Biography/Resume
Born in Washington, DC in 1942, Patricia Lay-Dorsey has redefined herself many times over the years. In 1966 Patricia received a masters in social work (MSW) from Smith College School for Social Work in Northampton, Massachusetts. In her work with children at an inner city Detroit hospital, Patricia's husband Ed recognized an untapped talent for art. As a result, he gave her art supplies the Christmas of 1974. That gift enkindled a passion that led to Patricia's enrolling at Detroit’s Center for Creative Studies art college in 1976 to study life drawing, painting and sculpture. For over ten years Patricia immersed herself in the art world. She exhibited and sold her paintings and multi-media works, won awards and competitions, engaged in performance art – it was the ‘80s, after all – wrote art reviews for Detroit and Chicago publications, was an active member of an artists' cooperative gallery, and taught painting to adults and children. Long after Patricia had “left” the art scene, she continued to use art and writing as her primary tools for promoting social change. She came to call herself a "creative activist." After the first Gulf War in 1991, Patricia started facilitating weekly art therapy sessions at a global refugee shelter in Detroit. What she learned in her five years with children and adults from Rwanda, Burundi, El Salvador, Sri Lanka, Guatemala, Palestine, China, Nigeria and Algeria sent her out onto the streets as a committed peace activist. In 2002 Patricia responded to George Bush's rush to attack Iraq by co-founding the Raging Grannies of Detroit, a group of outrageous older women who had had enough of wars and openly sang their opposition at every possible opportunity. As a Raging Granny, Patricia engaged in countless vociferous demonstrations, but has come to believe that her silent solitary vigils - some for weeks at a time - in front of the White House and Congressional office buildings in Washington, DC were the most effective tools for peace...at least her own inner peace. That was when she learned the true meaning of nonviolence. After several unexplained falls in 1988, Patricia received a diagnosis of chronic progressive multiple sclerosis. She gradually moved from a cane to a walker – both of which she collaged and decorated in a whimsical manner - and finally graduated to a three-wheeled mobility scooter in June 2000. Patricia may no longer run marathons or bike 200-mile/322-km weekend tours as in years past, but she manages to stay fit with twice-a-week sessions at the gym with Matt, her trainer, and swimming laps 3-5 times a week winter and summer. In February 2000, Patricia started keeping a daily blog, in those days called a web journal. In December of that year Patricia bought a digital point-and-shoot camera so she could take photos to illustrate her written blog entries. By July 2006, she had become more interested in taking pictures than writing words, so she figured it was time to get serious about photography. She bought her first digital SLR camera, took a Fundamentals of Photography class, and was off and running. Her passion quickly became an obsession, one that grows more entrenched with each passing day. In 2008, Patricia started going public with her work. Since that time her photo essays have been featured on The New York Times Lens blog, and in LensWork, New Mobility and Burn magazines. Her photos have also appeared in Downbeat magazine, the Huffington Post, Swedenís Orkester Journalen, the Michigan Citizen newspaper and on the Pan-African News Wire. Patricia was a nominee for the 2008 Black and White Spider Awards. In March 2008 she was the Detroit location scout for Davis Guggenheim's documentary film, “It Might Get Loud." In the spring of 2009, Patricia had a solo gallery exhibit of her year-long photo project, "Active Elders." In autumn of that year, she was invited to participate in the first Burn Gallery group exhibits in Brooklyn, NY and Washington, DC. A longtime jazz-lover, Patricia’s portraits of musicians are currently being used for publicity by Fred Lonberg-Holm, Bruce Eisenbeil (Carnival Skin), Kurt Krahnke, Antares Quartet, and Isle of Klezbos. Patricia Lay-Dorsey and her husband Ed have lived in the Detroit area since their marriage in 1966. It is because of Ed, her loving anchor, that Patricia can soar.