Throughout her career in theater arts, Irene Oliver Lewis has felt both her roots and her wings. After graduating from New Mexico State University, she participated in numerous theater productions throughout New Mexico and the U.S. More than 20 years and many accolades later, she came home to Las Cruces to give back to the community.
Lewis will receive the Home Town Hero Award during the 2018 Las Cruces International Film Festival presented by New Mexico State University, which runs March 7-11.
“Irene has given her energy, her talent for organizing and her love of the theater to communities across the country,” said film festival executive director Ross Marks, who is also an associate professor at NMSU’s Creative Media Institute. “And she came home to Las Cruces to keep giving. We can’t think of a a more deserving person to receive the Home Town Hero Award.”
Throughout the 1970s, Lewis participated in numerous theater productions throughout New Mexico and the U.S. with Isabel Crouch's Readers Theatre group, NMSU Theatre Department and the Las Cruces Community Theatre. In 1981, her career took her to Albuquerque, where she became the first cultural coordinator for Albuquerque Public Schools and created multicultural activities for children, youth and teachers.
In 1988, Lewis founded ALMA Productions, a consulting company specializing in theatrical and film productions and arts in education. She had a nine-year career with La Compania de Teatro de Albuquerque as a director, producer, actor, and artistic director. Under her leadership, the company toured throughout New Mexico and the U.S., and received an invitation to be featured at Joseph Papp's Festival Latino in New York City and the Edinburgh International Festival in Scotland. La Compania was recognized as one of 11 Latino theatre companies creating innovative and original theatrical pieces funded by the Ford Foundation.
In 1995, Lewis came home to Las Cruces as the artistic producer and founder of the Court Youth Center, an arts-based youth program, and then started Alma d’Arte Charter Arts High School in 2004.
Although Lewis says she is retired, she is busier than ever. Currently, she is assisting with the development of a film industry in southern New Mexico with NMSU’s Creative Media Institute, Doña Ana Community College and NMSU’s Arrowhead Center. She is also working on creating an Arts and Culture District with the City of Las Cruces.
For tickets, hotel packages and information about the Las Cruces International Film Festival visit LasCrucesFilmFest.com or call 575-646-6149. Tickets are also available at Visit Las Cruces, 211 N. Water St.
Information from NMSU