Orange Blossom Award: Darcy Schuller, Building What Lasts

by Avery Anderson

Arts administrators are often praised for keeping the lights on. Darcy Schuller does something more consequential: she builds the conditions that allow ambition to last.

Since joining the Museum of Fine Arts, St. Pete in 2021, Schuller—now Deputy Director and COO—has helped guide the institution through a period of real transformation. Not by chasing visibility or splashy moments, but by strengthening the infrastructure underneath them. Her leadership shows up in capacity: in systems that support growth without burnout, in strategy that protects the art rather than competing with it.

In a field that increasingly rewards personal branding, Schuller’s approach is quietly countercultural. She leads without needing to be the headline. She builds frameworks that allow artists, curators, and communities to shine—while remaining largely invisible herself.

“Since joining the Museum of Fine Arts, St. Pete in 2021, Darcy has been a steady and strategic force through a period of remarkable transformation,” said Victoria Doyle, Chief Strategy & HR Officer at The James Museum. “With a keen eye for opportunity and a deep commitment to the arts, she has quietly shaped the museum’s trajectory from behind the scenes (just as any great arts administrator does). Her thoughtful leadership and tireless dedication have not only strengthened the MFA but have also enriched the broader arts community in St. Pete. We celebrate her vision, her heart, and her unwavering support of the arts.”

What sets Schuller apart is her understanding that stability is not the opposite of creativity—it’s the condition that makes it possible. Growth, in her hands, isn’t chaotic or extractive. It’s intentional. Durable. Human.

Today, we honor Darcy Schuller for the quiet, essential work of building institutions strong enough to hold the future.

What Are the Orange Blossom Awards?

A month-long series from The Arts Passport celebrating the people and organizations whose quiet, steady work strengthens Tampa Bay’s arts ecosystem. No applications. No campaigning. Just community-driven recognition, released daily in December.

Other Orange Blossom Stories:

December 1

Orange Blossom Award: Cheryl Davis and the Art of Showing Up

by Avery Anderson Every arts community has its stars — the people onstage, the names in the program, the ones audiences come to see. But Tampa Bay’s arts ecosystem runs on something deeper: the quiet, unglamorous, fiercely devoted labor of people who rarely get recognized. That’s why The Arts

Tampa Bay Arts PassportAvery Anderson

December 2

Orange Blossom Award: The Quiet Coalition Behind a Theater Dream

by Avery Anderson Today’s Orange Blossom Award goes not to an individual, but to an unlikely coalition — four Tampa Bay theaters that came together this fall to help a much smaller organization make a very public case for its future. Dunedin Public Theater is barely two years old — volunteer-run,

Tampa Bay Arts PassportAvery Anderson

December 3

Orange Blossom Award: The Architect of Reading Circles

by Avery Anderson Today’s Orange Blossom Award goes to someone whose work rarely draws attention, yet hundreds of St. Pete readers feel its ripple effects every single month — whether they realize it or not. Before most book clubs at Tombolo Books ever meet, before the emails go out or

Tampa Bay Arts PassportAvery Anderson

December 4

Orange Blossom Award: The Keeper of Women’s Stories

by Avery Anderson Today’s Orange Blossom Award goes to someone whose work is so woven into Tampa’s arts landscape that many people don’t realize they’ve been shaped by it — not directly, but through the countless stories she’s helped bring into the world. Long before a

Tampa Bay Arts PassportAvery Anderson

December 5

Orange Blossom Award: The Leader Who Let Herself Feel — and Then Got to Work

by Avery Anderson Every day in December, The Arts Passport is recognizing someone whose quiet, persistent work holds this region’s arts scene together — the kind of people who rarely get applause but absolutely deserve it. We call them the Orange Blossom Awards: small spotlights for the folks who keep

Tampa Bay Arts PassportAvery Anderson

December 6

Orange Blossom Award: The Man Behind Tampa Bay’s Most-Seen Moments

by Avery Anderson In nearly every corner of Tampa Bay theatre, from splashy musicals to the smallest black box, there’s one person quietly shaping how audiences see the work — long after the curtain falls. He’s not onstage. He’s not giving notes. He’s usually somewhere in the

Tampa Bay Arts PassportAvery Anderson

December 7

Orange Blossom Award: The Educator Who Rebuilt the Room While Standing In It

by Avery Anderson A quick reminder of what the Orange Blossom Awards are — in a city full of shiny galas and people congratulating themselves for “raising awareness,” these awards are for the other people. The ones doing the unglamorous, quietly revolutionary work that actually shifts the ground under our arts

Tampa Bay Arts PassportAvery Anderson

December 8

Orange Blossom Award: The Year Julia Rifino Climbed a Musical Mountain

By Avery Anderson Some artists bloom slowly. Others spend years quietly filling the room with talent until suddenly—one night, one show, one impossible marathon of a performance—the city realizes, oh… she’s a force of nature. This year, that moment belonged to Julia Rifino. If you’ve been

Tampa Bay Arts PassportAvery Anderson

December 9

Orange Blossom Award: The First Phone Call Everyone Makes

by Avery Anderson Some leaders shine on stages. Others shine in boardrooms. Terri Lipsey Scott shines in the moments when someone calls and says, “We need you.” Today’s Orange Blossom Award goes to the Executive Director of the Woodson African American Museum of Florida — a woman whose leadership in

Tampa Bay Arts PassportAvery Anderson

December 10

Orange Blossom Award: The Quiet Producer

by Avery Anderson When people talk about “giving artists a voice,” they usually mean the visible parts: the microphone, the camera, the finished clip that pops up in your feed. What they rarely talk about is the person who made sure the microphone worked, the audio didn’t glitch, the

Tampa Bay Arts PassportAvery Anderson

December 11

Orange Blossom Award: The Connector of Music

by Avery Anderson There’s a version of the arts ecosystem that runs on competition, scarcity, and quiet side-eye. And then there’s the version that actually works. This Orange Blossom Award goes to Matthew Morris—because he chose the second one. You might know Matthew as the leader of

Tampa Bay Arts PassportAvery Anderson

December 12

Orange Blossom Award: The Hugs, the Work, the Legacy

by Avery Anderson Some people leave behind a body of work. Others leave behind a way of working. Stephen Bell was the latter. This year, Tampa Bay lost one of its quiet architects—an artist who didn’t chase the spotlight but somehow illuminated every room he entered. Stephen passed

Tampa Bay Arts PassportAvery Anderson

December 13

Orange Blossom Award: Taking the Wheel Mid-Turn

by Avery Anderson There’s a particular moment in the life of a theatre company that determines everything that comes next. The founder steps away. The safety net disappears. The question becomes painfully simple: Do we play it safe—or do we decide who we are, right now? This year

Tampa Bay Arts PassportAvery Anderson

December 14

Orange Blossom Award: When Infrastructure Becomes Impact

by Avery Anderson Every few years, a city rediscovers a conversation it swore it was already having. In 2025, Tampa Bay is once again talking—loudly—about equity, access, and who actually benefits when a region “thrives.” What’s different this time is the growing recognition that visibility alone isn’

Tampa Bay Arts PassportAvery Anderson

December 15

Orange Blossom Award: Katherine Yacko, The One Who Shows Up

by Avery Anderson There are artists who build careers. And then there are artists who build ecosystems. Katherine Yacko has spent this year doing the second — often quietly, often in rooms where credit isn’t the point, and often while pregnant. She shows up first as a theatregoer. Not occasionally.

Tampa Bay Arts PassportAvery Anderson