COLUMBUS — Columbus Arts Council has a new face at the helm to carry on its mission of encouraging the area’s art community.

The nonprofit announced Quan Walker as its new executive director at a reception and gallery opening Thursday evening at the Rosenzweig Arts Center. Walker told The Dispatch Wednesday that she started the role in October. She hopes to use the position to bring more new faces into the arts council, she said, as art and the arts council is for everyone.

“The Columbus Arts Council is committed to fostering creativity, making the arts accessible to everyone and enriching our community through culture,” Walker said. “Supporting the arts is investing in a vibrant and connected future.”

Former executive director Salem Gibson resigned from the position in July. After his resignation, the arts council board formed a hiring committee and started advertising for a new executive director. However, the search led to a face that was already familiar.

Walker was serving on the arts council’s board, she said, but she decided to resign from the board to apply for the position. She then went through the board’s interview process.

Columbus Arts Council Board Treasurer Josh Hartley said she was the best applicant for the role, and he is looking forward to what she does in the position.

“She is very talented and very engaged,” Hartley said. “She knows what needs to be done. She’s a people person. She’s very… plugged into the community. And I really think she’s going to do a great job. And she was by far, head and shoulders, the best candidate.”

Columbus Arts Council Board Secretary Jack King said he looks forward to seeing the atmosphere that Walker creates for the arts council.

“I’m glad that the Columbus Arts Council has acquired a great new director that has a very diverse vision and approach to the arts,” King said. “Not only is she amazing at coming up with creative solutions for problems we’ve had in our community, but also gathering people together.”

Walker grew up in Flint, Michigan, and she has a background in nursing. But after a marriage brought her to Columbus in 2011, she spent a few years as a housewife until her children were in school, she said.

But in 2016, Walker started looking for ways to become more active and involved in the community. She found the local branch of the United Way, which has since expanded to include seven counties and changed its name to the United Way of the Golden Triangle Region.

Eventually, Walker was hired as the assistant to the executive director at the United Way, and then she was promoted to volunteer director a year later. She served in the volunteer director role until she resigned to take on her new position at the arts council.

While Walker is not personally an artist, she said she has a deep admiration for art, and she loves connecting people with resources to help them flourish in their fields.

“I love art and I admire people who can do certain things, and I would love to push them to grow and to have whatever they need to be the best that they can be in that field,” Walker said. “…I want everyone to have a space to be creative.”

In keeping with her mission of connecting artists with resources, Walker has already scheduled an event on Jan. 23, where the arts council will host informational sessions on grant opportunities from the Mississippi Arts Commission.

To reach her goal of connecting with a diverse community, Walker said she hopes to bring a variety of art mediums into the arts council’s gallery space. She also hopes to bring back more classes to the arts council, and she is looking for teachers to help facilitate that goal.

Walker also hopes to reach out to local schools and homeschool groups to bring educational art programs to school children.

Otherwise, Walker said, she hopes to bring different events to the arts council, including some older ideas that may have been pushed to the backburner and new art forms – like comedy shows or other live performances. Walker also hopes to partner with other organizations to “put the arts council back on the map” and recognize art in all forms.

“I want people to recognize that everything we wear – from the glasses on our faces to the shoes on our feet – began as a work of art,” Walker said. “Every item we put on, from jewelry to pajamas, has its roots in the creativity of an artist.”

Walker also hopes to put together a comprehensive calendar of events including the arts council’s plans for the year and to use the arts council’s newsletter to keep those interested up to date on the group’s goings-on.

For more information on the arts council, visit columbusartscouncil.com.