Arts advocate, Chattanooga leader Mai Bell Hurley dies

photo Mai Bell Hurley is pictured in this March 2015 file photo.

Mai Bell Hurley, a passionate, dedicated advocate for the arts in Chattanooga for decades and a respected public servant, died this morning. She was 87.

Hurley was honored in March with ArtsBuild's 2015 Ruth Holmberg Arts Leadership Award for her contributions to the arts in Chattanooga and her involvement in the cultural life of the community.

A founding member of Allied Arts (precursor to ArtsBuild), she was chairwoman of the organization's board and led its fundraising campaign twice. Hurley also served as chairwoman of the Tennessee Arts Commission and chairwoman of the Chattanooga Symphony and Opera.

She was the first woman elected to the Chattanooga City Council and served on the council for 11 years.

"She was a special friend to the arts and to so many people in our community," said ArtsBuild President Dan Bowers. "She was visionary and a bold thinker who was ahead of her time. So many of the things that we see today in Chattanooga trace back to work that she had a huge hand in starting."

Virginia Anne Sharber, executive director of the Hunter Museum of American Art, said Hurley served as a "true mentor" throughout the years.

"She was an absolute institution and she is going to be so missed," Sharber said. "When I think of people involved in the arts in our community, she is at the top. She was a rock on so many levels."

Sharber added that she is especially "thankful that ArtsBuild honored her recently for her work, and that she knew how highly people in the arts regarded her."

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