In December, Deby Childress was named Bee Cave's Volunteer of the Year for her work as the director of the Bee Cave Arts Foundation.

The overview

For over 30 years, Childress was an art teacher at various public schools throughout the Austin area.

In 2009, she helped launch the Bee Cave Arts Foundation, an organization aimed at providing residents the opportunity to engage with local art.

As the director, Childress is responsible for managing The Hive Gallery, which regularly exhibits student and emerging artists in the area.

Quote of note

"We get up to 500 people at our exhibits," Childress said. "It's rewarding seeing how excited the kids get. In sports, kids start getting trophies at kindergarten, but art students don't necessarily have many opportunities to be recognized like this."

The specifics

Childress has contributed to a variety of public projects for Bee Cave Arts throughout the years, including:

• The Bee Cave Sculpture Park, an outdoor display with over 30 pieces created by local artists
• 10 custom-designed bee statues that were auctioned off to local businesses
• 11 custom-designed benches donated to the Hill-Country Galleria
• Bee Cave Buzzfest, a three-day, family friendly, immersive art festival
• Distributing cards handmade by Lake Travis ISD students to first responders

"In Bee Cave, there's a lot of concrete, a lot of retail. So we really needed community gathering places, which art provides," Childress said.

In addition to her ongoing projects, Childress also coordinates art camps and classes at The Hive for all ages and skill levels.

Respecting the craft

Childress retired from teaching art at Bee Cave Elementary School in 2019. In her free time, she continues to create mixed media art at her home studio.

"At school, I was working with 800 kids all the time; there was always a lot going on. Once I retired, I didn't want to just sit around and watch TV at home. I wanted to do something for my community, " Childress said.