The Burlington Performing Arts Centre’s Board of Directors is pleased to welcome Sara Palmieri as its new Executive Director.
Palmieri is an award-winning senior arts professional whose wealth of experience and vision will help usher in the next exciting chapter of The Burlington Performing Arts Centre. Along with her commitment to community building through the arts, Palmieri brings with her more than 20 years of arts management experience that she will leverage in her new role with the BPAC.
A native of St. Catharines, Palmieri has spent more than two decades working in performing arts centre environments. While still enrolled in her post-secondary studies, she started her career in the box office at Brock University’s Centre for the Arts where she quickly advanced into roles in sales, marketing, programming and community outreach. Palmieri’s talents in strategic development earned her the privilege of working with the City of St. Catharines and Brock University leadership on the feasibility study to build a new performing arts centre and arts campus in downtown St. Catharines.
In 2015, Palmieri was named the inaugural Director of Programming and Marketing at the newly established FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre (FOPAC) in downtown St. Catharines where she has led much of the FOPAC’s success in its first ten seasons.
Palmieri has earned a reputation as a highly respected member of the local arts and national presenting communities. Throughout her career so far, she has had a positive impact on the arts ecology as a sought-after board and advisory committee member, panelist, and facilitator. Palmieri currently serves as Chair of the Ontario Presents Board of Directors, the province-wide network for performing arts touring and presenting organizations, and has been a part of numerous grassroots and nationally scoped initiatives that aim to improve opportunities for artists.
“I am invigorated by this opportunity to collaborate with the dedicated staff, volunteers and Board of The Burlington Performing Arts Centre to spearhead the next chapter of this cherished community asset,” says Palmieri.
Sara Palmieri will join BPAC on Tuesday, February 18, replacing Interim Executive Director Lucy White, whose strategic guidance and leadership has been invaluable to the organization and staff while the Board searched for its permanent Executive Director.
BPAC Board Chair Peter Van Dyk says: “After a rigorous search process, we are very happy that Sara Palmieri will be joining us as the new Executive Director of BPAC. She is an experienced and well-respected leader in the arts sector and is the right person to lead BPAC forward. I also want to thank Interim Executive Director Lucy White for the stability she provided during the changes of the past year. BPAC is well positioned for 2025 and beyond, and with Sara’s leadership we are excited to see what the future holds.”
The Burlington Performing Arts Centre Board, staff and volunteers look forward to welcoming its cherished patrons to the second half of the 2024-2025 season. BPAC’s 2025-2026 season will be announced in late May.