Orange County Arts Council

Welcomes New Board Member

Barry Lewis

June 2020 – Orange County Arts Council welcomes former Executive Editor of the Times Herald- Record, award-winning writer and communications specialist Barry Lewis as a member of the board of directors. He brings over thirty years of experience in media industries and is a distinguished contributor and board member of several nonprofit organizations in the Hudson Valley and New York.Ā 

 

These days, Lewis is the Vice President of Communications at Construction Contractors Association of the Hudson Valley. CCA serves as a conduit to connect project owners with the appropriate contractors for their needs.Ā 

 

ā€œArtists and arts and culture organizations have been hit hard by COVID-19,ā€ says Lewis. ā€œDuring difficult times we often turn to the arts for hope, inspiration and a vision for how to move forward. Iā€™m very honored to be given this opportunity to help an organization like the Orange County Arts Council that plays such a unique and essential role to enhance arts education resources, support individual artists and increase public awareness of the critical role arts plays in the economic development of the area.

 

Lewis is a prominent and respected leader in the Hudson Valley. He is perhaps best known not only as the Executive Editor of the Times Herald-Record, but also as its Sunday columnist. His humor-laced stories recall his childhood in Brooklyn, his college years spent working in the Catskills, and his love for his wife Bonnie, sons, grandchild and pets, particularly Boo-Boo.

 

During his tenure at the Times Herald-Record, he created successful strategies to increase readership both in digital in print. In 2018, his efforts were rewarded with the newspaper winning Gate House Media’s Top 10 Newspaper out of more than 600 publications. During the same year, he was named Columnist of the Year by New York News Publishers Association.

 

Lewis engaged the community by producing and moderating such events as town hall community forums and political debates at colleges. He also served as a regular panelist on NPR radio station WAMC talk show, WAMC Roundtable.

 

For more information the Orange County Arts Council, its artist support services, resources and other events, email at info@ocartscouncil.org or visit www.ocartscouncil.org.