Mayor Nutter reopened the Office of Arts, Culture and the Creative Economy and introduced the new head, Gary Steuer, last week. The “Creative Economy” part of that title has been added with this reopening, and it’s a title that could place a new focus on the true contribution Philadelphia’s arts & culture community has, not only on quality of life, but on the economy of the city. For as much as Philly is steeped in history and sometimes has some antiquated perspectives and laws on the books, we are continually connecting with forward-thinking people working on innovative projects. Philly is a city I find extremely stimulating from a creative perspective (one of the reasons we set up shop here 7 years ago).

The new director of the arts & culture office is Gary Steuer, a New Yorker with a long list of credentials in arts administration.  Will his outsider perspective breath new life into the community and the economy?  Or will he miss what our city’s cultural community is all about and move in the wrong direction?  Only time will tell, but the Mayor’s move to re-establish the office is exciting and promising.

Read about Steuer in the Inquirer and City Paper.

This entry was posted on Friday, July 25th, 2008 at 4:53 pm and is filed under Philadelphia. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.