A&H - Maitland loses executive director Andrea Bailey Cox

Art & History Museums – Maitland’s executive director and CEO, Andrea Bailey Cox, will soon be part of the organization’s history when she steps down from her post later this month.

Bailey Cox has led the organization since its inception in 2010 when the Maitland Art Center and Maitland Historical Society merged, forming Art & History Museums – Maitland. She will leave A&H effective Dec. 19 to head to Knoxville, Tenn., where she will serve as the executive director of The Aslan Foundation, which focuses on preserving and enhancing the natural beauty and cultural assets of Knoxville.

“It is sad to leave, but at the same time I think the organization is in a wonderful place, and it’s time for me personally to take on my next challenge,” Bailey Cox said.

A&H’s director of marketing since 2014, Rae Ward, will serve as interim director until a new executive director is named. Ward will work alongside A&H Chief Curator Rebecca Sexton Larson to head up the transition team. A national search to fill the position is already underway, and Bailey Cox said the organization’s Board of Directors hopes to fill the position within three to four months.

“We have not only a great team, but a great exit plan to take the organization forward without losing any momentum,” Bailey Cox said.

Bailey Cox said A&H’s largest boost of momentum during her tenure came within her first year at the helm: the city signing a 52-year lease to allow A&H to occupy and manage the Maitland Art Center properties.

“That really set the foundation for what we could do from there… To begin dreaming larger,” Bailey Cox said.

The second boost came in 2014 when the Maitland Art Center became the first National Historic Landmark in Central Florida.

The process to make the long-term lease permanent took a controversial turn in 2012, when then-Councilmember Phil Bonus proposed terminating the agreement. After months of negotiations, the evergreen lease would renew as planned with added stipulations.

One of those stipulations was that A&H would propose an expansion of its facilities within three years, and another was that it hit certain funding goals to become less financially dependent on the city.

In 2015, A&H proposed adding a 10,000-square-foot educational facility to the Maitland Art Center’s campus. The Maitland City Council approved those conceptual plans in March of this year.

While Bailey Cox won’t be around to see the plans come to fruition, she said the expansion will give the next executive director the excitement of, “literally building the organization.”

One of the biggest sticking points back in the lease negotiations in 2012 was A&H’s dependence on the city for funding. As of 2016, Bailey Cox said A&H is already six years ahead in its funding goals as outlined in the lease. She said the art center is now funded 31 percent by the city, as compared to receiving 60 percent of its funding from the city back in 2010. The lease outlines that the ultimate goal for the organization is to be funded less than 25 percent by the city.

“It was quite aggressive but has been absolutely fantastic for the organization because that diversity of revenue is key to future stability,” she said.

Grants, increased individual and corporate contributions, as well as earned income from the center’s facilities, she said, have all helped make up the balance. She said she anticipates that A&H will hit its funding goal of less than 25 percent from the city much sooner than projected in the lease.

“There’ve been a lot of moments where I remember seeing the organization take that next leap forward. Not just jump, but leap forward,” she said.

The most recent leaps included updating the art center to be more handicap accessible, restoring its original windows, and launching the organization’s first mobile app.

While she won’t be around to see the next generation of progress, she said,

“I’m excited to watch for the next phase of the organization from afar.”