Fire Island Artist Residency (FIAR), which partners with the Arts Project of Cherry Grove (APCG) to give programs at the Cherry Grove Community House and Theater, has announced the appointment of leader, administrator, fundraiser, and teacher April Freely as its new Executive Director, succeeding founding ED Chris Bogia, who will continue his association with FIAR as a new Board of Directors member. FIAR grants four-week summer residencies in the Grove, including living and work spaces, to five visual artists and three poets
Freely is a professor at Bard College and has served as Program Coordinator for the Vermont Studio Center, the largest arts residency in the nation; committee member for the Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown; Board of Directors member for New Faculty Majority; and fundraiser for Old Stone Foundation. She has written about art for the Kenyon Review and was awarded a 2020-2021 Queer Arts Mentorship (QAM) Fellowship for literature.
On October 20, FIAR announced to members and supporters that, on receiving the appointment, Freely said, “I am thrilled and honored to lead FIAR into its next decade. In this time of transformation, I am excited to learn and grow with this organization, building upon the impressive legacy FIAR has established as a home for LGBTQ+ artists and poets. It is my honor to serve this vibrant and dedicated community of artists and allies, and I look forward to our work together.”
FIAR also welcomes Paolo Arao, Dr. Marc Dalton, Damien Davis, Christian Escobar, Derrick Woods-Morrow, Chris E. Vargas, and Brian Vines as new board members. Arao, Wood-Morrow, and Vargas are FIAR alumni.
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