It’s Women’s History Month, which means it’s time to celebrate all the unique and wonderful women who call Athens home! As part of this celebration, I recently sat down with four especially inspiring Athens women whose work improves and brightens our community, and I’m highlighting their stories here. From beautifying the streets of downtown to securing foreign art exhibits, these are just a few of the women who make Athens what it is.
Katie Bishop Williams
My interview with Katie Bishop Williams brought me to her office in the heart of downtown Athens. A smart professional (and snappy dresser), her office was clean, organized, and decorated with various pieces of Athens paraphernalia.
As the Vice President of Sales, Marketing, and Tourism at the Classic Center, Williams plays a key role in keeping Athens bustling, lively, and successful. Williams’ job responsibilities are twofold: In addition to advertising the Classic Center as a venue for event and meeting planners, she also heads up the Visit Athens team, which is responsible for marketing Athens as a tourism destination.
Williams believes strongly in the importance of tourism for supporting a local community, and she considers the beneficial impact of tourism on the city as her “why” for doing what she does.
“And for us, we're doing this because we truly believe that tourism is a cornerstone of a local economy. Here in Athens, it's especially important,” said Williams. “...[T]ourism has the power to create and support jobs, support local businesses, [and] lift people out of poverty by giving them jobs.”
Williams, who earned her degree in public relations from UGA’s Grady College, first began her tourism marketing career in Thomasville, Georgia. She soon thereafter moved to Dunwoody, Georgia, where she served as the newly formed city’s first convention and visitor bureau director for 11 years before moving her family to Athens. However, this journey back to the Classic City was not without obstacles.
“So I accepted the job in January 2020. My first day on the job in Athens is March 16, 2020. It was a horrible day. The whole world was shutting down,” Williams said. “We are funded entirely by hotel and sales tax, and so when COVID hit, our revenues became very uncertain, and the organization suddenly looked very different from what I thought I was coming into when I accepted… the job in January.”
Williams looked past any internal doubts, however, and calculated a cautious pandemic response plan to help keep the local economy on its feet. Unable to encourage tourism to Athens, Williams and her team shifted focus to supporting local businesses directly, encouraging residents to buy take-out from restaurants and purchase gift cards for later use in stores. Once restrictions began to lift, Williams and her team collaborated with local partners to launch the “Ready, Set, Go Safely” campaign, which provided businesses with instructions for re-opening safely and helped spread the word that the city was open once more for business.
Now, nearly five years into her role, Williams has had opportunities to work on several exciting projects, including the conceptual design of the new Rock Lobsters hockey team and the recent opening of the Akins Ford Arena.
“I've never been a part of opening a venue before. I mean, a brand new venue. And that was just an incredible experience and very challenging,” she said. “And it's just really neat to think that my…grandkids, one day will be like, ‘Yeah, you know, she was a part of opening up that venue.’”
Williams especially enjoyed planning a recent community event at the arena (which officially opened in December 2024) that gave Athens residents an opportunity to see the new space.
“I was really proud of that, because I truly believe this arena is for our community, and so by getting them through the doors, it gave the residents of Athens a chance to experience it,” she said.
Williams also spoke to me about the role that leadership plays in her career and in her life in general. Though Williams’ role at the Classic Center puts her in a very formal leadership position, she explained that leadership can be expressed in the daily choices one makes and how one chooses to interact with others.
“I have two young daughters, and it is really important to me that I am showing them all the opportunities that they can be leaders,” she stated. “It doesn't matter what your title is. Everybody has an opportunity to be a leader in their community.”
Jihan Bradford
Jihan Bradford is the owner of the brand-new Lavender Hill Bed & Breakfast, a quaint cottage tucked away on UGA’s East Campus.
I felt instantly welcomed the moment I arrived at Lavender Hill to chat with Bradford, who was bustling around the house wiping off counters and changing sheets in preparation for a new set of guests. She has a warm smile, a confident voice, a can-do attitude, and the ability to make anyone and everyone feel loved and welcomed. Hospitality is one of her spiritual gifts, she said.
Bradford, a UGA alum, began her career in hospitality in 2010 as the owner of Wonderlust Events & Floral Design (previously named Wonderlust Socials & Decor) in Atlanta, and her first gig was planning a friend’s law school graduation party. Her goal from the start was to eventually open her own event venue, and it was her search for a small property in a less saturated market that brought her back to the Classic City. Her sister Natalie was an essential source of support as she pursued this new venture, Bradford told me.
Bradford toured the property of her new B&B in July and hosted her first guests in October.
“And I drove up, I just, I knew when I came on property that... this was it,” she said.
Bradford designed the Lavender Hill space herself with the intent to represent women from all over the globe through her decor. All around the cottage are sketches and prints of women from various backgrounds and cultures. Representation is a form of hospitality, Bradford said, and she wants everyone to feel welcomed in her space.
“As an African American woman, I did not want anyone to feel as though…this is not a place for them,” Bradford said. “I wanted there to be inclusivity…. I want everyone to see themselves here.”
Bradford has also tried to incorporate historical elements into the design of Lavender Hill. Paying homage to the home’s 1920s roots are a series of magazine prints in the B&B’s foyer showcasing the Ford Model T cars that dominated the markets in that day. With a bachelor’s degree in history as well as a master’s degree in American history (with concentrations in Southern American history, African American history, and public history) Bradford plans to dig further into the property’s background.
When I asked Bradford what she most enjoys about running Lavender Hill, however, she immediately and emphatically replied that she loves getting to know new people. And, in the same vein, she loves to witness the way her B&B, which hosts different groups of guests together in the homey atmosphere, fosters and builds community.
And, when asked what advice she might offer to aspiring female entrepreneurs like herself, Bradford stressed the importance of leaning into one’s gifts and passions.
“And so I say that if that is in your heart, do the work. Find other people who are like minded, read, research, read and research some more,” she said. “[There's] still gonna be a million things that you'll never know that you were supposed to know, but that's okay too.”
Krysia Ara
Local artist and native Athenian Krysia Ara has left footprints all over Athens. If you live or work anywhere near downtown, you likely pass her work everyday, but you might not notice it unless you keep your eyes trained on the sidewalk — the bottoms of streetlights, to be exact.
Ara, who moved and spoke throughout our conversation with an easygoing yet energized air, is likely best known around town for her work on Project Ginkgo, a public art project supported by the Athens Downtown Development Authority (ADDA). Through Project Ginkgo, Ara has installed glittering mosaics on light pole bases all around downtown. Many of them are inspired by Athens nature or culture, such as the “Ginkgo Greenway” mosaic on Broad St. that uses beautiful pink and green glass pieces to depict Athens’ walking and biking paths, or two separate red and black patterned bases that celebrate UGA’s College Football National Championship wins.
Incorporated into every mosaic base are ceramic pieces in the shape of ginkgo leaves, which honor the city’s beloved ginkgo trees.
“I grew up in Athens. I'm a native Athenian, and so it was just a part of my association with downtown,” Ara said in reference to the city’s ginkgos.
Since pitching her ginkgo mosaics to the ADDA and beginning the project in 2018, Ara has installed 24 Project Ginkgo mosaics downtown.
Ara’s work extends far beyond light pole bases, however. Her “Heron Sighting” mosaic mural glimmers brightly in the middle of Dudley Park. You also may have seen her mosaic ladybug statue, which sits in the Alice H. Richards Children’s Garden at the State Botanical Garden of Georgia and serves not only as a beautiful piece of art, but also as a play structure for children to climb on. Recently, Ara finished installing a new mosaic in Winterville, Georgia that bears the city’s name alongside the words, “You Belong.”
Among all the different types of mosaics she’s worked on, Ara doesn’t have a favorite.
“I like different creative challenges, and I get… bored easily,” she said.
Ara tried various art styles before settling on mosaics. It was after she learned that mosaics were not simply a relic of Roman or Byzantine art that she decided to try her hand at the medium.
“And I was like, 'Oh my gosh, that's, like, the perfect medium for me, because I just want to break something, you know,'” she said emphatically.
Though some people might find the mosaic creation process slow and repetitive, Ara can’t help but get swept away in the excitement of each new project.
“I don't know, it just kind of came together really fast because I just couldn't stop. I was so excited by the… energy of the project, wanting to work on it,” Ara said about the mosaic she installed recently in Winterville, which wasn’t expected to be complete until May 2025.
In addition to her artistic work, Ara is also an avid traveler and has visited over 50 different countries, including Peru, Romania, Cuba, and Japan, among many others. She told me about one occasion specifically where she flew from the country of Georgia directly to the city of Athens, Greece, amused by the irony of the situation.
Despite all her travels, Ara still expressed love for her hometown specifically.
“Athens has a strong sense of community and a lot of enthusiasm for all kinds of creativity,” she said. “People really connect and support creative people in this town, and we inspire each other, and there's people doing all kinds of different things.”
Tricia Miller
Within the walls of the Georgia Museum of Art are over 19,000 artifacts. Some stand proudly on display for visitors to examine, while many more sit neatly tucked away in large storage rooms. A few floors above these various paintings, sculptures, and other items is Tricia Miller’s office.
Miller is the Museum’s Deputy Director of Collections and Exhibits as well as the Head Registrar.
“It’s a very long title,” she acknowledged good-naturedly as we began our conversation.
In the first of these two roles, she oversees the museum’s Exhibitions Department and Registrar’s Department, contributing to the big picture management of anything and everything on display and in storage.
Her role as Head Registrar is a bit more hands-on. She manages all aspects of securing and returning specific artifacts for temporary exhibitions as well as bringing in new additions to and caring for the museum’s permanent collection. She reviews the items curators want to acquire and ensures the museum has the space and resources to adequately store, care for, and display those items. On any given day, she might be negotiating contracts, arranging for artifact shipping, or managing insurance plans, she explained.
Miller’s favorite part of her job, however, is working with the artifacts directly. Her ideal day, she said, would be spent entirely in the museum storage rooms, assessing artifacts and checking on their housing conditions.
“It allows me to be in direct contact… with these objects that are just, you know, sometimes they're just fascinating and amazing to see, and it's such a privilege to be able to actually handle them,” she said.
Miller discovered her love for art history as a student at Washington and Lee University. During her senior year, she spent time at the University’s gallery conducting research on some of its Chinese porcelains, and she was even able to assist with an acquisition to the collection.
“I can actually remember the day that I was sitting in the museum, in that mural gallery, and thinking, ‘This is it. This is what I want to do. I love this. I'm comfortable here. Like, this is it,’” she told me.
Miller went on to get a master’s degree in art history and then spent a number of years working at a local history museum in Charlotte, North Carolina where she was the only full-time employee.
“I vacuumed the floor in the morning, and I met with the board, and I did acquisitions, and ran the shop. I mean, I did everything,” she recalled. “So it was challenging, but… I have never regretted doing it, because it really made me understand what I was good at and what I like doing and what I didn't like doing, so then I could really direct my career from there.”
Miller started at the Georgia Museum of Art in 1998 as an associate registrar, and she has since risen through the ranks to her current leadership position.
Miller’s dedication to her industry extends beyond her responsibilities at the Georgia Museum of Art, however, and she is quite active in the museum community as a whole. She currently serves as the chair of the Southeastern Registrars Association and has received multiple awards for her contributions to the museum field.
She is also eager to give behind-the-scenes tours to students, volunteers, and just about anyone who shows an interest. Seeing the excitement and fascination these tours evoke within her visitors can be reinvigorating after a hard week at work, reminding her how much she loves her job, she explained.
I can personally attest to Miller’s love of giving tours. After chatting in her office for a little while, Miller led me through some of the museum’s galleries, showing me her favorite pieces and teaching me about some of the items that caught my attention.
She also walked me through some of the museum’s storage rooms, where she showed me a large cabinet of ceramic pots. One pot in the cabinet was in the shape of a chicken, and I told Miller that its long tail feathers looked a little bit like octopus tentacles.
“Chocktopus,” she immediately named it.
One painting she took special care to point out as one of her favorites was a large 1973 abstract work by Joan Mitchell titled “Close.”
“She's just a really fascinating woman artist working the 60s and 70s in abstraction, which was a very male dominated time period for art,” Miller said, referring to Mitchell. “And so to see the success and the amazing things she produced at that time is so impressive.”
Miller is especially excited about an upcoming conservation project in honor of Mitchell’s 100th birthday anniversary where a conservator will be treating and stabilizing Mitchell’s work in the galleries where the public can watch the progress.
