Meet Andrea
Andrea Lekberg has owned and operated The Artist Baker on Cattano Avenue for 17 years. As a multi-disciplinary artist and chef, Andrea has used her talents to build The Artist Baker to what it is today: a cafe where many enjoy coffee and treats with friends but also serves as a launchpad for early career artists and small business-owners, strengthening Morristown’s contemporary culture and community. In 2016, she was the recipient of the Morris Arts Creative Placemaking Award.
As a busy business-owner, the most valuable thing she can give is her time and Andrea has brought countless community projects to life to give back to our community.
Andrea became involved with Grow It Green Morristown since their inception in 2009 because they share a similar passion for bringing good food, good ingredients, and sustainability to our community. The Artist Baker has donated food for their biggest fundraisers and provided financial support from the start.
Andrea has been involved with the Community Food Bank of New Jersey (CFBNJ) since 2014 when she began working with culinary students. In 2022, she helped start the Bake for Good campaign raising the equivalent of 16,500 meals for the CFBNJ.
In 2018, Andrea was honored to have been asked by the Market Street Mission to teach their recovery program residents to bake and build Gingerbread Houses. What was first an experiment has grown into a beloved tradition that gives the men in this program the ability to try something new and out of their comfort zone in a safe and supportive environment. The Mission also runs a competition and their creations are displayed in the windows of FCI Furniture Consultants on Speedwell Avenue.
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Andrea has served on the board of Arts in the Atrium (ATA) since 2018. Founded by Viki and Charles Craig, ATA’s mission is to articulate the value of Black visual arts and its role in our culture by hosting exhibitions and educational programs. For 30 years, ATA has fought for Black arts and culture to be represented in places of government, wealth, and influence.
In 2019, Andrea was working with the CFBNJ and also teaching gingerbread to students at the Donald Payne School of Technology in Newark and started Jazz and Gingerbread with Women@NJPAC, another beloved holiday tradition enjoying an afternoon of jazz and decorating gingerbread houses. Andrea had worked with all of these organizations and created this event to celebrate and bring everyone together for a friend-raiser, not a fundraiser!
Andrea has served on the Morristown Planning Board since 2021. Through her service on the Planning Board, she has learned about the process of development and how something as simple sidewalks can connect our communities.
In 2022, Andrea was named a New Jersey Hero by Congresswoman Mikie Sherrill for her positive impact on the community. She also received the Melody Whitelaw Award from the Morristown Women in Business Network in 2024.
In the aftermath of the shootings in Buffalo, New York and Uvalde, Texas in 2022, Andrea felt that the conversations surrounding the shooting were politically motivated and the victims of these tragedies were forgotten. She decided to do something about it. Inspired by the Mexican tradition of Dia de los Muertos, the public mourning and celebration of life, Andrea collaborated with local businesses and organizations to create their own Dia de los Muertos to celebrate and remember the lives that were lost in the shooting. It has become a great celebration that continues each year.
Andrea is a graduate of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and the Cooking and Hospitality Institute of Chicago. She is also a graduate of the Rutgers Center for Urban Entrepreneurs and Economic Development (CUEED) Entrepreneurship Pioneers Initiative (EPI), a highly competitive nine-month program for entrepreneurs. She has been a featured chef at The James Beard House and The Artist Baker has been named one of the Best Bakeries in New Jersey.
A proud citizen of the Oglala Lakota Oyate (on her mother’s side), Andrea still finds time to pursue her fine art career as well and has exhibited at the Sioux Indian Museum, Akta Lakota Museum, The Heritage Center at Maȟpíya Lúta, The Briton Museum, and The Museum of the Plains Indian. Andrea has also worked with the Center for American Indian Research and Native Studies to build a community of native artists and educate about Lakota culture and stereotypes.