Most Impactful Board Member: Holly Nunn, Capital Arts
Capital Arts is a nonprofit community art gallery with a mission to encourage, promote, and support the arts in Jefferson City and the surrounding areas. Since the gallery doors first opened in January 2009, Capital Arts has exhibited hundreds of artists and displayed thousands of pieces.
Holly Nunn has served on the Capital Arts board for eight years, starting as secretary and then serving as president for the past seven years. She currently works in the banking industry, but her parents took her to galleries and museums while she was growing up, which helped foster her love of creating and viewing art. Today, that passion for art, as well as her appreciation for its unifying ability, is strengthened through her involvement with Capital Arts.
“Art is meditative; it’s healing, whether you’re creating it or just appreciating it,” Holly says. “It allows people to express things when they don’t have words. It doesn’t have a language, but it’s inclusive and can bring people together.”
During her eight years on the board, the organization has grown in a number of areas. Over that time, the organization has hosted numerous fundraisers, including a new fundraiser called à la art, an exclusive fine arts auction and culinary event launched last year. They have also added new programs and undergone a rebrand, which included updating the website to be more interactive.
The on-site ceramic studio also came about during her board tenure. Serving as Jefferson City’s only ceramic studio, made possible through grant funding from Veterans United, the space offers hands-on classes where students of varying skill levels can mold clay on a pottery wheel.
Their Art Heals program is particularly unique in that classes are offered at no cost, and its aim is to use the visual arts to empower individuals encountering adversity. These classes and events, such as the annual Chalk Art Fest, High School Sketch Day, work together to bring the community together through art.
“Art Heals is a way to give back,” Holly says.
There’s no doubt that Holly has been an instrumental and guiding presence in the organization’s progress — especially as Capital Arts faced staffing changes when the organization lost its executive director for an extended period and was learning how to navigate a worldwide public health crisis. Holly and the rest of the team at Capital Arts met the challenge of creating virtual gallery viewings for the public and navigating the technical aspects of having a platform capable of selling art online.
As Holly passes the baton to the incoming president this year, she plans to continue supporting Capital Arts in its growth and impact.
“Their future is bright,” Holly says.