Get to Know Hannah Reeves

Meet Hannah Reeves, Director, Sager Braudis Gallery 

• How long have you lived in Columbia?

16 years

• Where did you go to college and what did you study?

I studied art at MU. I received a BFA in Drawing and Sculpture in 2005. I had just become acquainted with Fiber Art in a couple of classes right before graduating, and was very inspired by my professor and then-head of Fibers, Jo Stealey. I decided to continue at MU as an MFA candidate in Fibers, and received my MFA in 2008.

• Are you an introvert or extrovert?

I’m an introvert with intentional, limited periods of extroversion. I love good conversation and collaboration, but I absolutely recharge by being alone.

• What is your favorite restaurant in Columbia?

International Café. When I was 20 I lived in the Beverly building, next door to its old location on Hitt Street. I’d (before cell phone era) take my cordless phone down to the café (I guess people called me?? weird) and study while Mohamed fed me hummus all day. I would – still – literally eat every meal there and never be tired of it. Now my 6-year-old’s favorite food is Moussaka and the owners are as warm and welcoming of my little kids as they were of me as a young adult.

• What are your favorite things to do in your spare time?

I live on a 2.5-acre homestead near Hallsville. I have hens, ducks, goats, rabbits, dogs, a big garden, a hayfield, mushroom logs, and a budding orchard there. Taking care of all of it is a pretty substantial daily routine, but I get so much fulfillment from growing food for my family. I am an artist as well, and my studio is the farmhouse sunporch. I’ve been focused lately in the studio on making functional, hand-dyed household textiles.

• How did you become interested in art/galleries?

Art has been important to me – embedded in me – since early childhood. It is an intellectual pursuit, a research project, a therapy, and a gratifying product all at once. I actually cannot imagine myself without it. I entered the gallery world after completing my MFA, when I began directing the Bingham Gallery at the MU Department of Art. Running the gallery made interaction with other artists a larger part of my career, and I learned that I think similarly about the curation of an exhibit as I do creation of a piece of art – both are creative efforts and they call for similar expertise.

• Coffee or tea?

Coffee. So much coffee.

• Do you have any pets?

See above. Haha. I think the current count is 30.

• What is your family like?

My husband is an educator, and maybe more accurately, a lover of learning. His inquisitive, thoughtful teaching methods definitely flow into his parenting style. We have two kids, Henny, who’s 5, and Ezze, who’s 3. They split their time between voracious learning about everything around them, and pure, maniacal activity, such as climbing trees and sprinting through fields.

• Mac or PC?

Mac

• What is your favorite thing about the Sager Braudis gallery?

This is a team of intelligent, creative, hardworking people. I am still learning about the business, to be sure, but I can already see that there is no “coasting” here. I love that. There’s always another big idea, a big feat on the horizon. This is more than a retail business – it’s a fixture in the art community. I think everyone here takes that role to heart.

• What are your goals for the future of the gallery?

It’s important to me that the gallery serve this community. Coming from MU, I definitely think about all of the enthusiastic collaborators I worked with there, and I want to further connect Sager Braudis to art-centered MU events and projects. We are in a position to support arts-educational efforts that are already underway, and we plan to originate some educational opportunities here as well.