The new face behind the round glasses at the Greenville Arts Council office is Eleanor Wright, a familiar name to many in Greenville.
She’s recently been named the executive director of the organization by the GAC board and is happy to be back in Greenville after a life lived away from town.
She remembers fondly her life in Greenville, a town she’s been returning to every year for the Delta Debutante since 1989.
She’ll be working for an organization housed in a building supported by a foundation, the E.E. Bass Education & Development Foundation, her stepfather, Seymour Weiss helped start.
“We entertained a lot,” she said. “I remember every Sunday night picking up Hot Tamales and salad at Doe’s.”
The entertaining was part fun and part politics.
“Judy and Clark Reed and Peggy and Hodding Carter in deep boisterous conversation on politics,” she said. “They were best friends and helped everyone to be able to speak with differing opinions.”
The town was abuzz with activity then. There were 17 tow boat company headquartered here and her grandfather Edmund Taylor, while not in the tow boat business, helped one family get started.
“That business brought lots of people to town,” she said. “You had Hafters, Tennabaum’s, Jimmy Wards, Nells’ and Blooms with Kenneth Haxton holding court and people from all over the Delta came to shop in Greenville.”
Wright said she’s still kept friends in the Delta her entire life. “My best friends for 50 years are Gayden Metcalfe and Bland Currie.”
While she has fond memories of her time in the Delta growing up, the job she had now is about the future of the arts community here.
“I’m hoping to expose many young children to the types of art that opens up their worlds,” she said. “You do not have to be a doctor, lawyer or Indian chief but you can be in TV, a journalist, painter, sculptor, potter, writer, dancer or musician and have a very rewarding life. This enriches and broadens their worlds for the rest of their lives.”
Wright’s parents started her down the path of a reader as a child and it has stayed with her throughout her life. She will try to pass that along in her work.
“As a child, my parents and grandparents gave me a love of reading, visiting museums and the appreciation of how well things were made or done,” she said. “I hope to expose them to the love of books, museums, widen their vocabulary and being articulate in numerous categories.”
The board members of GAC are also glad to bring Wright back home.
We at the Greenville Arts Council and E.E. Bass Education & Development Foundation, Inc. are excited to have Eleanor join us as the new executive director,” said Walt Stephens, immediate past president of the board. “She brings a new level of excitement and enthusiasm around not only the arts, but also arts education as well as a passion for promoting the works of local artists, and I for one cannot wait to see what new things we are able to do and create within our organizations here in Greenville with Eleanor as the leader.”
Wright is not the only new face at the GAC offices. The board has also hired Sandra Stillman to work in the office. She currently assists the downtown museum when tours come through town.
The GAC board members jointly operate the E.E. Bass Education and Development Foundation, Inc., which manages the physical plant of the E.E. Bass building.
The building houses several tenants including artists and Delta Center Stage.
The GAC also produces several art gallery openings yearly as well as the popular Cocktails at the Carousel event, Greenville Honors Its Own, holiday art camps and the new Summer Literary Series.
