“A little boy asked me if we could get some fire-breathing dragons, so I put that on my list.”

Andrea Bell-Myers is the Program Director at the Villa Terrace. She graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and has enjoyed museums throughout her life. Prior to coming to the Villa, she was a teacher. She has a passion for museums.

Mackenzie Quinn: Why did you decide to work here? Was there anything that brought you here?

Andrea Bell Meyers: It’s multilayered. It’s a circle moment for me. I am an alum of UWM and have a degree in Graphic Design and Product Design. I was always drawn to museums and art, people and place, art and culture. After graduation, I would always go to museums, the ultimate goal for me was to be in a space where my heart is, and something I was passionate about. I came across this space, which needed a Program Director. Since I have been an educator for a number of years, I decided to apply, I interviewed, and I got this position in March of 2023, just on a part-time basis. I always loved to bring people together, regardless of ethnicity and cultures. Museums have been seen as a private, elite space, and we are trying to dismantle that, and museums around the world are decolonizing to become more. We at the Villa Terrace and the Charles Allis Museum want to create a space for people to come to, more of a community space. We want people to be encouraged to come to us and want to come to us. We want this space to be a go to space for everyone.

MQ: What’s your favorite space in this building?

ABM: The Villa Terrace in particular, I love the entire building because I spent time in Italy and see what kind of architecture that was there and see the how the architecture was truthful to Italy. The authenticity of this museum, the way that it really shows off the style. My favorite room here is the library; being an educator, could you have guessed? I also love the garden as well since I love flowers. Two favorite spots here at the Terrace.

MQ: Are there any places that people kind of just avoid here or is it people just going to one specific area?

ABM: No, people come to this place, some people are reserved, and they are thinking that they don’t fit to be in this space. I always tell them that this place is a welcoming space. Once people get inside, since we have an upper and a lower space, people just kind of go through each space and take it in. I know for every person, if I could say this, when they got off to the great room, they go through the double doors, it always takes their breath away. It’s such a great vantage point, on Lake Drive, you can see the front of the mansion, from that drive. Right now, this is the back of the mansion, it was purposefully designed for that. David Atler designed this particular piece here. Loyd and Agnus Smith built it after they went to a honeymoon in Italy, came back home and Agnus told Loyd that she wanted a villa and he had it built for her. They ended up having 6 children, and the back of the house was for them, they had help and the parents in another section. We are in the process of welcoming children back here because this place was originally for children.

MQ: Are there any places that you would like people to go and see more? If not, why?

ABM: I can’t really say see more of people really just take it all in when they come. I’ve talked to many people, even living on the east side, and they’ve said that they’ve driven past multiple times, but never knew what was in here. They would come in and take it all in. This place is a place of curiosity for many people, and not really realizing that we’re not elitists, they’re always welcome here. We’re here to teach people about this specific place. We’re in the process of creating more programs here. If you or any of your colleagues have any ideas, let me know. A little boy and his mother came by, and he saw the ironwork by Colnik, who’s considered the tiffany of blacksmithing, saw an iron dragon, I asked the boy when I saw him what he would like to see here. He asked if we could get some fire-breathing dragons, so I put that on my list of things we can have here.