professional experiences
Liberty Arts| Durham, NC| January 2024 – Current| Board Member | Brand + Communications Strategist: Strategic leadership collaborating with fellow board members and the management team to clearly define the organizations brand/communications short term goals and long-term strategies. Establishing the brand identity to ensure consistent and compelling storytelling. Developing campaigns, communication plans and newsletters for the educational programming and community events.Managed all aspects of the Off Season Art Gardening Pilot Program, responsibilities included contextualizing the program, developing an artist criteria, managing an artist call, establishing a jury, conceptualizing the brand, working with the three selected artists regarding the artistic and logistic issues, curating online content and marketing and promoting.
Kreativ Collabs Creative Studio | Mariestad, Sweden |September 2016- Current| Freelance Professional Brand, Creative, Communications, Program strategist that collaborates with artists, art galleries, museums, non-profits, and small business. Projects to date include: curating art exhibitions, brand identities, and digital platforms that captivate audiences and build community. I also lead collaborations that inspire creative expression and cultivate new ideas.
Skövde Kommun | Skövde, Sweden | April 2019 – Current| Docent + Freelance Professional: Leading the organic developing outreach program Ungas blick på konst which includes conceptualizing the program with the Museum Directors, collaborating with members, creating content, podcast production, managing the program budget. Conceptualizing a museum program for local businesses. Docent Studying the permeant collection and reading materials for new exhibitions, provide guided tours for all ages, greet visitors with a brief history of the collection and the current exhibitions and prepare for evening events and vernissages when needed.
D+C Contemporary Online Art Gallery | International |May 2015- current| Curator | Writer: Curated the brand profile and currently managing all design projects including: the website/blog, art catalogs and marketing materials, conducting interviews with artists, collectors and curators, writing essays, researching art trends and sharing our story through multiple social media platforms.
Brooklyn Music School | Brooklyn, NY | May 2022 – November 2024 | Marketing Director: Marketing leadership and collaboration with the marketing team and with the executive, development, program and outreach directors for this 114 year old institution. Developing a 5-year marketing and communications strategic plan, curating a brand identity, creating campaigns, executing short-term goals and long-term strategy and managing social media platforms, leading a creative team of 3.5 people, composing a community focused newsletter, researching industry trends, manage the marketing budget, monitoring KPIs which include: web traffic, student lifetime value, and social media engagement. Impact: Building a marketing infrastructure and brand identity for an historic nonprofit arts organization.
Mariestad Kommun | Mariestad, Sweden | April 2018 – October 2018| Project Leader: Managed all aspects of the Off Season Art Gardening Pilot Program, responsibilities included contextualizing the program, developing an artist criteria, managing an artist call, establishing a jury, conceptualizing the brand, working with the three selected artists regarding the artistic and logistic issues, curating online content and marketing and promoting.
Kultur + Co | Mariestad, Sweden | June 2018- September 2018| Event Planner/Project Leader: Planned and managed the 2018 Kultur & Skördefest redesigned the website, managed a new campaign called “Be Our Guest” to encourage more visitors to Mariestad during the festival, managed social media platforms and planed art, gardening and pop-up events that contributed to the weekend programming.
Duke University Hospital Internal Communications | Durham, NC |September 2011 – July 2012| Communications Associate: Managed, edited and designed websites and marketing materials and wrote web and marketing content. I also edited photos and videos and assisted in events and video productions.
The School for the Art Institute of Chicago | Chicago, IL |September 2009 – January 2011| Graduate/ Teaching Assistant: Managed social media platforms and the website for Alumni Relations department, provided weekly lectures for one of four contemporary art history sections and assisted professors for the following lectures: Survey of Modern to Contemporary Art History, 20th Century Art History and Contemporary Art History.
education
MA: Art History, Theory & Criticism: The School of the Art Institute of Chicago: Chicago, IL
MA Program: Art History: (completed all but defense) Howard University: Washington, DC
BA: Art History and Communications/Marketing: (dual major) University of Pittsburgh: Pittsburgh, PA
accomplishments + fellowships
The School of the Art Institute of Chicago: Outstanding Leadership Award, Goldbelle Finn Graduate Travel Fellowship
Howard University: Modernist Art Fellowship
University of Pittsburgh: Dean’s Honors List
publications + presentations + talks
My Inspiration | My Mariestad (Guest Speaker för Annat Perspektiv: Visning Av Mariestads Historia Ur Tre Olika Perspektiv Musuem Talks) – in English and Swedish [2018]
Successful Small Business Think Big: Build Your Brand, Share Your Story and Collaborate Internationally (Guest Lecture for ABC Kraften Small Business Course) – in English and Swedish [2016]
Seeing Yourself in the “Other” for C-Print Contemporary Art Journal [2014]
Monica Gallon: A Hybrid Artist for Mongoos Online Art Magazine [2013]
Afternoon Tea: Artist Interview with Maria Lund for Mongoos Online Art Magazine [2013]
A Different Light: A Case for Creolization in Swedish Modernism (SAIC MA thesis) [2011]
Living Embodiments: Artistic Expressions of Being: Contributor to the book highlighting artists of the African Diaspora who exhibited at Parish Gallery in Washington, DC over the past 20 years. [2008]
Presenter: The School of the Art Institute of Chicago: MA Modern Art History, Theory, and Criticism Thesis Symposium [2011]
Discovering a Third Root Aesthetic: Examining the Works of Jamaican Sculptor Michael Auld Howard University MA Thesis [2002]
Moderator: Howard University: 13th Annual James A. Porter Colloquium on African American Art: Collections, Collectors, and Collecting: Patronage and Development of African American Art [2001]
cecily ferguson 