Pursuing Your Passion - A Career in the Arts

I have been blessed in my career. I have always worked at what I love. Since I was a small child, museums and the arts have been an integral part of my world. Chicago, where I grew up, is a major museum town. Museums were my “go-to” weekend places with my dad. The Museum of Science and Industry, Field Museum, Shedd Aquarium and the Art Institute all feel like home to me.

When I declared my MBA concentration in nonprofit marketing, my fellow grad students were incredulous. Why pick such a hard path, a path that offers so much “less” than a career in a corporate environment?

Arts marketing was hardly even recognized as a discipline at that time. I launched my career at the 92nd St. Y in New York City; marketing concerts, classes and lectures via direct mail to devoted cultural audiences. Then I moved a few blocks west to a 20 year gig at the Jewish Museum. Arts marketers, particularly in museums, were only just starting to define the field. The pressure to increase attendance, compete for attention and generate earned income was great, but few had the expertise to figure out how to do it. Professionally trained marketers using and adapting for-profit tools for non-profit environments were a novelty and not necessarily well accepted. I’ve watched that change radically during my career.

Many of my early days at the Jewish Museum were consumed with establishing benchmarks for attendance, fielding market research to better understand existing and potential visitors, and collecting contact information to fuel direct mail, email and eventually digital marketing campaigns. I created the museum’s first website and subsequent 4 iterations. Our team put the collection online. Ultimately, I spearheaded the initiative to rebrand the museum. We understood then that an art museum could draw a much larger and more diverse audience to the museum. We stayed true to the museum’s mission and embraced the new visitors who were attracted to this updated brand.

Now I have my own business, sharing what I’ve learned with other organizations and museums and I am having the time of my life . I am working at my “dream job.” And I realize now how much I learned over the years. Can I share some of this passion and experience with you?