Fine Arts Work Center Appoints
New Executive Director

June 18, 2007

FAWC Board of Trustees Co-Chair Hatty Walker Fitts and FAWC President Marty Davis today announced the appointment of Margaret Murphy as FAWC's new Executive Director.

Murphy, a New York City attorney, was selected after a national search, and will start her position on June 25. A former partner at both Shearman & Sterling and White & Case law firms, Murphy founded and served as Executive Director of the Bank Street Law Office for the past seven years. Bank Street, a non-profit legal services organization, provides free legal assistance to elderly residents of modest means who live in Greenwich Village and lower Manhattan. She also sponsored free legal clinics at Westbeth, the artists' residence in the West Village, and had many artists as clients.

Murphy has held significant positions at two other non-profits: The Caring Community, and the Church of St. Luke in the Fields. Since 1999, Murphy has served on the Board and the Executive Committee of The Caring Community, an organization dedicated to the well-being of older people in Lower Manhattan. As a member of the Board, she has also been Treasurer and member of the Executive Committee of St. Luke's, where she served on the Finance Committee, and was responsible for their $2 million annual budget.

An avid gardener, Margaret has a certificate in horticulture from the New York Botanical Garden Continuing Education Program.

Margaret Murphy is also a former Provincetown resident, having owned a home here from 1979 to 1986. She has rented a cottage on Miller Hill Road for the past three summers. As a summer resident, she has volunteered as gardener at the Church of St. Mary of the Harbor in Provincetown.

President Marty Davis said of Murphy's appointment, "Margaret's dedication to non-profits, and her love of the arts, as well as Provincetown make her the perfect fit for us."

Murphy's appointment follows the ten-year tenure of former Executive Director, Hunter O'Hanian, who accepted an appointment in January as President of the Anderson Ranch Arts Center in Snowmass Village, Colorado. John Skoyles, a former Writing Fellow and Executive Director, has been serving as Interim Director for the past six months.