art can’t hurt you

Education ·   Experience ·   Activities

Education

University of Chicago

• M.A. in the Humanities, with a focus on nonfiction creative writing and art history. June 2006.

• Produced a master’s thesis of three creative nonfiction essays about interacting with art. Entitled Beholder and Beheld: Essays from the Space Between, the essays critically and creatively examine graffiti art on Chicago’s South Side, original Michelangelo drawings in Oxford, and a Georgia O’Keeffe exhibit in Indianapolis.

College of the Holy Cross

• B.A. with honors in philosophy, minors in art history and English. May 2000.

Mansfield College, Oxford University

• History of art program, 1998 – 1999.

Experience

The Nature Conservancy

Senior Conservation Writer

• Senior marketing writer and content lead on major projects in four states.
• Wrote annual reports, member newsletters, feature magazine articles, ad copy for Web and print, and more.
• Translated technical jargon for a general audience. I interviewed scientists and other experts, found the stories amongst the facts and figures, and wrote interesting, compelling stories.
• Wrote an article about migratory fish that anecdotal evidence suggests was “the best article I’ve read in a Conservancy publication.” Hard evidence shows it brought in twice the number of donations.

Contrary Magazine

Associate Editor

• I manage Facebook, Twitter, and other social networking sites for Contrary Magazine.
• Regular contributor to magazine.

Freelance Clients

• Periodic contributor to EcoScene, Inc., a Web site which provides authentic and honest reviews and info about eco-friendly products and services.
  
• Regular blogger for Chicagoist.com, covering arts and museums in Chicago.
  

Encyclopaedia Britannica

Copy Editor & Fact Checker

• Reviewed encyclopaedia entries ensuring perfect spelling and grammar as well as strict adherence to Britannica’s stylebook.
• Checked facts for Britannica Book of the Year, an annual review of current events.

Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians & Western Art

Assistant Curator of Western Art, History and Culture

• Edited articles for Native Peoples Magazine on the museum’s annual Indian Market and related exhibits.
• Wrote and edited biographies of several dozen Western artists to be used for training museum guides (docents).

Associate Exhibit Developer

• Developed a photography exhibit, The Red-Black Connection: Personal Stories of Native Americans-African Americans, to represent the Eiteljorg Museum at Indiana Black Expo 2003.
• Initiated and developed exhibit and programming ideas for The Red-Black Connection from beginning to end.
• Wrote project narrative for a grant to the Indiana Humanities Council for support for The Red-Black Connection. Grant was awarded June 2003.

Activities

• Completed eight half-marathons and one full marathon.
• Member of Chicago Endurance Sports since 2007.