Farewell to Lucy Faye Hollis

By Anne B. Pope, Executive Director –

The arts in Tennessee lost a great arts champion when Lucy Faye Hollis passed from this life on August 6. Lucy served on the Tennessee Arts Commission board from 1992 to 1996, and was chair in 1995. During that time she was also the executive director for the Tullahoma Fine Arts Center, which she led for three decades, retiring in 2010. Under her leadership, the Center hosted hundreds of exhibitions and taught classes to adults and youth. Lucy established the Tullahoma Fine Arts & Crafts Festival that attracted hundreds of artists from the Southeast. She also brought to the center the National Watercolor Exhibit of America, an event that typically exhibits at larger venues.

Lucy was herself an accomplished award-winning artist, but her service extended beyond the arts. She was a previous winner of the Tullahoma Kiwanis Citizen of Year Award and she served generously on many other boards, including  the Tennessee’s Backroads Heritage Board of Directors, Arnold Engineering Development Center Women’s Club, National Water Color Society and Morning Rotary. Her legacy will continue in the many lives she touched, and she will be remembered here at the Commission for her dedication to moving communities forwards through the arts.