Robert Fitzpatrick (born 1940) is a Canadian-born American art academic and executive, entrepreneur, and former politician.

Early life

Fitzpatrick was born in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most pop ...

in 1940.

Career

In 1972, he was elected as

Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

's youngest city council member while also serving as a professor of medieval French literature and dean of students at

Johns Hopkins University Johns Hopkins University (Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1876, Johns Hopkins is the oldest research university in the United States and in the western hemisphere. It consiste ...

. ''

Time Magazine ''Time'' (stylized in all caps) is an American news magazine based in New York City. For nearly a century, it was published weekly, but starting in March 2020 it transitioned to every other week. It was first published in New York City on M ...

'' named him one of its "200 Faces for the Future" in 1974. In 1975, Fitzpatrick was appointed president of

California Institute of the Arts The California Institute of the Arts (CalArts) is a private art university in Santa Clarita, California. It was incorporated in 1961 as the first degree-granting institution of higher learning in the US created specifically for students of bo ...

(colloquially known as CalArts), where he remained for 12 years. CalArts is an arts institute in Valencia, California, offering undergraduate and graduate arts degrees in visual arts, music, theatre, film and video, dance, animation, and creative writing. In 1987 he resigned as President of CalArts to take the position of head of EuroDisney in Paris. During his tenure at CalArts, Fitzpatrick served as the director of the 1984 Olympic Arts Festival in Los Angeles, California. He was also the founder and director of th
Los Angeles Festival
which grew directly out of the

1984 Olympic Games The 1984 Olympics may refer to: *The 1984 Winter Olympics, which were held in Sarajevo, Yugoslavia *The 1984 Summer Olympics The 1984 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXIII Olympiad and also known as Los Angeles 1984) were an intern ...

. From 1987 to 1993, he served as CEO of

Euro Disney Resort Disneyland Paris is an entertainment resort in Chessy, France, east of Paris. It encompasses two theme parks, resort hotels, Disney Nature Resorts, a shopping, dining and entertainment complex, and a golf course. Disneyland Park is the origi ...

, overseeing the creation of the $4 billion theme park and resort: Euro Disneyland, 7 resort hotels, and a dining, entertainment and shopping district ( Festival Disney). The resort opened in April 1992, and Fitzpatrick left the company following year. In 1996, Fitzpatrick became the dean of th
School of the Arts
at

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manha ...

in New York City, serving there for two years. He joined the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago as its Director and CEO in 1998, holding the longest tenure of any director to date. During his tenure, MCA was awarded the Arts Presenters/MetLife Foundation Award for Excellence in Arts Access. In February 2008, Fitzpatrick left his position at MCA in order to join the London-based (and

Christie's Christie's is a British auction house founded in 1766 by James Christie. Its main premises are on King Street, St James's in London, at Rockefeller Center in New York City and at Alexandra House in Hong Kong. It is owned by Groupe Artémis, t ...

-owned) gallery

Haunch of Venison Haunch of Venison was a contemporary art gallery operating from 2002 until 2013. It supported the work of contemporary leading artists, presented a broad and critically acclaimed program of exhibitions to a large public through international exhi ...

as its international managing director, where he oversaw the opening of

Haunch New York Squatting is a versatile posture where the weight of the body is on the feet but the knees and hips are bent. In contrast, sitting involves taking the weight of the body, at least in part, on the buttocks against the ground or a horizontal object ...

, housed at

Rockefeller Center Rockefeller Center is a large complex consisting of 19 commerce, commercial buildings covering between 48th Street (Manhattan), 48th Street and 51st Street (Manhattan), 51st Street in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. The 14 original Art Deco ...

. He stepped down from that post in March 2009.

Personal life

Fitzpatrick is the father of Michael Fitzpatrick, the titular "Fitz" of the

neo soul Neo soul (sometimes called progressive soul) is a genre of popular music. As a term, it was coined by music industry entrepreneur Kedar Massenburg during the late 1990s to market and describe a style of music that emerged from soul and contem ...

band

Fitz and the Tantrums Fitz and the Tantrums are an American indie pop and neo soul band from Los Angeles, California, that formed in 2008. The band consists of Michael Fitzpatrick (lead vocals), Noelle Scaggs (co-lead vocals and percussion), James King (saxophone, ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fitzpatrick, Robert 1940 births American art curators Living people Date of birth missing (living people) Place of birth missing (living people) Johns Hopkins University faculty