New Managing Director Named for Hyannis Harbor Arts Center

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The Town of Barnstable named Karen Billard as the new Managing Director of the Hyannis Harbor Arts Center at the Guyer Barn.

Billard is an arts administrator as well as an artist who currently has studio space at the artist work studios @50Pearl, a part of the Town of Barnstable’s campus of arts properties. 

“I am excited for this new opportunity,” said Billard. “I am committed to supporting the arts. I am looking forward to building collaborative relationships with arts and culture organizations across the Cape to help all of us support, complement and expand our offerings," Billard said.

"At the Center this year we will expand our offerings to include musical performances, readings and much more in addition to the year round exhibits and classes.”

Billard has worked with several different arts non-profit organizations on the Cape. Most recently, she served as President of the Provincetown Theater Foundation, where she was a Board Member since 2008.

During the last year and a half, she was instrumental in transitioning the organization from a largely rental model to revitalizing the theater’s community company and producing full-length productions in-house. 

In the spring of 2009, she worked with Cape Cod Poets Theater to organize the 2009 Provincetown Poetry & Literary Arts Festival. 

Billard has served on the Philanthropy Day Committee of the Planned Giving Council of Cape Cod, which organizes and runs Philanthropy Day in November each year. 

Billard was a leading director for The Living Arts Institute.  She was Marketing Coordinator for Color Obsession Gallery, and worked with the Edward Gorey House on marketing and graphics for their auction and as a docent.  

Billard's work as a fiber artist and figurative artist has been exhibited in galleries and decorator showcases on Cape Cod and in Westchester  County in New York. She is a former member and Vice President of programming for the Handweaver’s Guild of Westchester.  She has taught classes in art, costuming, tassel making and beadwork.

Billard is a member of the Arts Foundation of Cape Cod, the Falmouth Artists Guild, Cape Cod Museum of Art, PAAM, and the Edward Gorey House. She lives in Waquoit with her husband and daughter. 

Hyannis Harbor Arts Center is a showcase space for emerging and established local artists in a wide variety of genres. It is a community art space, working artist studio and professional artist gallery supporting and promoting the arts through instruction, events, exhibits and performances.