Bigfork Art and Cultural Center welcomes new executive director

Laura Hodge has worn many hats over the course of her career.

Wilderness campaign leader.

Art gallery owner.

County tourism director.

Now, she can add executive director of the Bigfork Art and Cultural Center to that list. In mid-October, Hodge stepped into her new role where she’ll be tasked with curating art exhibits, fundraising and developing programs for the center. Her predecessor, Cheryl Hanes, retired in early October after more than a year in the position. Hanes first got involved as a volunteer in 2016 and was hired as the executive director in January 2018.

“I cannot express to you how honored and blessed I feel for the years spent here … meeting so many of you, becoming good friends with so many of you,” Hanes wrote in a July email. “It has changed my life, it has deepened my understanding of ‘art’ in all its forms, and it has brought me a world of happiness and joy!”

But Hodge brings her own unique skill set to the job.

She prides herself on building relationships with people and fostering community — and she has the work experience to back it up.

“I loved her passion,” said BACC treasurer Karin Henion. “She was so excited about being in the community, because that’s what Bigfork is. We really are a community.”

Hodge relocated to the Flathead Valley from Asheville, North Carolina, when her husband Bill, took a job as the executive director of the Bob Marshall Wilderness Foundation.

“We’ve always had an affinity for Montana,” Hodge said. “We’ve vacationed down here many times.”

The 52-year-old has a decade of natural resource advocacy experience, from when she and her husband Bill, led a successful campaign to pass legislation that would protect 20,000 acres of land in the Cherokee National Forest in east Tennessee. Before that, Hodge owned Cocker Creek Gallery and worked to preserve traditional Appalachian crafts through a series of classes at the nonprofit, Cocker Creek Heritage Group. In her role as county tourism director in Monroe County, Tennessee, she was part of an effort to keep her town’s post office open, develop a community map and draw tourists to the area. She’s also an avid nature and outdoor adventure photographer and budding watercolor painter.

Her vision is to widen the cultural center’s audience and come up with ways for more people to interact with art, like expanding class offerings and hosting artist demonstrations.

“I know one thing people really loved when they came into my shop was to see somebody working, to see how these things are made,” she said, sipping on a hot chocolate at the Pocketstone Cafe. “I think they really make more of a connection with it … than just walking in and seeing a painting on the wall. We have incredible quality of art and fine craft, handmade things. I think it’s important for people to understand what goes into that.”

The cultural center has long been a fixture in the downtown landscape, often featuring local talents on its walls and celebrating the town’s narrative through the Bigfork History Project — a documentary and library of community stories.

Like many locations in Bigfork, the center isn’t open year-round. However, Hodge is considering the possibility of opening the center’s doors on a select basis during the slower winter months to provide locals with another way to keep busy.

“We’d definitely like to offer more in the way of classes or ways for people to engage with art,” Hodge said. “I want people to say, ‘I wonder what’s going on at the art center?’ I want people to think about it and wonder what we’re doing.” ¦

Editor Mackenzie Reiss can be reached at (406) 758-4433 or editor@bigforkeagle.com.