Larry "Picasso" Stewart -Visual Arts Center Lifetime Member

Larry Stewart

Larry is a Visual Arts Center (VAC) Lifetime Member and has been a member for 23 years.  He is no stranger to the VAC fundraising efforts and stepped right up when asked to be a late fill-in Battle of the Brushes Celebrity Artist.  Long time Members of the VAC will remember the wickedly funny plays Larry wrote, cast and directed, that themed to the famous VAC Artist of the Year.  The first being the dual artists selected, DaVinci and Michelangelo and the next year was Monet.  Two sold out performances for each play, standing ovations and raising more money for the VAC than any other venue for those years.  

Born upstate in Malone, NY; ten miles south of the Canadian border and about one hour south of Montreal.  He was drafted into the Army in 1969 and worked his way through the ranks. Along the way he commanded four units and served on both the Army Staff and the Joint Staff. He retired from the US Army in 1997 as a Colonel in the Ordinance Corps. He started a defense related professional services company the same year, Stewart Consulting Group, based in Washington, DC.  Larry received his undergraduate degree from Plattsburgh State University in 1978.  His dual master’s in finance and Economics; and Procurement Management from Webster University in 1979; a Master’s in Business Administration also from Webster University in 1995.  He was a postgraduate scholar in the National Security Fellowship program at Harvard University 1990-91.  He has been on several local boards, including The Charlotte County Retired Officers Association, The Fred Lang Foundation, Peace River Harvard Alumni Association (President), Enterprise Charlotte, Lee County Pipes & Drums (Treasurer), Isles Yacht Club (including Commodore).  Former board member and fellow in the National Contract Management Association (NCMA) and wrote numerous articles for Contract Management Magazine, NCMA representative in a groundbreaking delegation to China that focused on the cooperative contract management in international trade. Jointly wrote the business book Increasing Efficiency through Organizational Transformation, in 1998 with Bart Huthwaite and Mark O'Hare.