Meet Deby Childress | Director- Bee Cave Arts Foundation

We had the good fortune of connecting with Deby Childress and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Deby, Let’s talk about principles and values – what matters to you most?
The mission of the Bee Cave Arts Foundation, a 501(c)3 non-profit is to improve the quality of life in our community and enhance the experience of visitors by bringing awareness, education and integration of a wide range of art throughout public spaces. Our organization always thinks of our community first. We are a Community Art Center. We exhibit artists from our community and surrounding areas. We exhibit student artwork from all the surrounding schools, public and private. We have an interactive kids’ area for parents to interact with their children in a creative environment We offer classes to all ages and summer camps for kids. Fundraising efforts support scholarships for students to help them with college expenses and to pay tuition for students to attend workshops and summer camps. We also use our funds to beautify our community, artist designed benches, outdoor sculpture park with plenty of picnic areas, and public art projects in our community for all to enjoy.
Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I have been in art education my whole career. working in museums, public and private schools, and community arts groups. I have seen over and over again how the arts can bring joy to people’s lives no matter what age they are. I have seen the arts truly transform people, keep kids in school and build self-esteem I truly believe that- “Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world.” ~Albert Einstein and that “Art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life.” ~Pablo Picasso Art has always brought me happiness and soothed my soul
Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Bee Cave is a small city on the southwest edge of Austin, Texas. Our little city is approximately 6 square miles with under 7000 people. With that being said there are many wonderful places to visit. The Bee Cave Arts Foundation has developed several wonderful locations for visitors to enjoy art. The Bee Cave Sculpture Park is a wonderful place to start. There are 30 outdoor sculptures to view, and it is a wonderful space to have a picnic in a seven-acre natural park with over 22 species of plants and a pond to enjoy. The Hive Community Art is a 4,500 square foot gallery offers exhibitions, classes, interactive family area, and special events. After visiting The Hive, you can walk next door to the Vista Brewery to enjoy locally brewed beer along with naturals food grown on their land or made of the honey from their beehives. Along the main street in front of The Hive you will find the Bees of Bee Cave Public Art Project. These ten beautiful five-foot Bees are painted by local artists and each is as different as the artist. You will also find the Benches of Bee Cave along this same route. Eleven artist designed benches provide a unique resting area for visitors. For a treat there is always Amy’s Ice Cream, Yogurt Planet, or Foliepops.
Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
Ann Graham the Executive Director of Texans for the Arts. Ann Graham became our angel a little over a year ago. Our organization. was thinking of producing a major outdoor public art Light Festival. that would be free and fun for all ages with all the wonderful help we received from Ann- her vision, her leadership, her encouragement and her words of wisdom we were able to feel confident to move forward with our biggest event ever and promote the arts in our community to their fullest. A big Thank You to Ann.

Website: www.beecavearts.org and www.beecavebuzzfest.com