Athlete and artist Vernon Davis will receive this year’s Art in Action Art Visionary Award for his work promoting arts education for youth from disadvantaged backgrounds.
Football star Davis, a former San Francisco 49er and current Denver Bronco, is also the founder of Vernon Davis Foundation for the Arts.
The award will be presented at Art in Action’s annual benefit, “Object: Art,” March 3 at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, the nonprofit announced.
Davis majored in studio art in college and has maintained his connection to the arts throughout his NFL career and beyond. In 2010, he founded the Vernon Davis Visual Arts Scholarship Fund and, later, the Vernon Davis Foundation for the Arts, which provides scholarships to art students and grants to nonprofits.
“The dream in my heart was always to pursue the arts. I want to help young people find new ways to express themselves, to lift their spirits and fulfill their dreams through an arts education,” Davis said in a press release.
Art in Action brings visual arts education to local elementary and middle schools. Funds raised at the benefit will support curriculum development, teacher and volunteer training and art materials.
The event will feature cocktails, food and a silent auction with art-themed prizes. Individual tickets are $140.
For tickets, visit Art in Action.