Miami-Beach-Tourism-and-Culture-Director-Lissette-Garcia-Arrogante
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City of Miami Beach, 1700 Convention Center Drive, Miami Beach, FL 33139, www.miamibeachfl.gov
OFFICE OF MARKETING & COMMUNICATIONS, Tel: 305.673.7575 PRESS RELEASE
Tonya Daniels, E-mail: tonyadaniels@miamibeachfl.gov
Melissa Berthier, E-mail: melissaberthier@miamibeachfl.gov
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 18, 2020
Lissette García Arrogante Appointed Miami Beach
Tourism and Culture Director
— Bringing over two decades of arts and culture experience —
Miami Beach, FL — Today, the Miami Beach Commission voted to appoint Lissette García
Arrogante as the city’s new Tourism and Culture Director.
“During her more than two decades in the arts and cultural community, Ms. García Arrogante
has gained an in-depth understanding of their value and impact to the greater community,”
Miami Beach City Manager Jimmy Morales said. “She can leverage their economic impact by
implementing arts-based strategies to deal with economic and community development.”
Most recently, García Arrogante served as an arts & culture consultant for public and private
visual arts organizations. Her broad experience in the arts includes public museums, private
galleries, corporate art, community foundations and festival planning.
She also served as a key strategist advancing arts and culture for the City of Savannah,
Georgia, as Director of the Cultural Resources Department and the Savannah Cultural Arts
Center, a new $27-million-dollar 39,000 square-foot public facility. In that role, García
Arrogante oversaw a portfolio that included a wide range of strategic, programmatic initiatives
with cultural investments. She provided direction for activities relating to the city's role in
culture, public art, diversity and inclusion, and community engagement. She managed the
department and the facility's daily operations, administered the annual administrative, capital
improvement, and contributions budget, visual and performing arts programming, and the
proposal for a new public art ordinance while reporting to the Cultural Affairs Commission.
Prior to joining the City of Savannah, García Arrogante was the 2016-2017 National Urban
Fellow at the Cleveland Foundation. She was project lead for the $3.2-million-dollar creative
placemaking project, the PNC Glenville Arts Campus, an international visual artist residency for
FRONT International: Cleveland Triennial for Contemporary Art exhibition comprised of artist
commissions, performances, films, and public programs that launched its inaugural edition in
July of 2018.
As a cultural producer, García Arrogante has produced performing arts events and concerts,
including the Bang! Music Festivals in 2005 and 2006 at Bayfront Park. The daylong events
were held over 12 hours with five stages and over 75 performing acts, including Daft Punk,
Modest Mouse, Tiesto, Gnarls Barkley and Duran Duran.
She also oversaw well-known local programs like WordSpeak at Tigertail Productions, the first
spoken word teen program in Miami-Dade County, and JAM at MAM, the popular multi-tiered
We are committed to providing excellent public service and safety to all who live, work and play in our vibrant, tropical, historic community.
monthly adult program at the Miami Art Museum (PAMM), producing groundbreaking
programming with local poets, DJs, and musical acts such as DJ LeSpam and The Spam
Allstars, Cortadito and legendary blues singer Joey Gilmore.
"Ms. Garcia Arrogante's prior work experience in the arts and cultural field will be invaluable in
her role as the incoming tourism and culture director for the city of Miami Beach," Morales
added.
She holds a Master of Public Administration from Baruch College, CUNY Marxe School of
Public and International Affairs, and a Bachelor of Art from Florida International University in
Art History specialization in Contemporary Art.
“I am thrilled to join the City of Miami Beach team,” Garcia Arrogante shared. “I look forward to
the opportunity of being part of the city's mission to support the culture, tourism, and hospitality
community. Arts and culture are a fundamental part of the vibrancy of the city and are key
drivers to its economy and vitality. In these challenging times, now more than ever, the
importance of culture and entertainment for our residents and the unique identity of tourism in
Miami Beach ring true. I'm excited to continue the efforts to build robust and resilient cultural
and tourism industries while strengthening Miami Beach's position as a leading international
cultural destination."
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