The Firehouse Art Center welcomes new Executive Director and Curator Andy Couch
The Norman Firehouse Art Center is pleased to introduce our new Executive Director/Curator, Andy Couch. Andy is no stranger to Oklahoma where he grew up in Enid, attended college, launched his career, and continues to have family connections. In 2012, he received his bachelor’s degree in Art History from the University of Oklahoma. In 2019, he received his master’s degree in Museum Administration from the University of Tulsa. During his undergraduate studies at the University of Oklahoma, he had the pleasure of working at the Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art and the OU Fine Arts Library. Andy launched his career at the Leonardo’s Children’s Museum in Enid.
Andy is joining the Firehouse from the Nicolaysen Art Museum where he served as Executive Director and Curator. He managed a permanent collection of 8,000 works, 25 exhibitions annually, and 14 educational programs. Andy created virtual studio tours, led a renovation of the museum's Discovery Center, and developed partnerships to benefit the museum's community engagement.
“As the Executive Director of the Firehouse, I will bring my creativity, enthusiasm and passion for serving the public,” said Andy. “Connecting donors and relevant communities to artists and programs through collaboration is my greatest strength.”
Andy’s previous achievements include being the founding Executive Director and Curator of the Claremore Museum of History. In Claremore, he served as the co-chairman for the Rogers County Farmers Market and the co-chairman for the Will Rogers Motion Picture Festival. He was the Associate Curator of Traveling Exhibitions at the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown, NY and was the traveling curator for the “Baseball Hall of Fame Tour, We Are Baseball” traveling to 12 cities throughout the country. Before moving to Cooperstown, he was the founding Program Manager of “Gilcrease on Wheels” for Gilcrease Museum at the University of Tulsa, where he served over 9,000 students in 19 rural counties.
“The Firehouse Board of Directors is excited to have Andy on board as our new executive director,” said Board President Fred Schmidt. “ We believe that we have the right person to lead the Firehouse into the future.”
Andy is also an adjunct professor for online courses at Rogers State University, where he has taught Art Appreciation, American History, and Museum Studies. In March of 2021, he married his beautiful wife, Katie; together, they have two crazy dogs, one is an energetic German Shorthaired Pointer named Bella, and the other is a lazy Boxweiler named Bear. Andy loves to fish, ski, and cook.
As we welcome our new director, we also wish to recognize our past director. The Firehouse has created the Firehouse Art Center Master’s Endowment honoring Douglas Shaw Elder.
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