Larry and Debra Poteet - Raul Guerrero

Larry and Debra Poteet have been collecting modern and contemporary art since 1985.

Although not artists themselves, Larry and Debra are actively involved in the San Diego arts community. Larry previously served on the board of directors for COVA, (the Combined Organization for the Visual Arts), and currently sits on the board of directors for the San Diego Art Institute. Larry and Debra have also been on the Advisory Board for the Lux Arts Institute in Encinitas, CA, and they are members of the Fellows of Contemporary Art. They have served on the nominating committee for the San Diego Art Prize, and Larry contributed introductory notes for the show by Marcos Ramirez (ERRE), a recent recipient of the Art Prize. Larry has also participated in several panel discussions on collecting art, and has appeared on Art Rocks, an Internet radio program which focuses on issues related to the arts.

Question #1 What is your highlight Visual art experience from the last year?

#1 Debra - "I was on a business trip to Dublin, Ireland in April. I had some down time so I went to the Hugh Lane Art Gallery (Museum) to see the Francis Bacon studio. It seems that Bacon's surviving partner had given the intact studio to the Hugh Lane. The gallery had anthropologists inventory and map out all 7.000 artifacts that were piled inside of the cramped studio where Bacon had worked for 30 years and never cleaned out. It was reassembled and it was the first time I had a good understanding of why and how great Bacon was based on what was revealed in the reassembled studio."

Question #2 What is your vision of the future of the Visual arts for San Diego?

#2 Debra - "I would create a plan with the City of San Diego to integrate local art and artists as well as non indigenous artists into every aspect of public design as well as part of the chamber of commerce. I would plagiarize a lot of the great ideas that London has experienced to turn San Diego into a world-class art center led by the city itself. Great art and design brings in tourists and conventioneers."

Question #1 What is your highlight Visual art experience from the last year?

#1 Larry - "Last Summer Debra and I traveled to County Cork, Ireland where we spent several days with Angela Flowers of the Flowers Gallery, London, and a small group of her friends and gallery artists. The highlight of the trip was a group art project, which Angela framed and hung in her gallery for our reunion trip to London in February. It is probably the only time I will have a piece of my own art on a gallery wall."

Question #2 What is your vision of the future of the Visual arts for San Diego?

#2 Larry - "Most urban areas have a central arts district. New York has Chelsea, Los Angeles has Bergamont Station, West Hollywood, and Culver City, and London has Cork Street (among others). Although San Diego has several excellent galleries, and numerous local artists who have achieved national recognition, the gallery scene seems disjointed and unfocused. My wish for San Diego would be a central arts district and a stronger local gallery scene."