Artist Josh Garrick named Orlando ‘ambassador’ to Greece
Josh Garrick has had a long love affair with the nation of Greece — creating striking works of art with his fine-art photography of the country’s numerous antiquities.
Now that relationship is official: Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer has appointed Garrick the city’s “Cultural and Business Ambassador to Greece.” The position is honorary and does not include any compensation.
Garrick said he was “thrilled” with the acknowledgment from the city.
“You have proven that relationships are most successful when community leaders, like you, contribute toward strengthening the economic and cultural ties between two cities,” Dyer wrote in a congratulatory letter to Garrick. “We are incredibly grateful for your dedicated service to Orlando and Central Florida.”
Garrick, who writes a weekly column on arts and culture, was the first non Greek permitted to exhibit his contemporary art at the National Archaeological Museum of Greece.
As a professor of ancient Greek art and culture for the School of Visual Arts in New York, Garrick led students on 15 educational trips to Greece. He also was given a unique opportunity to photograph the Parthenon and the propylaea of the Acropolis of Athens from scaffolding and other usually inaccessible areas.
His art photography has been exhibited in various Central Florida galleries, and his Greek work also has been shown in Greece’s consulates in New York City and Istanbul, Turkey.
“Please accept my sincere gratitude for all you have done and will continue to do to grow an even stronger relationship between the City of Orlando and Greece,” the mayor wrote.