Beth Foley Barnes is increasing access to the arts in Leflore County in her position as Executive Director at ArtPlace Mississippi in Greenwood.
Barnes is originally from a small town in Northeast New Jersey called Hillsdale. She attended Fordham University and graduated with a Business degree with a concentration in Marketing.
“After college, I worked in advertising and went through training programs at Young & Rubicam and J. Walter Thompson,” says Barnes. “On the job training has defined my educational growth. I have had many hilarious jobs over the years.”
Barnes spent most of her adult life living in New York City, and that is where she met her significant other, Brian.
“My husband, Brian Barnes, and I decided to move to Greenwood fifteen years ago when our daughter was a baby so he could work in his family’s business, Barnes Paper & Janitorial Supply,” says Barnes. “Brian and I had been living in Brooklyn, New York and had the opportunity to move to a small town and we wanted to give it a try.”
They are now the proud parents of two daughters and two rescue dogs in Greenwood.
According to Barnes, the most formative job experiences for her have been; working at her aunt’s retail store, babysitting, and waiting tables. The skills she learned from those experiences inform her everyday in her work as director.
“When I first arrived in Greenwood, I worked at Hammons & Associates and my Client was Paige Hunt,” says Barnes. “The opportunity to work with the Hammons team and meet a life long friend helped me fall in love with Greenwood. Once I had a bestie in Paige, a dog, and a yard – I wasn’t looking back to the big city.”
After settling into Greenwood, Barnes began to volunteer at ArtPlace while her children were going through the programing. When they began looking for a director, Barnes says she received three phone calls in one day about the opportunity.
“I was doubtful,” says Barnes. “I agreed to meet with ArtPlace and talk about what they were looking for. By the end of the meeting, we had a plan and I realized this opportunity was knocking for a reason.”
Passion, intellectual curiosity, ideas, and change for a better tomorrow are what push Barnes to continue her work. Barnes says she is motivated by the fact that Greenwood is where she has chosen to raise her family and she wants it to flourish.
“Friendship, faith, and the love of my family drive me,” says Barnes.
Barnes says everyday at ArtPlace is different with “a whirlwind of ideas and tasks”.
“As Executive Director, my main focus is to ensure that ArtPlace Mississippi stays on mission,” says Barnes. “Creativity is a unique skill. Creativity and artistic ability don’t go away with age, but access to creative opportunities and self-confidence in artistic opportunities fades over time.”
According to Barnes, she is in charge of grant writing, art supply inventory, fundraising, and marketing.
“The future leaders of the Delta are the children that attend our Leflore Early Arts Project,” says Barnes. “The student that spends all their time at the lego table is a future engineer.”
Barnes says her goal is to continue to advocate for the delta through growing the arts programing with the students in mind.
“As a person grows, their arts education can also grow,” says Barnes. “ArtPlace is an incredible organization that has a bright future.”
When not working, you can find Barnes; in Cook Book Club, spending time with her daughters, walking her dogs, reading spy novels or historical fiction, listening to podcasts, playing tennis, or creating art. She is also a member of Altrusia and a past president of Delta Garden Club.