Fine Arts Work Center Bolsters Leadership with the Appointment of Three New Members to its Board of Trustees

Provincetown, MA (April 15, 2024) – Building on its commitment to nurturing artists and writers and shaping the larger culture, the Fine Arts Work Center, one of the nation’s most influential long-term residency programs, has appointed architectural designer and artist Jeffrey Katz, business executive Shawn Manderson, and veteran public relations leader Karen van Bergen to its Board of Trustees.

The Fine Arts Work Center was established in 1968 by a collective of artists and writers, including painter Robert Motherwell and poet Stanley Kunitz, to provide a community in Provincetown where artists and writers could gather in the early stages of their careers. For over half a century, it has supported 20 Fellows annually with seven months of invaluable resources: unrestricted time, living and studio space, financial support, and a network of supportive peers. Notable past Fellows include writers Louise Glück, Jhumpa Lahiri, and Michael Cunningham, and artists Jack Pierson, Firelei Báez, and Jacolby Satterwhite. The Work Center also offers year-round programming, including more than 60 creative writing and visual arts workshops every summer and a public series of readings, lectures, and exhibits, with over 10,000 annual attendees

Jeffrey Katz, a principal at C&J Katz Studio in Boston, brings a unique perspective to the Board of Trustees as an architectural designer, artist, and longtime student of the Work Center’s acclaimed Summer Workshop program. Since the late 1990s, Katz has taken a wide range of Fine Arts Work Center courses, including painting, watercolor, and printmaking, enabling him to experience firsthand how it helps artists develop skills and hone their craft. Katz founded C&J Katz Studio in 1984 with his wife, Cheryl Katz, where they work on a diverse set of design projects, including residential, institutional, hospitality, retail, corporate, exhibition, and furniture. Katz studied architecture at Carnegie Mellon and Harvard. He has been teaching at Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) on and off since 1980. 

Shawn Manderson is a risk executive with 20 years of experience across big-four consulting, industry and professional services. He presently serves as Vice President of Enterprise Risk Management at ADP, Inc., the leading global human capital management software company. Manderson has a deep commitment to the mission of the Work Center, developed after seeing the impact of a fellowship on the creative development of his wife—artist, printmaker, and FAWC faculty Simonette Quamina.  An alumnus of Penn State University, from its Brandywine campus, Manderson served on the Penn State Alumni Association, Alumni Council’s executive board (2007–2020) and chaired the audit and risk and membership committees.  He established the Leadership and Legacy Excellence Program Fund in 2022 to improve student leadership and faculty and staff career development, after serving on the Penn State Brandywine campus Advisory Board and chairing the Student Experience Committee until 2023.

Karen van Bergen, newly a seasonal resident of Provincetown, brings over 30 years of global public relations expertise to the Board of Trustees. From 2016 to 2020, she served as Chief Executive Officer at the Omnicom Public Relations Group, overseeing all public relations, public affairs, and specialty consulting firms within Omnicom, one of the world’s largest advertising, marketing, and corporate communications companies. Van Bergen is currently Dean of Omnicom University, where she manages leadership development programs exclusive to Omnicom, while also serving as the Chief Environmental Sustainability Officer, leading the development of environmental sustainability strategies for the company. Her husband, Jos Stumpe, an accomplished visual artist, is also engaged with the Work Center’s summer education community, further enriching their ties to the Provincetown artistic community.

“We are honored to welcome Karen, Jeffrey, and Shawn to our Board of Trustees,” said Sharon Polli, Executive Director of the Work Center. “Their proven leadership and extensive experience add tremendous value and align perfectly with the Work Center’s vision for sustained growth and impact on the Outer Cape and beyond.” 

“The addition of these three thoughtful innovators continues our goal to develop a diverse group of leaders who are committed to fostering a vibrant creative community for generations to come, said Lynne Kortenhaus, President of the Board of Trustees. 

About The Fine Arts Work Center

The Fine Arts Work Center is an international home for artists and writers in Provincetown, Massachusetts —  the country’s most enduring artists’ community. Founded in 1968 by a group of luminary creators including Stanley Kunitz, Robert Motherwell, Josephine and Salvatore Del Deo, and Hudson and Ione Walker, the Work Center has given artists and writers the space and time to pursue their work within a community of peers for more than half a century. The artist-led Work Center supports emerging artists and writers through its world-renowned Fellowship program, and also offers summer workshops and year-round virtual learning opportunities to advance creative practice. Fine Arts Work Center Fellows who have arrived in Provincetown as emerging writers have gone on to win Pulitzer Prizes, National Book Awards, MacArthur Fellowships, and the Nobel Prize in Literature. Visual Arts Fellows have presented their work at the Venice Biennale, The Museum of Modern Art, The Whitney Museum of American Art, and at other venues around the globe. The Fine Arts Work Center supports artistic freedom, nurtures creative connections, and makes possible artistic achievements important to the larger culture.