Headlands Center for the Arts has announced arts leader, educator and organizer Maricelle (Mari) Robles as the nonprofitâs new executive director. She will begin on Dec. 14.
Robles was selected after an international search to replace Sharon Maidenberg, who served as Headlandsâ executive director for over 11 years. âAfter speaking with Mari, we quickly realized that we had found the perfect fit,â Board Chair Robin Strawbridge is quoted saying in todayâs announcement. âHer career and personal interests in the arts genuinely mirror our mission here at Headlands. She shares our deep value for bringing the arts to everyone in the Bay Area, and for creating a space for artists to grow and thrive.â
Robles, who currently lives in New York, has a background in arts education. Headlandsâ announcement emphasizes her interest, âas a Latinx woman of Puerto Rican heritage,â in âmaking art more accessible and welcoming to all.â
Robles served as the educator-in-charge of public programs and engagement at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the deputy director of education and public programs at the Pérez Art Museum in Miami, and the coordinator of youth and family programs at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago. This will be the first time Robles has worked in the Bay Area. Unique to Headlandsâ executive director position, the job comes with housing on the arts centerâs campus.
Most recently, she was part of a team of cultural producers organizing public programming leading up to the 2020 Prospect New Orleans triennial. The entire exhibition has since been pushed back a year due to the pandemic, with a new opening of Oct. 23, 2021.
Robles will step into the role with some major changes on the horizon, including the end of Headlandsâ affiliate artist program and the beginning of two funded fellowships.
âIâm really looking forward to guiding Headlands through this next phase, as we continue to run a celebrated international artist residency program, while also creating more engagement with Bay Area artists and audiences alike,â she said in todayâs announcement.
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