Mary Bryan Hood, 86, of Owensboro, passed away Sunday, November 17, 2024 while under the care of Hospice of Western Kentucky. She was born July 5, 1938 in Central City to the late Irving Bryan Cayce and Mary Anderson Cayce. She was the founding director of the Owensboro Museum of Fine Art, Inc. and president of the Owensboro Museum of Fine Art Foundation, Inc. Ms. Hood was active in the visual arts at the state, regional, and national levels as arts administrator, curator, and consultant.
The museum, now in its 46th season, is widely recognized as a regional center for the visual arts serving more than 100,000 visitors annually. In 1994, Mrs. Hood directed a $3M expansion project adding two new wings which house a collection of American and European art dating from the 15th century to the present. In 2020, she was integral in managing a $2.3M capital campaign designed to establish an operations endowment, refurbish the museum’s historically important facility, and provide sustaining support.
During her tenure as director, she curated an extensive series of exhibitions documenting the cultural history of Kentucky and published texts recording that research. She organized exhibitions for the Office of the Governor which were presented in major American cities as a part of Kentucky’s industrial development and tourism programs.
Prior to serving as museum director, she was instrumental in the establishment of Owensboro’s first municipal arts council, the Owensboro Arts Commission and served as its first chairperson. As Executive Director of the Commission, she directed Owensboro’s Bicentennial Cultural Improvement Project which adapted municipally owned building as facilities for the arts, creating the art museum, the Old Trinity Center Theater and the Owensboro Symphony Center.
Ms. Hood served as a member of the Kentucky Bicentennial Commission and the Kentucky Arts Council by gubernatorial appointment, was a charter board member of the Kentucky Citizens for the Arts and is a past president of the Kentucky Association of Museums.
She served as a consultant to cities throughout the southeast on the establishment of museums and arts councils and lectured on arts advocacy at state and national conferences including the National Conference of Mayors.
Honors include a commendation of merit from the City of Owensboro, where Mary Bryan Hood Day was named in recognition of her activities as an arts advocate. She was educated at Kentucky Wesleyan College, Owensboro, where she majored in studio art and art history. She worked as a professional artist, exhibiting in state and regional exhibitions and is listed in Who’s Who in American Art and Who’s Who in the South and Southeast.
In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by her husband of 48 years, Ronnie Hood.
She is survived by a nephew, James Bilyeu; niece, Annette Bilyeu of Tampa, Florida; and a great-niece, Cayce Bilyeu Carlton, of Alaska.
Funeral services will be held at noon on Friday, November 22, 2024 at Trinity Episcopal Church. Burial will follow in Elmwood Cemetery. James H. Davis Funeral Home and Crematory is in charge of arrangements.
In lieu of flowers, expressions of sympathy may take the form of donations to Owensboro Museum of Fine Art Foundation, 901 Frederica Street, Owensboro, KY 42301 or Trinity Episcopal Church, 720 Ford Avenue, Owensboro, KY 42301.