Mile-High Musings on Arts, Culture, Creativity and Philanthropy

As some may have already heard, I have been appointed the new President and Chief Executive Officer of the  Bonfils-Stanton Foundation  in Denver, Colorado. I am so excited about taking on this new challenge but, of course, sorry to be leaving my friends and colleagues here in Philadelphia. Here is the link to the  City of Philadelphia press release , and to  the Foundation release . Someone congratulated me with the quote "Go West Young Man", which I took as a reference to Horace Greeley who coined the term. He meant it as a reference to the Pet Shop Boys Song , which somehow passed me by completely. (Well, I know how it passed me by - I have a 90's popular culture black hole from the era when I was parenting two young children!) I feel proud of my accomplishments in Philadelphia as Chief Cultural Officer and director of the  Office of Arts, Culture and the Creative Economy , and feel that I am leaving a strong legacy, and a great team in place. I will also be stayi

On June 19th I delivered a commencement address to the graduating class of Philadelphia's High School of the Creative and Performing Arts (CAPA). A number of people asked me to post it. Text is below... Greetings everyone, Principal Whaley, parents, students, faculty and all special guests. I am Gary Steuer, the Chief Cultural Officer for the City of Philadelphia, and I run the City’s Office of Arts, Culture and the Creative Economy. It is my great honor to be here to today to celebrate these outstanding graduates, the best creative young people that our City can produce. Being a part of this program has a special resonance for me. While I did not go to CAPA, or even grow up in Philadelphia, I can relate to all of the students graduating today. That is because I graduated from LaGuardia High School for the Arts in New York City, which is the equivalent of CAPA in New York. In fact I graduated 40 years ago, almost to the day. So I was in your shoes a long time ago. I al