This guy is unbelievable (and modest). He spent five years single-handedly rescuing and rebuilding the burnt-out remains (three walls, no roof) of a 90-year-old Gothic Revival church in Tampa Heights to create the perfectly named Renaissance Center for the Arts, a conservatory offering art, music and gardening classes to at-risk youth in the neighborhood. Volunteers mobilized by Cutro have made the not-for-profit center an immediate success in its first year. The sunlit space is beautiful (with a 50-foot ceiling and a stage built from the Church’s salvaged rafters), the acoustics are amazing and the jazz performers top notch. The children’s garden, which includes butterflies, herbs and exotic fruit trees, will soon have a koi pond, stream and gazebo. 2201 N. Florida Ave., Tampa, 813-221-9448, www.rcarts.org. -Mary Mulhern
This article appears in Sep 7-13, 2005.