Go with a friend, be able to converse and enjoy yourself. There’s really no activities. Look at the grocery store. There’s nowhere to shop. It would be wonderful to have a collection of small, unique shops and restaurants in the area to support the people that live here. To grant them something to enjoy. There’s been a wonderful change in the housing and that’s always positive and you pray with those changes that there are other changes that come along to support that.
I hope all the young ladies that sit here every Tuesday with me and take an art class, I hope that it touches them. I hope that inspires them. I hope that I am showing them more than art and that they realize that what I’m trying to convey to them is not just the artistic side, but also the side of me that cares about your future, that cares about your well-being, that cares about your present state of mind. I see so much creativity in young African American women, and I see a whole world that is open to you. There are pitfalls and I think it’s all about that sense of empowerment to realize how much power you really have to realize how beautiful you actually are. To realize that anything that you really, really want to do, you have the ability to achieve it.