Greene, a former non-candidate for Orlando Mayor, is always hosting some sort of arts-related initiative, ranging from Billboard Art Shows along the I-4 corridor to Orlando’s only shipping container art gallery, The Cube, in Parramore. He’s always got his fingers in Orlando’s art pie.
Greene’s professional career has included stints with Orlando’s original coworking space, Urban ReThink, he was the founder of pop-up art festival Art in Odd Places Orlando. and served as the Gallery Director at the Gallery at Avalon Island for several years. Orlando’s lucky to have him and now so is Bungalower Media.
Starting this month, Pat Greene is Bungalower Media’s first-ever resident reporter. He will be covering arts and culture in a weekly column that is sponsored by Ryan Young of Interstruct, Inc., a local architecture design and build firm that loves Orlando almost as much as we do.
How long have you lived in Orlando, Pat?
Well, it’s been off and on. I was born in Fort Lauderdale and we moved here when I was two. But my family went all over until I was 12. A year after high school I served in the military and got out when I was 23. I was around Orlando for a few years and moved back and forth all over Florida before traveling to Europe and the Middle East. I’ve taken some sabbaticals from Central Florida over the years but I keep coming back. I’ve got some great friends and family in the area and I love Orlando. Traveling always makes me appreciate it more.
Save me a trip to your LinkedIn, and tell me about some of your favorite jobs.
I’ve had some amazing jobs. I loved working at Avalon Gallery before they ran out of money to pay me. I met you, Brendan, working at Urban ReThink as the Programming Director. It was an amazing place for people to connect. When they couldn’t give me a raise they added “Special Projects Manager” to my title. I worked for Nickelodeon from 1991-2001, and it seemed like everyone who had a band was working there simultaneously. That was such a cool group to be a part of and I learned a lot there. I was a preparator for Orlando Museum of Art for a while too, and I learned a lot there from Hanson and the team.
Cool, cool. So, why so much art?
What’s funny is, I’ve always had this feeling – I never took art at school – but I remember being young, as an athlete, always listening to weird music and thinking differently from everyone else. But it really clicked when I got back from the army and met an old friend, Chris Robb, who had just been in a show in New York with Basquiat, and his stories got me really excited. All those stories about 1980s New York art stuff and the parties. So I started painting. I’ve always had these teachers who are sort of friends too that would send me things to read and thumb through. I loved going to museums when I was traveling. Nickelodeon let me spend time in the scenic department sometimes, off the clock, and then one guy died on the art team, and they tapped me in to handle props.
What are your favorite things to do in Orlando?
I think most of the things I like are the things that aren’t on anyone’s radar. Like amazing Mexican restaurants on OBT where you need to know Spanish to order. The nooks and crannies of Mills 50. A lot of people who live here, reduce it to the same story that the tourists tell, and I love showing people things that I’ve found. And I love the people here.
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