About me.

Growing up, I was always the one who could draw -- the artist.

But when I was in high school, something convinced me that a career as an artist was impossible.

I took sophomore and junior biology and chemistry at the same time to catch up to the other kids who were readying for more practical degrees.

The next year, a little voice told me I was being ridiculous, and that art school was where I needed to be.

So I took junior and senior art classes together to catch up, hoping that admissions officers wouldn't notice how my credits zig-zagged around.

I did end up in art school.

And I pursued a career as a painter for some years after, having one- and two-person shows here and there, joining an artists' cooperative.

Until I didn't.

Almost ten years later, my day job -- communications and fundraising for a local nonprofit -- became strangely compelling, and I began to immerse myself in that world.

Now, I'm back, sort of.

A zig-zagging path between art and business is what got me here.

It turns out, that's actually a good thing.

It means I can listen and help from a place of experience.

It means that we can safely talk about getting that thing you love out in front of people.

We can talk about practical ways to make that happen without ever compromising your special thing.

We can work on being comfortable with letting people know about it –- figuring out what you will and won’t do, and what sets off your ick.

It means that I understand how creativity feeds you, and the internal and external struggles you go through to keep that alive.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Some zigs and zags.

  • On leave from art school, I created a tiny clothing line with my dear friend, Richard Saja.
  • My stint in fundraising for the Institute of Contemporary Art at the University of Pennsylvania made me feel I was leading a double life -- I was one of the 'suits' when I was at the museum. And I was some kind of arty weirdo when I attended mandatory development and alumni relations meetings with university colleagues.
  • I started out answering phones for the Preservation Alliance and ended up designing and managing their mid-90s web site at the same time that I was wrangling volunteers and writing membership appeals.
  • When I was hired as marketing and PR director for The Academy of Vocal Arts, I knew next to nothing about opera. That didn't stop me from getting our artists featured in Opera News, on NPR, and XM Satellite Radio, and getting excited about opera in the process.
  • smArts & Culture started as an arts marketing blog in 2005. Until recently, my original little Typepad blog ranked #1 on Google search for 'opera marketing' and #2 for 'classical music markerting.'
  • A year after its launch, smArts morphed into a way to help people in the arts find love and attention for their work -- people like printmaker Daniel Heyman and ceramist Jerry Bennett; large cultural organizations like the Smithsonian Institution Office of External Affairs (through Night Kitchen Interactive), and intriguing smaller ones like Chamber Music Now.
  • Teaching never crossed my mind until I was asked to put together and teach courses for Drexel University's graduate program in arts administration. Now it's a big part of what I do privately.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Where I am now:

Secret Play Date-ing

Percolating

Talking to my body

Talking to my fears

Faking naps

Finding my way out of Discouragement Alley

 

You can get in touch by writing maryann at smartsandculture dot com, or messaging @maryanndevine on Twitter.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

If this is all new to you and you're wondering if you should schedule a private consultation (virtual) coffee meet-up, I'd like to suggest that you visit the "Is this you?" page.

Hang out on the blog for a while (you can subscribe via email, if you want) or take a look into the archives to get a better sense of whether we're a good fit for each other.

Then, by all means, take a look at ways we can work together.

-- Maryann

in