I worked with Mushroom Love to build out their new brand by creating and publishing content for Instagram; drafting a content calendar for the client with UNUM software; using Canva to create posts; and communicating with influencers to facilitate user-generated content.

Client Testimonial:
Mel was instrumental in laying the groundwork for Mushroom Love's Instagram strategy. She introduced some helpful organizational tools for calendaring our posts. She also created some awesome content (including photography) for the brand, and she even tapped her personal network to help find more marketing opportunities. Mel is highly driven and excited about her work. She's also organized, an excellent communicator, and is both receptive to taking direction and willing to take personal initiative. Always a pleasure to work with!
-Kevin McMahan, Founder of Mushroom Love

I created a marketing proposal and a social media advertising campaign for artist Jeff Carson’s face masks. Before presenting the proposal to the client, I conducted market research, developed key performance indicators, and used tools to project budget outcomes. Using the data found during my research, I created customer personas and specific messages to appeal to each audience demographic. Then I created mock-up ads for the client to get the look and feel of the campaign. Using graphics provided by the client, I created a social media campaign on Facebook and Instagram. Once the campaign was completed, I reported on the performance of the campaign and suggested how future campaigns could be optimized.

Zevitas Marcus featured Rona Pondick: Works 2013 – 2018, an exhibition of new sculptures by New York-based artist Rona Pondick, from February 9 – March 30, 2019.

I worked with Zevitas Marcus to promote the exhibition by running email marketing campaigns, creating an advertisement for Art Scene Magazine, communicating with the press and managing the gallery social media platforms (Facebook and Instagram). As a result of my public relations and marketing techniques, Rona Pondick: Works 2013-2018, received multiple reviews from sources such as: Los Angeles Times, Artforum, Artillery Magazine and the Brooklyn Rail.

About the Exhibition:
Since her career began in 1984, Rona Pondick’s work has consistently referenced the body, in both a metaphorical and literal sense. Her sculptural practice has been no less defined by her ceaseless exploration of new materials and methods. Stainless-steel was Rona’s primary medium for the better part of a decade beginning in 1998.

In 2013, Pondick began an intensive period of experimentation with materials that were new to her practice: resins and acrylics. Over a period of five years, she developed complex methods of working with these materials and came to understand their sculptural potential.

This exhibition was the first time this body of work was been seen on the West Coast.

I was hired as the Program Coordinator for Monterey County’s Poetry Out Loud Competition in 2017. For this project, I oversaw a range of preparatory and follow-up tasks from planning correspondence (with schools, teachers, judges, program funders, volunteers, students, and others) to enrollment, record-keeping, social media posting, and reporting.

With the help of the Arts Council for Monterey County Staff, I orchestrated detailed event logistics including room set-up, program sequence, preparation of judging packets, and student certificates. I also coordinated the efforts of the event crew: volunteers, judges, videographer, photographer, event musicians, and master of ceremonies.

Poetry Out Loud is a national arts education program that encourages the study of great poetry by offering free educational materials and a dynamic recitation competition to high schools across the country.

Poetry Out Loud is a partnership of the National Endowment for the Arts, Poetry Foundation, and the state and jurisdictional arts agencies.

I worked with Los Angeles based sculptor Gwynn Murrill to market her work to museum Curators and Directors. Through my efforts, I successfully placed Gwynn's work in solo exhibitions at the Laguna Art Museum in June 2019 and at the Frederick R. Weisman Museum of Art in May 2022.

First, I conducted research for our target audience. Then I developed marketing content for print and digital, including exhibition proposal packets (which include an opening letter, artist's statement, artist resume, related press, a checklist of available works and large images of 10 works) and copy for following up with each venue.

Once the exhibitions were allocated, I helped Gwynn to work with museum staff to coordinate exhibition logistics. I also composed email marketing campaigns and a Facebook event page to market the opening reception at the Laguna Art Museum.

About the Artist:
Gwynn Murrill is a Los Angeles based sculptor who has been an exhibiting artist for over 40 years. She has been granted numerous awards and fellowships for her artistry, such as the Year in Review Award from the Americans for the Arts Public Art Network, and the John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship. Her sculpture is in many public and private collections of note including the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Norton Simon Museum, the National Museum of Wildlife Art and the U.S. Embassy, Singapore.

Our Ocean's Edge is a photography exhibition and publication highlighting California's Marine Protected Area's created by photographer Jasmine Swope and author Dwight Holing.

Through a strategic marketing campaign, I was able to place the exhibition and publication in multiple venues, including the Monterey Museum of Art and the Seymour Marine Discovery Center.

I was also hired to manage the Our Ocean's Edge Facebook and Instagram accounts. I developed a content calendar, created the content for the platforms and delivered performance analytics to the client.

Another Shade of Blue was a Group exhibition and Artist’s Talk which took place on February 22-23, 2020.

For this event, I developed and executed a digital marketing campaign to raise funds for and to promote the event, including a GoFundMe campaign yielding in over $4,400; email marketing campaigns via MailChimp; a Facebook event page; and an advertising campaign with the Los Angeles Weekly.

To promote this event, I also strategically developed and posted content on social media platforms (Instagram and Facebook); wrote a press release and submitted the release to local news sources and online calendars (LA Weekly and Artillery Magazine); worked with a designer to create an event flyer for digital and print; and sent direct messages to target audience on social media.

Keep it Fresh was a juried art exhibition which invited artists to show LA how they will “keep it fresh” in the new year by submitting a newly finished artwork, creating a new style or by submitting a piece that is signature of what they are known for.

For this exhibition, I ran a series of campaigns for the open call to artists, the opening reception and the exhibition itself.

Keep it Fresh was featured at Angel City Brewery from January 10 - February 3, 2019 with an opening reception Thursday, January 10, 2019.  

I worked as the Event and Marketing Coordinator for New Wave. During this project, I implemented a digital marketing campaign to promote emerging artists from Monterey and Santa Cruz Counties and created marketing content for web and print. I also acted as the liaison to all parties involved in the exhibition (ie: artists, committee, arts organizations, venue, media, etc.).

I organized event logistics from start to finish. Including, but not limited to forming a committee; acting as a juror for the exhibition; curating the exhibition; coordinated the opening reception and artist's panel discussion; selling artwork; and deinstalling the exhibition. 


I also acted as a fundraiser for the ACMC’s Local Emerging Artist Program (LEAP) Grant, and with the help of my team we raised almost $4,000, in addition to securing sponsorships from donors and art organizations.

About New Wave: New Wave was a juried art exhibition with an aquatic theme that took place June 18-July 17, 2016. The event provided developing artists who were beginning their professional careers an opportunity to showcase their skills and raised funds for the Arts Council for Monterey County’s new Local Emerging Artist Program (LEAP).

About the Local Emerging Artist Program (LEAP): LEAP awards grants of up to $2500 to emerging artists who are seeking to further their professional careers. By sponsoring the New Wave exhibition, your support will help raise funds for the LEAP’s grant fund. For more information  visit http://arts4mc.org/leap.