Making Arts Organizations Visible, Online and Off
- Kimberly DiVito
- May 19
- 5 min read
Updated: May 21
Building a digital presence for a community organization isn't just about having a website, it's about making people feel like they belong before they ever walk through the door. And sometimes, when there is no door, you build the broadcast instead. Here's a look at how I've approached both.
120+ Artists
trained in digital storytelling and content creation
3+
MOVIDA Arts Festivals produced virtual and in-person
2
Full YouTube broadcast productions for First Night St. Pete
6 yrs
Livestream/ Virtual/In Person event production Creative Pinellas
Festival of the Arts Virtual Broadcast Production
Event Producer & Video Production · New Year's Eve 2020/2021
First Night St. Petersburg 2021
First Night St. Petersburg was the largest family-friendly New Year's Eve celebration of the arts in Florida. For 2021, the entire event moved virtual. I project-managed the production, including filming of live performances, editing content, and producing the complete YouTube livestream. There were two separate broadcasts: the main showcase and a dedicated First Kids program for families, both premiering on New Year's Eve.
What I produced
Filmed live musical performances across multiple artists and genres
Edited and produced two complete YouTube premiere broadcasts
Designed the look, vibe and sound of the production, including all motion graphics
Created the social media campaign leading up to the event
Coordinated programming, logistics, and digital promotion for the virtual event
Delivered a fully accessible, community-centered arts experience on New Year's Eve
Watch the productions
Samples from the Productions
Social Media Event Campaign
Video Production and Filming Video Editing Livestream Production YouTube Event Coordination Graphic Design Social Media Management Photography
Arts and Culture Festival
MOVIDA Co-Chair - Vendor Market Manager - Digital Strategy
Mi Gente Mi Pueblo 2020 - 2021 - 2024
MOVIDA didn't start as a festival. It started as a question: ¿y dónde está mi gente?, where is my community? In 2020, Mi Gente Mi Pueblo hosted a community convening called LatinX inVISIBLE, exploring how visible or invisible the Latinx community truly was in Tampa Bay. Alongside that convening, we produced a companion virtual arts festival called Latinx Presente — a showcase of local Latinx artists created entirely during COVID.
That first virtual festival became the seed of MOVIDA. I was part of the team that produced it from scratch, and helped it grow into the annual in-person celebration it is today.
My role across the years
Produced Latinx Presenté, the virtual arts festival that became MOVIDA's origin
Recorded all content
Produced graphics
Created a Virtual Art Exhibition
Co-chaired MOVIDA planning and full festival execution for two years held at WADA
Led digital storytelling, social campaigns, and audience engagement strategy throughout
Coordinated artists, organizers, vendors and community members
Manage the festival's ongoing digital presence on the MOVIDA landing page
View the Production
MOVIDA 2021 Brand Design
Read About the Events Here
Video Production and Filming Video Editing Livestream Production
Event Management Graphic Design Graphic Design
Artists in Their Own Words
120 artists. 120 stories. One connected system.
Creative Pinellas 2021 - 2026
Grant recipients at Creative Pinellas don't just create art, they become part of the public record of Pinellas County's cultural life. Over six years I designed and ran a digital storytelling program that gave 120+ artists a real presence on the web by designing a content strategy that included a dedicated profile page on creativepinellas.org, training in how to blog and tell their own story, and a publishing pipeline that attached their written work directly to their profile.
The result was 120+ distinct artist voices, each one searchable, each one contributing to the site's organic reach, and each one reflecting the county's investment in their work back to the visitors who funded it. This is part of what drove the site to 16K monthly active users, not ads, not paid promotion, but a community of artists publishing their own stories consistently over time.
How the program worked
Each grant recipient received a dedicated artist profile page on creativepinellas.org — bio, artist statement, links, and when appropriate their project description
I trained each cohort in blogging, digital storytelling, and writing for a public audience in their own voice, not institutional copy
Every blog post they published was attached directly to their profile page, building a living archive of their work during their grant period
Artist stories were integrated into Arts Coast Magazine and promoted across email and social channels
The cumulative content across 120+ artists contributed directly to the site's SEO growth and organic search performance
What it created - A searchable, growing public record of Pinellas County's creative community, artist by artist, story by story that built audience, supported the organization's mission, and gave each artist a digital home that outlasted their grant period.
Design with strategy
WordPress Content Strategy Training User Experience
SEO Editorial Workflow Email Marketing
Livestream Events & Virtual Programming
Digital Strategy & Livestream Production
Creative Pinellas · Digital Strategy Director 2019 – 2025
One project at Creative Pinellas involved producing the organization's livestream and virtual event programming that brought exhibitions, artist talks, performances, and cultural events to audiences who couldn't be there in person, including international audiences connecting from outside the US.
What I produced
Produced and managed livestream events across exhibitions, artist talks, festivals, and cultural programming
Extended reach to regional, national, and international audiences through virtual broadcasts
Coordinated technical production, content, and promotion for each stream with host and guests
Produced graphics, both still and moving, videos, and sound
Built and maintained the organization's YouTube and Facebook presence as an ongoing content archive
Shows produced through the years
The following is a sample of a produced livestream for artist talk overflow - this artist talk had over 230 in attendance live and had one of the highest watched videos on the Creative Pinellas YouTube channel. While the production value is less then optimal, the power of the conversation in 2023 regarding an AI art and anthropology project held the audiences attention. This experiment demonstrated that video is powerful in storytelling along with being at the forefront of AI technology and art.
YouTube Live Restream Zoom Twitch Video Production
Event Management Guest Management
How I think about digital presence
A website, video, social post is the first handshake. For community organizations especially, it tells people whether they'll feel welcome before they ever show up in person. My approach is always: what does someone need to feel, find, and do when they discover the site or social exchange and does every element serve that?
That means I think about content strategy and information architecture together, not separately. A beautiful site that buries the event registration or makes donors feel like an afterthought isn't working.
I build for the human experience first, then have the tech support it.
Comments