Selected Resume
Extensive experience composing and editing a vast array of memorable material including:
- Web and print copy and content
- Press, PR, and publicity material; press releases, bios, statements of purpose, artist’s statements
- Grant-writing and developmental documents
- Creative and commercial event design and screenwriting
- Proposals, presentations, and portfolios
- Resumes and curricula vitae (CVs)
- blogging and website design
- Organize in-person events; interact directly with clients,
customers, stakeholders, and the greater community
- Copywriting and copy editing
- Google analytics/web analytics, reports, notation
- Direct marketing; blogging, newsletters, e-mail blasts, Twitter/Facebook/social media
- Fliers, brochures, blasts, and invitations
- Research and archival work
- Interviews, profiles, ghostwriting, journalistic articles
- Customized RFQ, RFP, and exhibition/gallery submissions
- Critique and analysis
- Ability to adhere to schedules/timelines and meet deadlines
- Budgets, schedules, and timelines
- Comfortable working under pressure with exceptional organization skills
Specializes in the unique challenges of arts and design-based organizations and individuals
Position Specific
- Over fifteen years experience composing and editing all manner of copy and content, as well as developmental documents including grants, proposals, and letters of interest
- Represented several companies at local and national expositions, trade shows and fairs
- Avid community volunteer and founding member of several organizations advocating literacy
- Able to write for a wide variety of clients and industries
- Comfortable with a multitude of web-based formats
- Maintains consistent tone and voice across multiple platforms
- Nationally published creative writer of historical and contemporary non-fiction
Skills and Assets
Software
- Proficiency in Microsoft Office Suite (MS Word, Excel, PowerPoint)
- Photo-editing and graphic design; Adobe Creative Suite including Photoshop, Elements, and Acrobat
- FileMaker and industry-specific database management software- - Web-based administrative and direct marketing tools (WordPress, Blogger, Constant Contact, Mail Chimp, DropBox, etc.)
- Basic HTML and website management
- Wix and website design
Administrative
- Adaptive to Chicago, AP, MLA and APA Style
- Broad internet skill set including Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and basic HTML
- Transcription and dictation
- Exceptional written and verbal communication skills
- Integrates text with imagery or graphics for visually-appealing, demographic-appropriate content
- Strong mentorship qualities
- Superior analytical skills; comfortable transforming data into easy-to-read reports
- Able to work independently as well as part of a team; exercises interpersonal skills
Selected Experience
Full-time Freelance Arts Marketing and Management, Chicago IL - 11/2018 - Present
- Scout, research, compose and submit application materials on behalf of clients (artists and arts organizations) for art commissions, exhibitions, grants, residencies and fundraising media; Collaborate to ghostwrite social media and publicity materials
- Edit promotional media including long and short form artist statements, project proposals, resumes, and web content; Spearhead web-based initiatives both independently and via hiring subcontractors such as redesigning websites, increasing search engine results, and actively promoting brand online
- Act as client representative in forming networking relationships and conducting media/press liaisons, allowing clients uninterrupted studio time yet leaving no potential opportunity untapped
Full-time Content Writer - Sedgwick Studio, Chicago IL - 12/12 to 11/18
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Composed a wide variety of copy and content including artist statements, proposals, grants, direct marketing, and social media for boutique office specializing in sculpture and neon
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Designed and composed content for studio website, including gathering input and critique from the larger team
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Organized tours and demonstrations with a variety of groups including schoolchildren, architecture fans, and adult participants in art courses; personally conducted lectures describing the site’s history and current artist’s sculpture and neon projects
Full-time Copywriter – Haute Spot, Chicago IL - 01/12 to 11/12
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Composed creative copy and content in an in-person role at a boutique company providing luxury fashion apparel
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Researched luxury fashion designers, as well as trends, fashion house histories, and customer preferences to provide the best quality writing, attracting new customers both online and in-person
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Collaborated with staff and leadership to design customer-appropriate events, exposing potential buyers to new luxury fashion labels and accessories and presenting opportunities for shopping and networking
Content and Events Writer (Freelance) - Frei Designs / WorkShop, Chicago IL - 01/08 to 11/11
- Composed season-specific web content for head designer of eco-sensitive fashion label (awarded “Best Designer, 2011” by the Chicago Reader), combining creative prose with commercial format
- Conducted comprehensive research of both environmental sustainability and fair trade throughout the history of fashion and garment manufacturing to fully understand the ethics behind designer’s visual aesthetic
- Collaborated with designer to redefine the runway show as professional theatrical performance and series of literary readings (including hand-selecting thematically appropriate merchandise) inspired by environmentally-conscious, culturally-relevant themes inherent in each collection; Accolades attracted designer’s first press in 2008 - a full-color spread in the Chicago Reader.
Full-time Copywriter/Assistant Director of E-Commerce - Powells Books, Chicago, IL - 06/06 to 10/10
- Composed detailed descriptions of antiquated and scholarly books (with particular emphasis on ancient history, philosophy and sociology), devoting attention to publishing history and bibliographical detail, accurate condition assessment, and strict industry format to convey technical information without sacrificing key selling points
- Considered customer feedback, competitor activity, consumer trends and product availability - in addition to communicating with multi-location personnel - in accurate determination of item price and restock of inventory; Submission of daily sales report to company president included strategies to increase revenue via observed shifts in industry trends and consumer demographic
- Annually represented company at local and national expositions and book fairs (Twin Cities Book Forum, CIROBE, Printer’s Row), performing retail sales with individual and wholesale clients; accepted daily customer service duties for greater understanding of multifaceted client base and stronger decision-making as company’s newest department shifted from brick-and-mortar to broadband
Communications Director - Happy Dog Gallery, Chicago, IL - 11/05 to 12/10
- Composed all advertising, marketing, and fundraising material for independent art and literary gallery, incorporating persuasive prose and courting commercial marketplace without sacrificing grassroots ethos
- Created and maintained extensive database of media sources, potential donors, and collaborative organizations, ensuring all contacts were updated in a timely fashion; Conducted on-site sales of artwork, self-published literature and related merchandise at exhibitions
- Sustained organization’s popularity through social and web marketing, maintaining unique profile in a competitive and increasingly digital field; Communicated with outside collectives, fielded proposals, and ensured all programming adhered to mission of providing exhibition space and exposure to low-income artists
Education
2011 - The School of the Art Institute, Chicago, IL - MFA., Writing
2011 - MFA Fellowship Award in Writing
2010 – Olivia Moore Trautman Scholarship
2004 - State University of New York at Purchase, Purchase, NY - BFA., Screenwriting / Playwriting