Overview
Bernadette Davis Communications (BDC) was brought in to promote the Arlington Museum of Art’s (AMA) 30 Americans exhibit, a contemporary art exhibit featuring the works of 30 influential Black and African American artists, including Jean-Michel Basquiat, Mickalene Thomas, Kehinde Wiley and Carrie Mae Weems, over a threedecade period. The exhibit came to the Arlington Museum of Art through a collaboration with the Rubell Museum in Miami.
Objectives
- Build awareness in the Dallas-Fort Worth area about the museum and the timely exhibit
- Encourage corporate and individual donations through the exhibit run
- Grow the museum’s social media reach and reach with diverse audiences
- Increase admissions, memberships, donors, and volunteers
Service Provided
- Strategic Consulting
- Brand & Marketing Communications
- Copywriting & Content Development
- Media Relations
Our Approach
The BDC team began by meeting with the host committee and executive director, Chris Hightower, to ascertain their vision for the exhibit and the museum. We also assessed the current collateral and the outreach strategy for 30 Americans, benchmarking against previous exhibits and outreach. For a template, we reviewed the museum’s previous Keith Haring (2019) and Ansel Adams (2014) exhibits. The Haring exhibit was one of the top three exhibits in the museum’s history, resulting in an increase in memberships, volunteers, gift shop and admission sales, and media coverage. The Ansel Adams exhibit boosted admissions. We assessed the voice and the brand of AMA to ensure that our work would be consistent with the voice and image of the museum. Our team also provided key input on positioning related to the exhibit and ongoing discussions about race and social justice in Arlington and the nation.
