Marvelous Marketing: A Semester at Society for Contemporary Craft

Museum Studies Intern at Contemporary Craft - Spring 2016

I currently serve as a marketing intern at Society for Contemporary Craft (SCC) in the Strip District. SCC is a small, nonprofit arts organization that aims to engage the public in creative experiences through contemporary craft. One of my primary duties as a marketing intern is to write and copy-edit media alerts and press releases for upcoming programs, events and exhibitions. Additionally, I am learning how to create content for various types of traditional and online marketing strategies, including online calendar submissions, social media and blog posts. I’ve also assisted with marketing research by monitoring and reporting on attendance and visitor surveys, which SCC will use to see how the organization is doing in comparison to previous years. SCC has provided me the opportunity to contribute towards inter-departmental projects; I have conducted exhibition research for the upcoming Fiberart International 2016, wrote text panels for satellite gallery exhibitions and assisted with artwork installation/de-installation at various locations, including a glass case at the Pittsburgh Airport!

A major project I completed this semester is a promotional marketing video about SCC’s latest socially engaged art exhibition Mindful: Exploring Mental Health through Art, which aimed to break down societal stigmas surrounding mental health. I conceptualized, filmed, and edited a two minute video about the “Thought Cloud,” an interactive activity that encouraged written and sketched reactions, thoughts and words of encouragement from Mindful visitors. This video will hopefully travel with Mindful to other galleries over the next year in order to convey how the “Thought Cloud” works and the benefits of its reproduction. I was also in charge of writing a majority of the press materials for Pattern and Place: Quilts by Valerie Goodwin, a solo-artist exhibition that will be on display at SCC’s BNY Mellon Satellite Gallery from May 6th through July 4th, 2016.

As a museum studies minor, this internship has provided me with the opportunity to see how a small, nonprofit arts organization approaches marketing strategies and has further solidified my decision to work in this industry after my graduation from the University of Pittsburgh.