Ohio University alumna Andrea Lewis is ecstatic about her new position as the director of the Dairy Barn Arts Center of Athens, she said.
Lewis, who officially started the job on Tuesday, still has some settling in to do. But she hopes to breathe new life into the Dairy Barn, she said.
Andrea is the story of how the right determination and the right resources can produce such results
said Elizabethe Kramer, board president for the Dairy Barn Arts Center. Most importantly to us she is the face of the Dairy Barn. She is the personality that we want associated with our art center.
As executive director, Lewis is responsible for fund raising and development, day-to-day operations and management of staff and activities, Kramer said.
After graduating with a degree in art history, Lewis was a managing agent of a local insurance company and most recently the business manager of a biotechnology company in Athens.
It is difficult to find career opportunities in art, Lewis said, so she was pleased to see the Dairy Barn position advertised in the paper. The position will allow her to incorporate her background in art with her business skills.
Lewis was considered an underdog for the job, up against qualified applicants across the country, Kramer said.
Her enthusiasm personality and true passion for the Dairy Barn and Athens
Ohio
made her the best candidate by far
and we made a great decision.
Lewis and her husband were high school sweethearts in their hometown of Youngstown. After graduating from OU, they decided to stay in Athens and currently reside here with their two children.
We grew to really love the area and wanted to stay and raise our family here
Lewis said. We do have a very rich cultural heritage in southeastern Ohio.
The Dairy Barn focuses on regional artists but also features national and international artists, said Lee Gray, program director.
Lewis is planning a community clean-up time to promote a fresh look for the spring
she said, as she proudly showed off the galley of watercolors currently showing at the center.
I think it's terrific that Andrea is an OU grad
said Lisa Quinn, education director at the Dairy Barn. Quinn hopes that Lewis' knowledge of the university programs and faculty will help foster the close relationship the center has always maintained with the university, she said.
The Dairy Barn offers a large spectrum of classes for children, starting at age 3, as well as for adults. The center is currently working on a partnership with OU's Kennedy Museum on a project to get children involved in art.
Lewis's daughter, Emma, 3, will be attending her first art class Saturday. Lewis also has a son, Andrew, 1.
It's great to have somebody that can appreciate art education on that level and understand the value of that for their children
Quinn said.
Lewis enjoys artistic projects with her children now that they are old enough but puts her own artistic pursuits on the back burner, she said. Raising a family in addition to having a career is a tough job, she said.
At times it's stressful
but I feel I'm a more productive person when I'm busy
