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Roanoke Valley Sister Cities facilitates connections with seven international cities.
Courtesy of Sister Cities
Although the Roanoke Valley is the cultural and economic hub of Southwest Virginia, it’s not the largest metropolitan area in the commonwealth. However, that doesn’t stop it from enjoying an international reputation. One of the most notable ways the valley engages with foreign countries is through the nonprofit Roanoke Valley Sister Cities.
The organization was founded in 1964 with an initial sister city in South Korea. It’s part of Sister Cities International, which was launched during a 1956 White House summit on citizen diplomacy by President Dwight D. Eisenhower.
Today, the organization maintains sister city connections with seven countries, spanning four continents. The cities include Wonju, South Korea; Kisumu, Kenya; Pskov, Russia; Florianopolis, Brazil; Opole, Poland; Lijiang, China; and Saint-Lô, France.
Sister cities are often paired based on historical ties or similarities in size. Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, efforts have been underway to form a connection with a Ukrainian city. However, it likely won’t solidify until after the war is settled. A Hispanic sister city is also of interest to the community.
Funding for the exchanges comes from numerous sources, including grants from the City of Roanoke and Roanoke County to be used for their respective sister cities, member fees and donations.
Courtesy of Sister Cities
Ginkgo Festival
The organization is divided into committees, with each city having its own committee that is responsible for facilitating interactions.
To make the community aware of the organization’s efforts, it engages in several events, including the Taubman Museum of Art functions like the Lunar New Year festivities and Roanoke Arts Pop, the Local Colors Festival and the Ginkgo Tree Festival in Century Plaza in November.
The organization is led by Mary Jo Fassié, who serves as the president. After seeing an announcement in a local newspaper in the 1990s that Roanoke Valley Sister Cities was working to form a connection with Saint-Lô, she decided to become a member, which made perfect sense because her husband is French and she was a Roanoke City Public Schools French teacher at the time. She has since led five delegations to France.
“It develops long-lasting friendships,” she says of the organization. In fact, she stays with the same woman in Saint-Lô when she visits and emails with her weekly.
Types of Connections
Courtesy of Sister Cities
Thiago at Wilson Hughes gallery mural with Mary Jo Fassié
The ties between the cities are maintained through artistic, educational, medical, municipal, social, humanitarian and business exchanges.
Artist exchanges are a prominent feature of the organization. “Art is an international way of communicating with people,” Fassié says. “It really gets people together to share their talents, their culture.”
The Opole connection has primarily been focused on the arts, with Roanoke sending artists to Opole and Opole sending musicians to Roanoke. Unlike most of the other cities, Opole is paired with Roanoke County.
Courtesy of Sister Cities
Joe Cobb at Sister Cities Conference
A recent exchange with Florianopolis involved a Brazilian artist, Thiago Valdi. He came to Roanoke in September and October to work on two murals, one on the side of the Wilson Hughes gallery and another at 11th Street and Moorman Avenue with Roanoke muralist Jonathan Murrill. While in Roanoke, he met with members of the organization to discuss his background and career.
Saint-Lô, which largely focuses on education, is an active connection. Local students travel to the city yearly for an internship, while French students come to Roanoke to volunteer for local nonprofits, like at the Taubman Museum of Art.
The Wonju, Florianopolis, Opole and Saint-Lô connections also operate through arrangements with medical universities and the Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine. Recently, a medical student from Wonju was in Roanoke and two Roanoke-based students traveled to Wonju.
Visits by Roanoke members to sister cities, as well as visits by sister city residents to Roanoke, often occur outside of the established connections.
Experiences of Members
Want to read more about Roanoke Valley Sister Cities, including the incredible cultural experiences members have had? Check out the latest issue, now on newsstands, or see it for free in our digital guide linked below!
The story above is a preview from our May/June 2024 issue. For more stories like it, Subscribe Today. Thank you!