Bernadette Corbeil was never one of those shopping mall girls. She was the only girl in shop class. “I just enjoyed working with my hands and building things,” she told CNN, noting how she learned to weld at the age of 10. Corbeil has since parlayed that early love and those skills into a nearly decade-long career in construction.
In the years leading up to the pandemic, the New York-based visual artist worked in an assortment of capacities including freelance muralist and painter, educator and art project coordinator. When the pandemic happened, it provided a moment for her to reflect on what she wanted to do professionally, she said. In October 2020, when she was teaching minority-owned businesses about how to work with the government, “it opened my eyes,” she said.