ALBEMARLE — Lisa Ewers is the 2024 Arts Person of the Year, so declares the Stanly County Arts Council (SCAC).
Ewers, a community educator and arts organizer was named as winner at the SCAC’s 6th annual Celebration of the Arts awards ceremony at the Stanly County Agri-Civic Center.
The New Jersey native currently serves as the music director for the Stanly County Chorale, president of the Stanly County Concert Band and chairperson of the Uwharrie Players’ Board of Directors.
Ewers also holds music directorial duties at Epworth United Methodist Church in Concord and has provided music leadership in the Kairos Prison Ministry for the past 15 years.
Additionally, she sings and plays percussion in a John Denver tribute band that has raised money for charities throughout Stanly County.
In her Arts Person of the Year acceptance speech, she said her award honors to “all arts educators who have to fight for what they do and what they have to do it with; they were the inspiration for me when I was a young person,” according to a press release from the SCAC. “The arts are innate, it’s in our DNA. Before we walk, we dance. Before we speak, we’re singing. Before we’re writing, we are drawing. … Please keep fighting for the arts in our schools. The arts increase our emotional IQ, which are the skills that we need as an adult for problem solving, collaboration, and empathy for others. … Please do your research, find out how important the arts are to each candidate, and keep that in mind when you vote this election year.”
Following her graduation from Pfeiffer College with a music degree, Ewers worked as a program instructor for GHA-Autism Supports and completed graduate work in special education and school administration.
During that time, she served multiple churches in Stanly and Cabarrus counties as a music director, all while teaching special education at the elementary, middle, and high school levels. In the final years of her educational career, she worked as a special education program coordinator and director before retiring in 2023.
On top of the former accomplishments, Ewers has participated with the Stanly County Chorale since 1995, helped The Uwharrie Players off and on since 1999, and has played in the Stanly County Concert Band since it began 11 years ago.
“She is very committed to raising the standards and reach of the groups that she’s involved with in our community,” the SCAC said of Ewers in an attributed comment from the award nomination process.
“She is quick to invite new members to all the organizations that she works with and is quick to recruit and look for opportunities to involve new members and looks for opportunities for the arts groups to collaborate. She is a powerhouse advocate of the arts. Arts are at the forefront of her very identity, and she constantly seeks to find ways to make the arts accessible and enjoyable to her community.”
cutline: 2024 Arts Person of the Year award winner Lisa Ewers (Stanly County Arts Council)