Surrounded by books, pieces of art, and photos of her son, Missy Crutchfield sat on the edge of her sofa and sipped hot tea from a ceramic mug.

"Life is beautiful, it's funny, it's tragic, but don't ever give up," she was saying over an accompaniment of soft music from the stereo. "I have had that communicated to me in so many different ways throughout my life. When you hear things that hit you in the heart over and over again, that, to me, is God speaking to me."

It was then that the track changed on the CD player and she bolted away to crank up the volume so that Martina McBride's "Valentine" filled the living room. Returning to the sofa, mug clasped between her hands, eyes closed, the City of Chattanooga's new administrator of arts, culture, and education swayed to the music and sang along.

"See what I mean?" she asked at the end. "This is the song I would keep myself awake with when I was driving home from graduate school. It always makes me think of my son."

James Ward Corn, age 7, had been down from his room earlier, descending the staircase holding two small snakes. "King, this one," he said, indicating the reptile wrapped around his right hand, "is mean, but Queen is a sweetheart."

Standing under a chandelier that once hung downtown in the Read House (formerly a Crutchfield-owned property), Ms. Crutchfield beamed after him as he headed back upstairs, pet snakes and a tuna sandwich in tow. "My son is the love of my life, and our home is my sanctuary. I come home, light candles, turn music on, take a deep breath, and release."

They moved to the two-story home on Lookout Mountain seven months ago. Ms. Crutchfield completed a renovation project late last year, and the decor reflects her interest in art and her concerns as a self-described advocate of children, the environment, and animal welfare.

"The art comes from my travels. I picked up pieces in Spain and Portugal, and I lived in London for a little while," she said, getting up again to readjust a statuette on a shelf above the fireplace. "And since I had my son I've been drawn to pieces depicting little boys or mothers and sons."

Prominently displayed in her living room is a small mother-and-child piece by the late folk artist Howard Finster. On the walls are two original paintings by New York artist Jon Coffelt, one of which Ms. Crutchfield commissioned. "I need one more, then I'll officially be a collector," she joked.

Also on display are portraits of Ward Crutchfield and Margie Dooly, her parents, to whom she refers as her role models. Crutchfield was photographed on the floor of the Tennessee Senate, and Mrs. Dooly's portrait was taken in a classy style reminiscent of old-Hollywood glamour.

"My father is a leader. He commands respect, and he's earned it in the city, the county, and across the state. My mother is actually responsible for many of the renovation ideas in this house. She is assertive, energized, a real self-made woman."

A thick art tome sits open on the coffee table, and the contents of her bookshelves reflect an eclectic range of interests that vary from the collected works of Shakespeare, The Political Palate, and Burton's Arabian Nights, to a biography of Elvis.

Missy Crutchfield, second from left, chats with friend Christy Zappa while her son James Ward and Francesca Zappa play at the chess board.

"Here, let me show you this one," she said, taking down and opening a trade paperback. A how-to lighting guide for portrait photographers, the book contains several headshots of a youthful Ms. Crutchfield. "These were taken when I studied acting in New York. There is an actress that is still a part of me." Then she launched into a series of anecdotes about meeting Bob Fosse, Paddy Chayevsky, and Tennessee Williams on the streets of Manhattan, and about finishing as a runner-up in the Miss Teenage London contest before leaving Europe for New York.

"I'm really glad I had all those experiences, even though I made some mistakes at the time. I used to be really bad about beating myself up when I made a mistake, until I saw this great quote from Sophia Loren: 'Mistakes are part of the dues one pays for a full life.' I put it on my fridge. That's kind of my mantra. Boy, I've made a lot of mistakes, but hopefully I've learned from them."

On a shelf in her kitchen, above the Loren quotation, resides Ms. Crutchfield's cache of hot sauce. Calling it a little-known fact about her, she possesses the ability to toss back shots of the various fiery substances. "I guess I have a high tolerance for the stuff. I can just turn up a bottle of it. Whenever any of my friends go anywhere, they often bring me back bottles of hot sauce." - by Buddy Roberts