October 31, 2010 | Read Time: 1 minute
Background: This month, Mr. Patuto, 50, became the second person to lead the seven-year-old Brooklyn, N.Y., group, which champions experimental musicians, artists, and writers by displaying their works and giving them grants to pursue new projects. The group’s founder, Suzanne Fiol, died of cancer in 2009.
Previous jobs: For the past three years Mr. Patuto has been the vice president for institutional advancement at Saybrook University, in San Francisco. He has also worked as a fund raiser at the Museum of Contemporary Art, in Los Angeles, and the San Francisco Art Institute. In 2006 Mr. Patuto co-founded Volume, a nonprofit group that supports artists who create works that entwine art and music.
Education: He earned a bachelor’s degree from Empire State College of New York in nonprofit management and dance in 1986, and also studied at the Ailey School, in New York.
On his agenda: Raising $2.5-million, some of which will be used to renovate Issue Project Room’s new permanent home in downtown Brooklyn. “It will be a challenge,” Mr. Patuto says. “Experimental arts don’t always have the most populist appeal.” At the same time, he says, Brooklyn is emerging as one of the country’s premier cultural centers, so “there is a great element of civic pride I think we can exploit.” Mr. Patuto also will develop a long-term plan for the group.
Salary: He declined to disclose it. The group’s annual budget is $850,000.
What he’ll miss about San Francisco: Seeing the Golden Gate Bridge on his bike ride to work every day.
