Lissette García Arrogante, M.P.A.
About
Lissette García Arrogante has over two decades of public, corporate, and nonprofit expertise in arts and special events. She is skilled at building and managing alliances across multiple stakeholder groups, as well as leading teams to achieve greater social impact.
As a seasoned arts and culture leader, Lissette has an in-depth understanding of the value of the artistic sector as an economic driver. She has the ability to leverage the economic impact of arts and culture by implementing arts-based strategies to engage and revitalize economic and community development.
Currently, Lissette is the Director of the Tourism and Culture Department for the City of Miami Beach, FL. Appointed by Mayor Gelber and Commissioners to oversee tourism, cultural affairs division, special events and film division, and the Miami Beach Convention Center. The Tourism and Culture Department is also the liaison to the Greater Miami Convention and Visitors Bureau, Miami Beach Visitors and Convention Authority, and Art Basel. Lissette oversees Miami Beach Live!, a month-long curated activation of large-scale fitness and culture events in March.
Previously, Lissette was the Director of the City of Savannah Cultural Resources Department and the Savannah Cultural Arts Center, a new $27-million-dollar 39,000 square-foot public facility that includes the Ben Tucker Theater, performing arts studio, five visual arts classrooms, and art gallery. She managed the department and the facility’s daily operations, visual and performing arts programming, implementing a new online grant software, and the proposal for a new public art ordinance while overseeing the Cultural Affairs Commission.
Lissette was the 2016-2017 National Urban Fellow at The Cleveland Foundation where she was the project lead for a $3.2-million-dollar creative placemaking project, the PNC Glenville Arts Campus, an international artist residency for FRONT International (2018), Cleveland's first triennial exhibition (July 12th - September 30th, 2018). Lissette managed the partnership between The Cleveland Foundation, The Famicos Foundation, and FRONT.
As Director of Special Projects at The Harpo Foundation, (2013-2016), Lissette managed new initiatives for the Native American Artist Residency Fellowship and Emerging Artist Residency Fellowship programs. Lissette oversaw Harpo’s rebranding initiative by art directing the website redesign and establishing the organization’s presence on all social media platforms.
Lissette's well-rounded experience in the arts includes being former contemporary art advisor and gallery director managing sales and a multi-million-dollar international contemporary art collection by carefully selecting and vetting works of art that would accrue in value in a 20-year investment period.
As a Cultural Producer, Lissette has managed special events and concerts, including the Bang! Music Festivals in 2005 & 2006. The daylong events were held over 12 hours with 5 stages and over 75 performing acts, including Daft Punk, Modest Mouse, Tiesto, Swedish House Mafia, Gnarls Barkley and Duran Duran. Overseeing the logistics, A&R and a hospitality staff of 12, she was instrumental in running seamless and professional events.
Lissette has a strong professional background in artist and client management, program and event management, department administration, and grant management.