Museum hires new Executive Director
Bambi Killian Bowden has been named the Executive Director of Main Street Calico Rock and the Calico Rock Community Foundation. Bowden was born and raised in Calico Rock, moving to Mountain Home in junior high, returning to Calico for a time as an adult. She is excited to return home for good.
Most recently, Bowden has been the Director of Marketing for White River Healthcare in Calico Rock. She brings a wealth of knowledge in community outreach, people relations, content creation, and volunteer coordination to the role. Her multi-generational Calico Rock legacy is a crucial part of who she is as a person.
She brings administrator experience having been the office manager at Mitch Cash Law. She has been a nonprofit leader as the Region 2 Prevention Representative at Health Resources of Arkansas and shelter manager Serenity, Inc. She is vice president of the Kindness, Inc. board of directors and a board member for the Mruk Family Center on Aging.
As a notary public, she will be able to notarize legal documents for residents and businesses at the Main Street Calico Rock office. She brings a wealth of experience in assisting people with legacy planning and can assist our community in thinking through these important, but difficult decisions.
The role of executive director includes leading a talented team that manages the Calico Rock Museum & Visitor Center, Main Street Calico Rock, the Calico Rock Artisan Cooperative and Artisan Gift Shop, The Nook, six commercial rental properties, and the F. Stowe Easton Endowment Fund. While it’s a big job, Bambi brings the skills, experience, and passion necessary to thrive in this important role.
The search committee received 36 well-qualified applications, interviewed 7 excellent candidates, and narrowed the search to two finalists. The two finalists presented their ideas to the board of trustees and answered questions posed by the board. “It was an intensive process that allowed the board to gain the best insight into these candidates,” board chairman Steven Mitchell said. Mitchell added, “This rigorous process produced the very best individual that perfectly fit our needs today and that is Bambi. She is exceptionally qualified, highly motivated and very dynamic.”
Bowden has plans to bring the community together to develop a strategic plan that focuses on the stories of Calico Rock woven into the Foundation’s efforts to revitalize the community. “I am so thrilled to be returning home and to this important position. I am fully invested—heart, mind and soul,” Bowden said.
Bowden will begin work in her new role by the first of June in the new Main Street Calico Rock office located at 89 Main Street. She has an open-door policy that includes inviting folks to come by her office for a visit, but also includes opening the door and going into the community to talk to her friends and neighbors wherever they may be.
