Pat Greene is Bungalower Media’s first sponsored Resident Reporter. Greene has joined our team as our Arts and Culture Correspondent, supported by the efforts of Interstruct Design + Build, an award-winning Orlando-based design and build firm.
Vicki Landon has built an impressive arts career rooted in her passion for theater and a deep commitment to cultural advocacy. With both a Bachelor’s and a Master’s in Theatre from the University of Central Florida, she began her journey in arts administration at Orlando Opera in 2007, quickly establishing herself as a dynamic leader in the nonprofit arts sector. Her roles at Orlando Family Stage (formerly Orlando Repertory Theatre) and later at Central Florida Community Arts allowed her to hone her fundraising expertise and innovative management skills, driving transformative initiatives that bolstered the local arts infrastructure. As the current Administrator of Orange County Arts & Cultural Affairs, Landon leverages over 15 years of experience to champion public art projects, streamline funding processes, and foster collaborative partnerships across the region—all while remaining a passionate advocate for creative expression and community enrichment.
1. What is your role as the Administrator of Orange County Arts and Cultural Affairs, and how long have you been in this position?
Orange County’s Office of Arts and Cultural Affairs facilitates the County’s investment in arts and culture throughout our community. Our team of four supports the thirteen-member Arts and Cultural Affairs Advisory Council and its related subcommittees, oversees and evaluates grant programs for capital projects and cultural programming, holds dozens of public meetings each year, manages four County gallery spaces for public art, and supports public art in facilities by conducting art calls, assembling review boards, and facilitating installation. I’ve been in this position for just under a year – I started in April 2024 after over fifteen years as an arts administrator.
2. What examples of projects have you worked on, or are you planning on being involved in, at this job?
Part of the regular “flow” of the job is facilitating our grants programs and the various committees and processes for that. But I’ve also gotten to plug into once-a-year sort of projects, like assisting with the artists for the Mayor’s State of the County 2024, serving as a judge for the Asian Inspired Art Contest, and hosting the Mayor’s Diwali celebration. One huge project I’m focused on right now is “CANVAS: A Cultural Plan for the City of Orlando and Orange County.” The City and the County have partnered on an intentional ten-year cultural plan for our community, and while it has a name, it’s not written yet! We just completed nearly fifty meetings and interviews in our community and should have a draft plan to review in late Spring. Once approved and adopted, I’ll have a roadmap to follow for the next ten years of arts and culture here!
3. You replaced Terry Olson for the job. He is well-known in the community and had the job for over 23 years. How different or similar are your approaches to the job?
Terry is a founder, a creator, and (in his own words) an instigator! When I think back on the multiple different organizations, projects, and efforts he started, it’s really quite something. I think when this office was first created, and it needed to figure out what it would be, someone like Terry was a great fit. He can dream and imagine and say “yes” to as many opportunities as possible! I, on the other hand, am less of an author and more of an editor. I like process, and systems, and refining work to make it really efficient and effective. I’m so grateful that I’ve inherited 23 years of creative work and foundation in this office, and my focus now is on refining that work and making it as strong as I possibly can. Terry also continues to be a very visible face throughout our community – he’s out at multiple events every night, every week, and every month, sometimes fitting in 5 or 6 events on the same day. I have two young children at home, so while I do make a real effort to be out in the community and attend events, I’m not able to be as “out and about” as Terry was and continues to be.
4. You have a lot of experience in development, primarily helping people find grants or finding them for your previous organizations. How has your previous experience influenced what you do in this position?
After more than fifteen years of fundraising, I ended up with a lot of experience speaking on behalf of others and writing grant proposals or a letter asking someone to make a gift forces you to take your ego out of it and focus on the impact of the programs or organizations you’re fundraising for. And it also helps you to become a connector. Maybe I’d see a grant opportunity that my organization at the time wasn’t a good fit for, but it WAS a fit for someone else I knew. Or maybe I’d be speaking with a donor who mentioned offhandedly they wanted to get involved in X or Y or Z type of work, and I happened to know a nonprofit that did that, so I shared. I spent some time as a consultant as well, helping multiple nonprofits at the same time, and that developed in me just such a love and respect for the broad diversity of arts and culture across our entire community. It’s a mix of civic pride, identity, and service to others, and all of those things rolled up together really serve me now in this role. My predecessor often says that this role “represents the government to the arts community and represents the arts community to the government.” I wouldn’t be able to do that nearly as well without this background.
5. I know that you taught courses at Edyth Bush, an organization that I have a lot of respect for. I received a proposal writing certificate from there. You have taught that class. Given all of your experience in development, what advice do you have for organizations and individuals who want to get funding? This can be quite a barrier for many.
Start close to home! Sometimes, organizations and individuals think they will secure a national grant with lots of zeroes on the check, and it will cover all of their expenses. And sure, sometimes those grants exist, but more often than not, your most dependable and reliable source of funding is going to be with folks already in your sphere. In 2023, 67% of all philanthropic activity in the United States came from individuals, not from corporations or foundations. Foundation grants only made up 19%! So as you build your budget and figure out how much you need to do the work you want to do, plan on two-thirds of it coming from individual people. Look to your patrons, your volunteers, and even your vendors! If you’re an organization, ask your board members to help connect you to potential new donors. The people already there beside you, sleeves rolled up, helping you do the work, have already demonstrated that they want to help. Once you have a good base of support from individuals, ask the vendors you work with most often to consider discounting you in exchange for sponsorship recognition. You can dip your toe into grant funding with more community-based grants (like the Awesome Foundation or United Arts Individual grants) as you grow your own capacity to do more.
6. What are some of your favorite projects, initiatives, or organizations that you have been involved with?
At Orlando Family Stage, I really enjoyed watching field trip performances of our shows. There’s some insane energy that comes into a 330-seat theatre when 9 out of every 10 seats is a kid! They are the MOST responsive audience, laughing loudly and gasping at big plot moments and dancing in their seats (or in the aisles.) At CFCArts, my favorite part of the work was getting to know the individual stories of the members in each of our programs. There are hundreds of folks in the orchestra, choir, and acting ensembles, and it would be easy to just think of them all as one big group. But I loved learning individual member stories, how one person maybe grew up playing violin but had opted for another career, or how another person was told all their life not to pursue acting and now they got to, or how one person helped cope with illness and loss by getting to be a part of it. But if I think more broadly about my career and not just the specific jobs I had, my favorite initiatives have always been in the advocacy space. I got to help Representative Anna Eskamani plan her very first town hall, which was focused on arts and culture funding. I got to work with Cole NeSmith to co-produce and co-host a Mayoral candidate forum on arts and culture in Orange County. And I’ve been at most of the Arts Advocacy Days in the Florida Capitol. It’s really those moments when I got to work on behalf of the entire arts community and not just one organization that I cherish the most.
7. What are your aspirations for your department and yourself?
I want to see our office continue to grow its support for the arts and cultural community here in Orange County and be an even louder champion of its work. We’re so fortunate that our County leadership is incredibly supportive of the arts. This year, Orange County is investing over $23 per capita in arts and culture, which is three times the national average! My goal is to make sure that support doesn’t waver and for other communities across the country to look to us as the gold standard on how to support arts and culture. I want to be able to listen to the needs of our arts community and make funding more accessible and useful for them. I want to continue to tell our story throughout our entire community so that all our residents and visitors know what we have here! I don’t have any particular aspirations for myself in this role like you might think – I’m not trying to win any awards or become an elected official or anything! My sole aspiration really is to earn and keep the trust of our arts and cultural community; I’m here to serve them, not myself.
8. What is your take on the local art and culture scene? Do you have ideas or advice for making it better?
I know everyone’s so sick of hearing this, and I’m sick of saying it, but we have so many “best-kept secrets” in our arts and culture scene, and I wish we were better about promoting ourselves and being loud about all the gems we have! There are so many informal artist meet-ups, gatherings, jam sessions, art installations, guerilla performances, and other happenings that don’t make it onto the radar of bigger marketing efforts, and I think it can lead to everyone working in their own small groups or silos. I’d love to see more individual artists and smaller nonprofits working together and sharing resources so that everyone wasn’t out trying to make it on their own. I don’t think Central Florida suffers from any lack of really cool, creative people and projects – we just need to be better about amplifying them!