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Over his nearly five-year tenure as the chief cultural officer and director of the City of Philadelphia Office of Arts, Culture and the Creative Economy, Gary Steuer has enjoyed being a cheerleader for global promotion of the metropolis’ innovative identity.
Eager to duplicate or even top his area success, the resident of the 700 block of South Broad Street will make an October departure for Denver, where he will serve as the president and CEO for the Bonfils-Stanton Foundation.
“Denver possesses a great arts community but has yet to receive significant national and international renown,” the 57-year-old said from his Center City office. “I’m heading there to advance its progress and see how advocates can bolster their work with philanthropic entities and other elements of the city’s organizational landscape.”
The Hawthorne inhabitant learned of the employment opportunity in the spring and feeling the 51-year-old foundation’s shifting focus from arts, education and health care advocacy to only the first element would foster his interest in ingenuity, he pursued the post and won the job in June. Visiting Colorado sites two weeks ago, he reinforced his enthusiasm for the state’s resources and looks forward to giving his East Coast accomplishments Rocky Mountain region-situated complements.
“There’s a time to consider personal renown, but my role is serving the citizens,” Steuer said of how his Denver tenure might resemble his Philadelphia stint. “I’m still learning about my pending duties and the residents’ appreciation of creativity, so I’ll continue to devote my energy to promoting their enjoyment and their providers’ output.”
In assisting the company, which has exceeded $46 million in charitable contributions and won Colorado’s 2007 Foundation of the Year award through National Philanthropy Day, he will interact with numerous “cutting-edge corporations” akin to Philadelphia’s roster of avant-garde outfits. Steuer has used his external affinity for the arts and internal propagation of them to craft a stellar legacy here, with the allocation of $9 million in Knight Foundation funds to launch the Knight Arts Challenge, the creation of the City Hall Art Gallery, the institution of the City’s premier Poet Laureate and Youth Poet Laureate programs and the formation of City Hall Presents, a performing arts series that takes place in its courtyard, as a few endeavors. As his stay has provided numerous occasions to develop deep ties with practitioners and patrons, the energetic connoisseur, whose Oct. 1 resignation will mark his five-year local government anniversary, believes the arts scene will thrive as long as overseers and creators collaboratively realize their city’s destiny in exploring and promoting talent.
“For many people, Philadelphia had been only Independence Hall, the Liberty Bell, Rocky and cheesesteaks,” Steuer said. “I think we’ve altered those perceptions and have a city that welcomes creative input from all sources.”
Though his current turf has suffered an artistic identity crisis, Steuer hails from a location that has never had its imaginative nature questioned — New York. Born in Rhode Island, he matured in the Empire State, with his artistically reverent parents encouraging his creative integration.
“I played the recorder and clarinet and came to pick up great arts exposure through class trips,” he said. “I found those spaces awe-inspiring, so coupled with my exposure to pop culture, I had my curiosity piqued early on.”
Having received secondary school visual arts tutelage, he matriculated at Purchase College, State University of New York and New York University, with a London jaunt through Temple University in between. Questioning his artistry’s scope, he began favoring the comprehension of others’ work to the development of his, a predilection that led to assisting the Museum of Modern Art with a Vincent van Gogh show.
“I furthered my interest in politics, too,” Steuer said, with an internship under then-New York state Rep. Theodore Weiss giving him enhanced knowledge of the partnership between civic personalities and cultivated individuals. “I eventually had a Toto moment like in ‘The Wizard of Oz’ where I was able to see behind the curtain and note the power of going from an arts consumer to an advocate.”
Adding a graduate arts management degree from NYU, he soon ascended in his new field, serving as executive director of Broadway’s National Actors Theatre, director of the New York State Council on the Arts’ Capital Funding Initiative and managing director of New York City’s Vineyard Theatre, among many assignments. He generated kudos as the Arts and Business Inc.’s director, president and CEO of New York programs and the vice president of private sector affairs and executive director for the Arts and Business Council for Americans for the Arts, also in the world-renowned city.
“Through the council, I gathered so much information on Philadelphia, so coming here gave me a chance to explore the vibrant scope of arts lovers, which I’ve loved since I’m about expounding on culture,” Steuer said.
Having come from a city that many tab as the arts capital of the world, the outgoing employee has made Philadelphia a viable contender for global attention and will spend his remaining weeks touting its possibilities and praising those who have already transformed ideas into realities. Preparing to embark for a realm where he will likewise yearn to contribute concepts and experience their coming to fruition, he appreciates that like the artists who have surrounded him, he loves what he does far beyond any potential financial rewards.
“I’m always going to feel an attraction for addressing what art can give to our lives and what we can bring to it,” Steuer, who will be joined in Denver by his wife Sophie and their 2-year-old daughter, said. “I’m enthused about what’s coming and thankful for what’s come.”
Contact Staff Writer Joseph Myers at jmyers@southphillyreview.com or ext. 124.
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