Edgar Garcia, GCLP 2016
Edgar Garcia was a participant of the 1st Edition of the Global Cultural Leadership Programme.
With over twenty years experience in arts administration, cultural policy, historic preservation, cultural resource management, and urban planning, Edgar Garcia is deputy director of the El Pueblo de Los Angeles Historical Monument, a cultural district encompassing the oldest section of Los Angeles. He is former Arts & Culture Deputy for L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti now U.S. Ambassador to India. In 2005 he served on a U.S. State Department sponsored diplomatic exchange in Yaroslavl, Russia with World Heritage USA leading an architectural conservation project. He has been awarded the Getty Leadership in Arts Management grant, Fitch Scholarship, and was named a Diversity Scholar for the National Trust and Historic New England. He has also served as a Royal Oak Foundation Scholar for the Attingham Trust and Pocantico Fellow with the Rockefeller Brothers Fund. In 2019 he was awarded the German Marshall Fellowship. He is a graduate of Yale University and UCLA.
“As a practitioner of municipal arts and cultural policy, my participation in the GCLP was an opportunity to reevaluate my core career principles in the context of a rapidly changing world responding to globalization and new technology. Accomplishing such a personal and heartfelt task was only possible by the nurturing and dynamic environment created by the GCLP for all the international participants from around the world. Confronting the challenging tasks of being an effective cultural leader at the both the local level and international stage was made easier by learning amongst my colleagues in a spirit of friendship and openness. Seeing one’s hopes and fears reflected in other participant’s words and thoughts led to a renewed sense of self and greater empowerment. The friendships formed and lessons learned during time spent with the GCLP in Malta continue to inspire me to be an effective leader for both my local community and global partners.”
In order to introduce themselves and their organisations, the participants prepared a poster presenting 4 elements – Me, My organisation, My Project and My Dream.