Art is everywhere. In children’s drawings they bring home from school, in chalk drawings, and especially in schools. For one Milton resident, he felt the need to be able to give back to the arts.
Dan Schutt is the Vice President of Innovation and Change Communications at Fidelity Investments and in his downtime he donates his time to support arts education at Boston Arts Academy serving on the board for the Boston Arts Academy Foundation. His role on the board is to assist in strategy and communications.
While serving on the board, he, most recently, helped execute the foundation’s 2024 HONORS event, a fundraising gala that brings together artists, educators, and community members to celebrate the arts and raise money for the school.
Schutt has held various leadership positions during his career including, prior to joining Fidelity, leading numerous teams of national and global public relations firms in Boston, serving three years on the board of the Arts & Business Council of Rhode Island, and over 20 years serving on the board of Victory Programs, Inc.
Schutt said that the arts has always been a part of his life since he was a kid with his sister being an artist and his mother having artistic tendencies.
“She took a lot of art classes,” he said. For himself, music and musical theater were a big part of his childhood. “We all played instruments, my whole family. Music was always on in the house, all types of music.”
Schutt said he was a total band kid, playing trombone for twelve years, was in marching band, in orchestra and musical theater in high school.
He first heard about and got involved with Boston Arts Academy and the foundation through a meeting with Denella Clark at a Lady Gaga concert. After learning about what Clark did with the Foundation and for the school, Schutt was hooked.
“I was just blown away by what the organization was able to do, especially as a Boston Public School,” said Schutt. “I started to put more time, donate to it because I just thought it was an amazing cause and then Denella asked me to be on the board.”
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