Today we’d like to introduce you to Andrew Utt.
Hi Andrew, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
My life has always been consumed by art, so there was no serendipitous moment that led me to where I am today. Raised in San Diego by two parents involved in the arts – an architect and an environmental designer – I went to the School of Creative and Performing Arts for high school, then studied visual arts at the California College of the Arts in San Francisco. Being at CCA prepared me for my path ahead, though not in its intended way. Art school gave me access to the business of art. Work study allowed me to learn how to fix and paint walls, install artwork, work with the admissions database, work in payroll, and most importantly, helped me to understand the creative process first hand by speaking with artists on a daily basis.
When I left art school, I came back to San Diego and immediately worked at a commercial gallery with Larry Baza and Tom Noel before working at the Mingei during Martha Longenecker’s tenure. I expanded on my knowledge of museums and the arts and then moved to Paris where I had access to major global institutions. After a few months there, I traveled to museums all over Europe before coming back to San Francisco where I worked for a number of museums that strengthened my skills and connections to the global art community.
After a trip to Buenos Aires, I met my future wife and then decided to move there. I worked with a local gallery to produce a video art film festival over the course of a year with over 50 artists from more than 25 countries. We then moved to Colombia where we founded a fine art photography gallery, the first of its kind in the country. After our child was born, we then moved to San Diego where we remain today.
Since being in San Diego, we’ve both received our master’s degrees – mine in Museum Studies from Harvard and my wife’s from visual arts at UCSD. Twenty years into our careers, we are blessed to be living and working in the fields we care most about in a city that is yearning for more culture.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
No, it has not been a smooth road. I won’t go into details, but there have been many challenges along the way. Jealousy and pride have been the biggest obstacles and have taught me to be more considerate with others. Yelling solves nothing. Empowering someone comes back ten fold.
I have also been fortunate – for every challenge, there have been dozens of positive experiences.
In the end, all of the challenges that we face lead us to be stronger individuals. I would not have been here today without having those experiences.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
Those around me would acknowledge that I’m a “workaholic”. My work gives me pleasure, excitement, and stress all at once – and I’m ok with that!
My ultimate goal with my work is to change the world, which is why I like to think big. I’m ambitious and my stretch goals drive me towards achieving those ambitions. I don’t think I have special qualities, I just understand what needs to be done in order to achieve those ambitious goals. If I need to learn how to do something or hire someone who knows how to do it, I will.
I’m proud that I have been able to get where I am at such a young age. It gives me the opportunity to reconfigure the way museums are envisioned and run so that I can help build a new pathway for the future.
What do you like and dislike about the city?
I’ll answer both of these questions with one word: the beach. Because we’re so close to the ocean, we have beautiful weather all year long (it’s even delightful when it rains!). But because we’re so close to the beach, it becomes the priority. The reality is that San Diego is much bigger than our coastline. Our city has invested half a billion dollars in arts and culture in the last few years. We have a massive science and technology community and we’re providing opportunities to a plentitude of entrepreneurs. Let’s focus on turning this growing city into a global city.
Contact Info:
- Website: icasandiego.org
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/icasandiego
- Facebook: facebook.com/icasandiego
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/icasandiego
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC57u-VMy9L9MV-rZhBU41VQ
Image Credits
Veronica Bellocci Building: Tim Hardy
Stacy Keck
