Stacie Frerichs inspires Davis artists

PHOTO: Stacie Frerichs, executive director a the Davis Arts Center

By Alyssa Hwang

BlueDevilHUB.com Staff–

With the help of executive director Stacie Frerichs, the Davis Arts Center has brought the arts back to life. 

Since reopening after the pandemic, the arts center has changed its mission and its methods of spreading the visual arts in the community.

During the pandemic, the arts center collaborated with several school districts to develop an elementary curriculum around the arts, introducing a new program.

As executive director, Frerichs is in charge of the art center’s financial management, which includes fundraising. Frerichs said that after the pandemic, the Davis community showed their support of the arts not only through donations, but also through attending classes and camps.

Frerichs works with a board of community directors to set a plan in place, and then it is her task to put that plan into action. She says her job is to “make sure that goals are met” and to “keep the staff happy, engaged, and learning.”

The center’s mission statement is, “We believe.” Frerichs explains that, to her, it means that all youth should have access to the arts, especially when problem solving. To pursue this, the center returned to holding regular classes as well as in-person summer art camps.

“We believe everybody’s an artist,” Frerichs said. Coming out of the pandemic, Frerichs believes that more people want to make art not only to simply showcase their work, but for the meaning and impact of it. Because of this, she now focuses on promoting art that leaves a positive impact on and makes a difference in people’s lives at the Davis Arts Center. 

Frerichs’ impact is widely felt in the Davis community. “Almost always when I’m out and about somewhere, somebody [says] – ‘I took classes at Davis Arts Center!’, or they talk about how the arts center has inspired them to take more classes at the high school,” Frerichs said.

Davis High senior Maddy Kang grew her passion for the arts through Davis Arts Center’s summer programs. “I always liked art growing up, and had a lot of fun doing summer camps at the art center!” Kang said, “The camps encouraged a lot of creativity and exposed me to different types of art, so when I got to the high school I was interested in exploring art more.” 

Kang continues to pursue art as a senior. She is currently enrolled in AP 2D Art and Design at DHS, and has also taken AP Studio Art and Intro to Graphic Design. Sometimes the unexpected happens. When Davis Arts Center’s website went down, it became Frerichs’ latest project. “I thought I was gonna work on something one day,” she said, “but the world told me I had to work on our website.”