Alexandra Hood

While working toward her undergraduate degree, Alexandra knew that she wanted to be part of the fields of art and higher education. When she was offered a job as operations supervisor for the Olin Arts Center at Bates College, she saw it as the perfect opportunity to be involved with an esteemed liberal arts college, surround herself with creative students, and take a leadership role in the arts. She manages staff, security and communications for the Center and plays a key role in the development and support of Center programs and procedures in collaboration with the Departments of Art and Visual Culture and Music, as well as the Bates College Museum. Alexandra loves to see passionate students working to further their own art careers each and every day.

A Lewiston native, Alexandra returned to L/A after attending college in New York. She wanted to give back to her home community by helping it grow and encouraging its youth to do the same. Her favorite thing about the L/A community is the strength, perseverance and diversity of its people. She feels honored to be part of a group of strong individuals who work hard to make L/A a better place, and to witness the growth that results from their efforts. In particular, Alexandra is passionate about developing the L/A art scene, which she says has “a passionate spark that you can’t find just anywhere.” She utilizes her interests to give back to her community by assisting the Gypsy Lew Theater with graphic design projects, supporting the Union of Maine Visual Artists, Lewiston Auburn Chapter, displaying art and acting as a live artist for L/A Art Walks in the summer, and offering private art lessons to local adults of all ages.

Alexandra is a big fan of Mother India, where the food is delicious, the service is beyond exceptional and the proprietor is a local family that is passionate about both the food and the customers. Other local favorites include Forage Market, Marché and Wei-Li. She spends most of her free time creating new works of art, with a focus on realistic oil paintings and graphite portraits, as well as exploring the subjects of lust, human connection, emotional transparency, and expressions of power and love.

In the next ten years, Alexandra hopes to be teaching art professionally, either by expanding her private lesson offerings or as a professor in higher education. She believes that one of the biggest challenges facing L/A today is the need to attract more ambitious youth to the community and plans to help meet the challenge by increasing the availability of traditional art education for young adults in the area.