The LUX is pleased to announce that Joe Shaw has been hired as Executive Director beginning May 1. Joe served as Associate Director of the LUX for the last three years leading the LUX's grant writing and fundraising.

He replaces Susan McIntosh Kriz, who left to take the position of Associate Director at the Sheldon Museum of Art. "We are so pleased Joe will be leading the LUX," says LUX Board Chair Sherri Daubert. "At the same time all of us at the LUX are grateful to Susan, who energized and elevated the LUX while she was here."

Shaw is excited to lead the team at the LUX to continue growing its education, exhibitions and outreach programs. "Working side by side with Susan for the last three years has been a learning experience and an honor as she led the successful effort to complete the LUX Capital Campaign," said Shaw. "We hope to continue that success in the new expanded LUX campus."

Originally from Tulsa, Oklahoma, Shaw has lived in Lincoln since 2015. He has a degree in Journalism from California State University, Los Angeles. Joe spent 27 years in Southern California, winning awards as a non-profit communicator at the Braille Institute, the AIDS Service Center in Pasadena and Adventist Health Southern California. He also owned and operated a retail store and served as a city councilman in Huntington Beach, CA from 2010-2014. His volunteerism includes serving as president of NeighborWorks Lincoln's board of directors.

"Giving back is what drives me," Joe says, "I think supporting and volunteering in your community is the rent you pay for being here on this earth," said Shaw. "I'm happy to be here at the LUX in Lincoln, because I know how important art and art education are to the health, well-being and quality of life of a city."

The LUX Center for the Arts is Lincoln's Community Arts Center. The LUX offers quality art classes to children and adults, free monthly exhibitions in its five galleries, an artists-in-residence program, and an outreach program to the underserved.