Patrick Gaffey has lived in Las Vegas since 1953, when his father became captain of room service at the Sands Hotel. Patrick earned a B.A. and an M.A. from the University of Nevada Reno. He married Cynthia Pearson in 1968, and they are still married today. He worked for the Allied Arts Council of Southern Nevada for ten years, eight as executive director, creating the award-winning arts magazine, Arts Alive, and overseeing a contemporary art gallery and programs in every artistic discipline, including the John McHugh Theatre Awards, the annual Choreographer’s Showcase, classical music concerts and Jazz Month each May, including concerts with singer Joe Williams, bassist Charlie Haden, flutist James Newton and drummer Billy Higgins. He started the Class Act program, which presented arts performances in schools. He also formed a committee and helped the members collect ten classic neon signs, a collection that became the Las Vegas Neon Museum. While he ran Allied Arts, its board worked with Junior League to create Discovery Children’s Museum. In 1987 Gaffey received the Nevada Governor’s Arts Award, and in 1990, while he was still director, the Allied Arts Council also won the award.

Gaffey began working for the Cultural Division of Clark County Parks and Recreation at the beginning of 1996 and has administered many of its programs. He researched and wrote an 80-page book detailing the history and importance of Clark County Wetlands Park. He researched, wrote and helped produce more than 30 television programs for the department. He won an Emmy from the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences for his script for a video about Wetlands Park. The following year he won a second scriptwriting Emmy for two videos about the Las Vegas Arts District.

In 2012 he helped Commissioner Chris Giunchigliani write an ordinance which created the Clark County Art Fund, providing up to $1.25 million per year for public art. The fund now pays for the County’s Zap projects Gaffey has worked on since 2005, and the program is now creating its first major public art projects.

Gaffey supervises Winchester Park and Cultural Center, programming world music, classical music, jazz and dance in Winchester Theater, and he oversees the County’s public art program and its two art galleries.