Let me introduce myself…
My name is Barbara, and I am currently based in Washington, DC, although I have ongoing work in Philadelphia as well. I have worked on non-profits since the age of 14 when I started my own community service organization to help senior citizens in nursing homes. Using the internet, I recruited thousands of teens from all over the country to submit cards and letters which we then brought to local Philadelphia-area nursing homes. Through my experience, I won the McDonalds and Disney Millenium Dreamer Award for community service and a DoSomething.org grant.
Having been raised in a household of music and art, I grew up playing instruments and eventually delved into the world of professional opera performance. Thus, at the age of 18, I began work with non-profit arts organizations. I began as a Marketing Intern for a large performing arts organization in Philadelphia and moved up the next summer to Summer Marketing Associate. At that time, I also became the Webmaster and Volunteer Recruiter for a small opera company in Philadelphia, for which I have also done marketing, programming, and development work.
When I got to college and began a double major in art history and philosophy, I became more interested in writing about art and working with visual arts organizations, both commercial and non-profit. I have worked for The Barnes Foundation as a Development Intern and also for a small non-profit arts organization for emerging visual artists. My current work is at a commercial gallery in Washington, DC.
I continue to take short-term positions to learn as much as I can about arts management, especially the ins and outs of both commercial and non-profit gallery work. My goal in starting this blog is to record my experiences day to day as I learn new things about arts management. I am also attempting to attend, or at least, take note of, as many resources for arts professionals as possible, including lectures and workshops, which I will post as I find them.
I hope I can offer an interesting point of view on arts management, especially as a musician and as a young emerging professional.
Cheers,
Barb
