The new executive director of Erie Arts and Culture has arrived in Erie and has plans for preparing the organization for its next era of service.
Anne O’Dell was born and raised in Appalachia, originally from West Virginia. She said when she was in high school, she had the privilege to access free music education.
If it was not for this, O’Dell said that she would have been a high school dropout.
She is now committed to making sure every person has access to arts and culture in the way that they need it.
“Arts and culture intersect with every aspect of our lives. It is the one thing that we all identify with, it’s the one thing that makes us all human. At the end of the day, we need to all relate to each other as human beings because that’s the one thing we have in common. Arts remind us that, culture reminds us of that,” said O’Dell.
O’Dell added she is excited to talk and listen to the community to form a new strategic plan.