Art Doesn't Market Itself
- Kimberly DiVito
- May 19
- 5 min read
Updated: May 21
From hotel–artist partnership campaigns to digital fundraising, individual artist content to managing the strategy for an editorial publication. Here is a look at the marketing communications that made moves to reach the audience and achieve goals.
10
Hotel–artist partnerships, Beyond the Walls
$200K+
Raised - Woodson Warriors campaigns
6K
Google Search clicks in one month - official milestone
Beyond the Walls — Season 5
Arts Tourism Campaign
Creative Pinellas · 2024
Beyond the Walls was Creative Pinellas' signature arts tourism program, placing local artists' work inside partner hotels across Pinellas County. For Season 5, the concept was "Immerse Yourself: Where Creativity Welcomes You", connecting 10 artists with 10 hospitality venues from September through January.
My role covered the full campaign production cycle: managing the team, developing the print collateral system, writing content for each hotel–artist pairing, managing the digital strategy/presence, and producing the social content that brought each story to life.
Print Materials
Each hotel received a minimal print package, which included an art collection sheet with QR-coded artwork listings, and a collectible postcard for guests. Ten unique versions, all consistent in brand. During this year, I was able to save over $2000 for the print budget by minimizing large-scale signage and investing in hospitality stands, which only required 8.5 x 11 printed flyers in-house. This move resulted in higher engagement with guests and efficiency in time and labor during the install.
Campaign Outcomes
Full print collateral system for 10 hotel–artist partnerships, each with custom QR-linked artwork for online sales
Individual digital content stories for each venue, published on Creative Pinellas' website
Instagram Reel and social campaign content to drive audience engagement
Campaign tied directly into Pinellas County arts tourism and destination marketing strategy
This season yielded over $3000 of sales, which included original works and gift shop merchandise.
View full Campaign
WordPress Copywriting ShopifyPOS integration Content Management SEO Content Strategy Vimeo Instagram Meta Ads
Individual Artist Content
FreddieFred Creative 2026
FreddieFred Creative is an individual artist account with a focus on curation and installation. These are a sample of reels this year that performed, and stretched outside of followers and are organic. From these posts below FreddieFred Creative has been invited to participate in installations at the MFA St Pete, The Livery Boutique Hotel and the The Ashley Gibson Barnett Museum of Art during April and May adding to his bottom line, demonstrating the power of a content strategy.
How I contributed
Content Strategy for 2025 to focus on 2 specific content pillars
Reels and Stories that reflected the pillars
Captions
Post Collaboration Strategy
Instagram Copywriting Content Strategy Video/Reel Editing
Cultural Fundraising in the Arts
Woodson Warriors Scholarship Fundraiser Campaign Woodson Warriors · 2020 & 2021
Two-year digital campaigns supporting arts and cultural programming at one of St. Petersburg's most important cultural institutions. Both events ran during and immediately after COVID, requiring creative ways to drive participation, donor engagement, and real community connection in a fully virtual format.
What I built
Online art auction platform — setup, artwork photography direction, and presentation
Full email + SMS + social media campaign strategy and production across both years
Event content and storytelling to drive attendance and donor connection
Contributed to $200,000+ raised across two events
What it looked like
WordPress Copywriting Content Management Content Strategy Instagram Facebook Video Production Auction Fundraising Platform Management
Digital Publication & Audience Growth
Arts Coast Magazine Director of Digital Strategy
Creative Pinellas ·2021 – 2025
Arts Coast Magazine was Creative Pinellas' ongoing digital publication covering visual arts, performing arts, literary arts, education, and artist profiles across Pinellas County. At the launch of the new website brand in 2021, I managed the publication end-to-end: strategy, publishing pipeline, content coordination for grantee bloggers, worked with the Managing Editor, and the systems that kept it running consistently month after month.
The results tracked that growth was driven by content strategy: consistent publishing, SEO-informed editorial, and integrated promotion across email and social.
Audience growth - the data
~13K
New visitors each month — consistently reaching beyond the existing base
6K
Google Search clicks in a single month
1K
Loyal repeat visitors per year
An official Google Search Console milestone was awarded when creativepinellas.org reached 6,000 clicks from Google Search in a single 28-day period — June 2024. The same month the site hit 14K active users on the GA4 chart. Organic search wasn't a side effect. It was a direct outcome of an intentional, consistent content strategy built over 3 years.
What I owned
Digital publication strategy and content calendar for creativepinellas.org for over 3 years
Contributor coordination, editorial workflow, and consistent monthly publishing
SEO-informed content strategy — tracked and reported via GA4 and Google Search Console
Email marketing and social integration to amplify reach
Trained 120+ emerging artists to contribute their own stories, expanding the publication's community voice
Aligned content with arts tourism strategy, positioning Pinellas County as a regional cultural destination
WordPress Copywriting Content Management SEO Content Strategy Monday.com Exhibition Management Event Management GA4 Google Search Console
How I think about marketing
Every campaign starts with the same question: who needs to feel something here, and what do they need to feel? For Beyond the Walls, that meant a hotel guest discovering artwork in a hotel that caught their eye, and a way to connect with the artist. For Woodson Warriors, it meant a donor in 2020 feeling like their contribution mattered to a real community in a difficult year.
I build marketing systems that are intentional at making connections.
In the arts I have discovered there is a sense that putting a dollar amount to something at times feels superficial, and at the same time always driving towards it. People understand the value of art, the artists, and lifting up other humans. This is noted by the how Gen Z allocates 26% of their total wealth to art. (Art Basel & UBS Global Art Market Report 2026 - published March 2026) At the same time the median age for Art Museum patrons is 67 (American Alliance of Museums, 2024). This paradox that exists now demonstrates that as arts leaders, there is an opportunity to engage in authenticity. The sense of belonging is intrinsic in raising the requirement for the arts in daily human life and Millennials, and Gen Z are just waiting for the invitation to participate.
Marketing truly geeks me out because it is about understanding people, recognizing patterns of behavior and being able to provide arts and culture experiences that they want. Have you ever gone to an art opening, a poetry reading or an amazing musical and been sooo moved that you felt the tingle on your arm, a warmth in your heart, yea that, thats what I love to get to participate in getting people to feel.
Comments