PORTLAND, Maine — A few weeks after Executive Director Nat May announced his departure from SPACE Gallery, an interim director has been named to oversee the city’s contemporary arts venue.
The nonprofit’s board of directors on Wednesday appointed Gibson Fay-LeBlanc to take over the role at the Congress Street gallery known for pushing boundaries in art, music and film.
Fay-LeBlanc is the program director for Hewnoaks Artist Colony in Center Lovell and is Portland’s poet laureate. The wordsmith also is the former executive director of t he Telling Room in the Old Port.
“As a leader in the arts community and, as an artist himself, he deeply understands our mission to support arts, artists and ideas,” Yemaya St. Clair, the president of SPACE’s board of directors, said in statement. “He’ll be able to hit the ground running, and we are excited to work with him during this transition.”
Fay-LeBlanc, a writer and teacher, also serves as president of the board of directors for Maine Writers & Publishing Alliance. His first collection of poems, Death of a Ventriloquist, won the Vassar Miller Prize in Poetry 2011.
“I’m really excited for Gibson to come on board at SPACE,” said May, who has known him for years. “Gibson will work hard to keep SPACE on mission and supportive of artists because he truly believes in that work.”
May, who has been at SPACE for more than 12 years, leaves big shoes to fill. He was instrumental in securing funding from the Warhol Foundation for the venue.
“Both the board and Nat are incredibly proud of all his accomplishments to grow SPACE from a grass-roots organization to a cultural institution,” said Jessica Tomlinson, the board’s vice president.
May said he is taking time to reflect and focus on other projects, such as Common Field, a network of arts organizations, which he co-founded.
Fay-LeBlanc steps into the role Nov. 14, and May departs four days later. The board of directors will meet in early 2017 to launch the search for a permanent director.
