Murfreesboro Resident to Serve as FY2019 Tennessee Arts Commission Vice Chair

Nashville—Murfreesboro arts leader, Andrea Loughry will serve as the Tennessee Arts Commission Vice-Chair. The appointment began July 1, 2018, and will continue for a year. The Commission members unanimously approved new leadership during the quarterly meeting held in Nashville on May 30, 2018. Steve Bailey of Knoxville who will serve as chair and Hank Dye of Townsend who will serve as secretary join Loughry in office.

Anne B. Pope, Tennessee Arts Commission Executive Director commented, “We are excited to welcome Mrs. Loughry as our incoming vice-chair. She is a committed community and arts leaders in Murfreesboro and Rutherford County, and has been a strong voice at the Commission for the past several years. We will benefit from her experience as long-time arts advocate and champion.”

Andrea Loughry was appointed for a five-year term to the Tennessee Arts Commission in 2014.

“I was honored to be appointed by Governor Haslam to serve my community and state in this capacity. I have seen how Murfreesboro and Rutherford County have benefitted from strong arts and culture. Now moving into this leadership position, I hope that I can contribute even more in helping move all of Tennessee’s schools and communities forward through the arts,” said Loughry.

Andrea is Secretary of the Jones Foundation, serves on the Siegel Foundation board and on the Board of Trustees for The First United Methodist Church in Murfreesboro. She also currently chairs the Ned Ray McWherter Institute at UT Martin and is President Emeritus of Miller-Loughry-Beach, one of the largest insurance agencies in Middle Tennessee.

A graduate of the University of Tennessee, she taught for ten years at MTSU and then opened an independent insurance agency. She later became the founding chair of the Mind2Marketplace, an organization dedicated to bringing the best and brightest ideas in Middle Tennessee to reality. Andrea is also former Vice-Chair of the University of Tennessee Board of Trustees and former Chair of the UT Foundation. She served as the first female chair of the Rutherford County Chamber of Commerce and has been selected as one of their Business Legends.

The Tennessee Arts Commission is a state arts agency whose mission is to cultivate the arts for the benefit of all Tennesseans and their communities. A 15-member board that is appointed by the Governor for a five-year term governs the Tennessee Arts Commission. The Commission meetings occur quarterly and are open to the public. More information about the Tennessee Arts Commission can be found at the website, tnartscommission.org.

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