Art & Artists Are Essential
I led the design of and launch of this special campaign (Apr–Aug 2020) to give a platform and voice to Duke artists during COVID-19 and to proudly claim the “human need for art.” The campaign consisted of weekly emails, a call for written contributions to artist scholars and artists, an invitation for artists in and around Duke to share work online (in lieu of in-person audiences), and central compilations of Duke arts-in-COVID resources. The campaign yielded:
Newsletter subscribers: 2,368 (Apr 2019), 3,592 (April 2020), 5,689 (April 2021)
46 artist interviews & faculty reflections published by Duke Arts to give voice to artists
10 profiles of Class of 2020 MFA EDA graduates in lieu of in-person thesis exhibitions
12,507 Unique visitors to arts.duke.edu in April 2020 (versus 4,574 in April 2019)
Special collection, Documentary Art at Home & Away, produced in collaboration with the MFA in Experimental & Documentary Arts program
High-level visibility at Duke University (including on the homepage!)
Banners of works in the “Documentary Art at Home & Away” call for art that was part of Art & Artists Are Essential were installed in the courtyard behind the Rubenstein Arts Center in Spring 2021, roughly a year after the campaign launched.
Feature on Duke University homepage in May 2020.