Bea Premack has the distinction of being one of the charter members of the Friends of SDPB and a former board member. In Aberdeen, Bea and her husband of 67 years, Herschel, owned and operated a scrap and auto parts for many years and also raised three children.
She has been active in arts organizations, including the state arts council and the department of fine arts at Northern State University. Her passion for arts and accessibility to the arts for everyone in the state inspired her initial support of SDPB. “The connection of South Dakota Public Broadcasting to the arts is so important,” says Bea. “It’s very important to the arts world in South Dakota.”
Bea says SDPB is a conduit for history and local and national art productions. “Herschel and I are big Antiques Roadshow watchers, as well as the music and history programs.”
When SDPB opened a “boutique studio” on the campus of NSU, Bea was glad that it would mean more stories could come out of Aberdeen. “I love to see more broadcasting come out of here and out of our smaller towns – that is such a part of South Dakota. We need to pay more attention to all our communities, not just Sioux Falls and Rapid City, because life is happening across the whole state.”
As a founding member of the Friends of SDPB, Bea says she has watched SDPB change. “It makes me happy to see the success and how it’s grown and how people continue to work and make it grow. That’s pretty spectacular. It’s been really great to have been a part of that.”