Austria Has New Secretary of State for Art and Culture
Andrea Mayer, former Head of the Arts and Culture Section and current Cabinet Director of Federal President Alexander Van der Bellen, was presented to the public at a press conference today as the successor to Ulrike Lunacek as Secretary of State for Arts and Culture.
Van der Bellen: "She is a proven and excellently networked expert for art and culture. With her passion for this field, her knowledge of state administration and her familiarity with political processes, she brings the best qualifications for the job." / Picture: © Wikimedia Commons / Filmfestival Linz from Linz, Österreich / CC BY (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)
After the resignation of Ulrike Lunacek, who resigned her post as State Secretary for Culture last week, the post was vacant.
Andrea Mayer is an expert on the cultural scene and, thanks to her excellent reputation, has a good network of contacts with cultural institutions and artists both at home and abroad.
Andrea Mayer was born in 1962 in Amstetten in Lower Austria, where she also completed the Ostarrichi High School.
She then studied German, history and law in Vienna.
After a year in court and a time spent in the private sector, she joined the public administration in 1993 and became an employee of the Minister of Education and Art, Dr. Rudolf Scholten.
After a period in the Ministry of Science, where she was responsible for innovation and research, she was appointed head of the arts section in 2007 by Federal Minister Dr. Claudia Schmied in the then Federal Ministry for Education, Arts and Culture.
The latter was merged with the Cultural Section in 2015. There she was commissioned by the Minister of the Chancellery, Dr. Josef Ostermayer, to head the section.
Later she was also responsible for the Chancellery Minister Thomas Drozda.
Up to that point, all functions and assignments were assigned to her by politicians of the Austrian Social Democratic Party (SPÖ).
Tuesday morning she was officially introduced by Vice Chancellor Werner Kogler (Green Party) in a press conference.
Federal President Alexander Van der Bellen will inaugurate Andrea Mayer as State Secretary in the Federal Ministry of the Arts, Culture, Civil Service and Sport on Wednesday, 20 May 2020 at 10.30 a.m. in the Chancellery of the Presidency.
Prior to this, Federal President Alexander Van Bellen had paid tribute to his former staff member as follows:
"Due to the Corona crisis, a large number of cultural institutions are still closed, from cabaret stages to concert halls and arenas, to cinemas and theatres. The museums have only recently been able to partially reopen. Protecting health and yet allowing as much art and culture as possible to take place again is currently the great challenge for the responsible politicians.
"Andrea Mayer is a proven and excellently networked expert for art and culture. With her passion for this field, her knowledge of state administration and her familiarity with political processes, she brings the best qualifications for the job as State Secretary for Arts and Culture. I am reluctant to let her go, but art and culture are given a competent crisis manager.I wish Andrea Mayer all the best in this important new post."