As the new host of Georgia Public Broadcasting’s award-winning quarterly arts series State of the Arts, Rickey Bevington brings a rich background in the arts and humanities to her role in the program and what she deems a great “curiosity” about Georgia artists and the state’s cultural offerings.
That curiosity stems in part from Rickey’s return to her roots here and her family’s legacy in Georgia art. Her grandmother and great-grandmother were among the Atlanta artists and art patrons who perished in the crash at Orly Airfield near Paris, France in 1962. The story of the crash and its impact on Atlanta is depicted in the GPB Original ProductionThe Day Atlanta Stood Still.
“I feel like I am fulfilling a dream for her – something that she would have wanted to be done,” Rickey says of her grandmother. “In a way, I am carrying on the torch for her since her efforts to promote the arts were cut short.”
Although she was born in Atlanta, Rickey’s parents decided to move when she was a baby, and she was raised outside of Boston. She attended high school at The Putney School in Putney, Vermont, where she developed her sculpting skills in both wood and marble. In 2001, Rickey graduated with a degree in Comparative Literature from Barnard College in New York City.
Her foray into public broadcasting came when she started as a volunteer at Connecticut Public Radio in Hartford. She eventually landed a position hosting Saturday morning programming for the station. Rickey also spent two years as an assignment editor and associate producer for WFSB-TV 3, Connecticut’s CBS television news affiliate. She also broadened her artistic horizons by living in France for a year, as she says,“learning about all of France’s artistic contributions to our country.”
Rickey is the evening host and news anchor for GPB's statewide public radio network. She also hosts the weekday radio magazine program Georgia Gazette, and the monthly Consumer Call-in. And with her love for and knowledge of art, State of the Arts is the perfect fit for her. So, listeners can hear her each day by tuning into one of GPB’s 17 radio stations across the state or by logging on to GPB’s website at www.gpb.org and visiting the radio page with a link to listen online. And Rickey is more than thrilled to spread the “news” about Georgia art.
“ I have a commitment to the state and the state’s artists,” Rickey says. “We have so much to offer here, and I want people to know that.”