After an extensive nationwide search, the Board of Trustees of the Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown (FAWC) is pleased to announce that New York based Michael Roberts has been selected as FAWC’s new Executive Director.

With three decades in leadership positions in the nonprofit arts, cultural and academic arenas, Mr. Roberts comes to the Work Center from his most recent role as Executive Director for New York Public Programs at Asia Society and Museum – a leading international organization working across the fields of arts and culture, public policy, business and education to prepare Americans and Asians for an increasingly interlinked future.

At Asia Society, Roberts oversaw a broad range of programs that draw from the fields of visual and performing arts, literature and film, international affairs, business, economics and education. These programs included more than 120 events each year that educated and informed live and online audiences about the rise of Asia. He was also responsible for the organization’s Visitor Services, Rental Operations and the AsiaStore (a specialty in-house retail operation).

Prior to his role at Asia Society, Roberts served as the Executive Director of PEN American Center in New York – the American arm of the 3,400-member, worldwide literary and human rights organization. During his 11-year tenure, PEN extended its internationally renowned work supporting free expression and inaugurated America’s first annual international writers’ festival bringing more than a hundred foreign authors together with US writers for five days of panels, readings, conversations and performances. He was also oversaw the awarding $150K a year in literary prizes to 14 writers for distinguished work and an acclaimed writers-in-schools program, bringing outstanding authors and literature to teenaged and young adult students.

From 1982-1998, Roberts had a distinguished career at Harvard University in Cambridge, Mass. He worked first as a lawyer serving many of the schools and academic centers, as well as the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, where he occasionally taught literature. During his 16 years at Harvard, he held the positions of University Secretary and Assistant to the President where he worked closely with the senior management team and the University’s two governing boards, administering the system of 56 visiting committees and participated in the planning of the University’s $2.1B capital campaign.

Roberts began his career as an attorney at the Boston law firm of Sullivan & Worcester. He received an A.B. from Dartmouth College and his J.D., A.M. and a Ph.D. in English and American Literature at Harvard University.

“I deeply admire the extraordinary accomplishments of the Fine Arts Work Center and its singularly important role in nurturing emerging artists and writers,” says Michael Roberts. “I am looking forward to helping FAWC strengthen and grow towards the half-century mark and to building on its very strong foundation.”

Hatty Walker Fitts, co-chair and clerk of FAWC’s Board of Trustees, whose father, Hudson D. Walker, was a founding member of the organization, commented about FAWC’s new executive director, “Michael truly
understands the unique role of leading an organization like the Fine Arts Work Center, having worked closely with artists and writers over much of a distinguished career. His strong programmatic and financial managerial skills, substantial experience with fundraising and facilities management, and years of experience working with boards will be invaluable in supporting the mission of the Work Center and helping it grow.”