> Return to the Forty under 40 index
Nat May, 39
Executive Director
SPACE Gallery
As the executive director of Space Gallery, the downtown Portland arts venue, Nat May âÂÂsupports emerging artists by presenting 220 events annually to forward contemporary art, artists, and ideas from all over the country,â says his MaineToday Media Forty Under 40 award nominator, Jessica Tomlinson.
âÂÂNatâÂÂs innovative programming earned him recognition from the Americans for the Arts as an Emerging Leader. He was selected as a presenter at the Andy Warhol Foundation for Visual Arts last summer to share the success story of Space Gallery; how under his guidance, a small arts organization managed to double its facility, budget, and staff during a recession,â Tomlinson continues, describing May as a âÂÂhumble, motivated, visionary administrator.âÂÂ
May was chosen by The National Endowment for the Arts to review grants, âÂÂbased on his curatorial expertise,â she notes. As a board member, he helped re-energize the Portland Arts and Cultural Alliance. He serves on the Creative Portland board.
Space celebrates its 10th anniversary in August. May became executive director a few months after its opening. A native of Cape Elizabeth, he majored in religious studies at Davidson College in North Carolina, then spent three years in Taiwan, teaching English, doing free-lance writing, and learning Mandarin (âÂÂsomewhatâÂÂ). He then spent a year âÂÂtraveling overland across China, through Tibet and Nepal and India,â and returned to Portland in 1999.
He worked at Chewonki in Wiscasset, helped found the Bakery Photo Collective, and hadnâÂÂt expected to stay in Portland. But then came the Space gig. âÂÂItâÂÂs notable how different Portland feels from when I was in high school,â May says. âÂÂThereâÂÂs a lot more going on, a lot more to see. So IâÂÂve enjoyed participating in that change.âÂÂ
A South Portland resident, May loves to garden. âÂÂIt satisfies my need to be busy and productive, but itâÂÂs relaxing, too.âÂÂ
> Return to the Forty under 40 index