Leadership

Former President

Garde Board of Trustees

Philip Michalowski has volunteered at the Garde Arts Center for over thirty-five years in a number of capacities.  He arrived in the City of New London in 1969 as its  Development Administrator and has been an active resident ever since. He chaired the Building Committee during the planning, property acquisition, and major renovation of the Garde Theater. The Campaign for the Garde 2000 transformed the facility into a performing arts center and its footprint grew to include 95% of a city block. During his tenure as President of the Garde Arts Center Board of Trustees, he accepted on behalf of the Garde the award for Outstanding Historic Theater of 2022 by the League of Historic American Theatres, largely due to the Garde’s unique approach to community engagement.

Using his training and experience as a professional city planning and economic development consultant with his own firm Harrall and Michalowski which merged with Milone and MacBroom, he brought an understanding of the synergy of the arts with community linkages, economic development generation, and community pride.  Ongoing Garde restoration, as one of Downtown’s iconic historic buildings, encouraged investments in other nearby historic structures. The Garde’s diverse programming and staff built bridges among many local and regional ethnic communities. Communication among community members has been stimulated because of the Garde’s efforts.  His planning assignments in numerous northeastern cities provided an opportunity to visit and observe the role of historic theaters in downtown revitalization. 

Mr. Michalowski received his education at Saint Michael’s College with a Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration and a Masters of Public Administration from the University of Pittsburgh, Graduate School of Public and International Affairs.  He was a Charter Member of the American Planning Association and the American Institute of Certified Planners and a member of the Urban Land Institute and the Connecticut Community Development Association.