A Passionate Approach

Marketing for an Art Museum: A Professional Profile of Michelle Fellen

By: Beth Hartsig & Liz Stinson

Michelle Fellen loves art, and she’d tell you that even if they didn’t pay her. Lucky for her though, they do. Although Michelle has never been a painter, art has been a part of Michelle’s life since she was a child. She has been connected art through her cousin, who once held an exhibit at an art museum in west Michigan, and she has always sought ways to be involved with the arts without actually being on-stage. As the Marketing Manager of a west Michigan art museum, Michelle has found a way to combine her passion with her career.

Her Education

As a student at Grand Valley State University (she is now an alumnus), Michelle wasn’t planning a career in marketing—she actually majored in Behavioral Science—but her background in behavioral science helps her with marketing, she says. Audience behavior helps to inspire Michelle, and seeing positive audience reactions is one of her favorite things about her job.

Michelle says that her education at GVSU provided her with a strong writing base that she was able to further develop during her professional life. She says that GVSU professors to this day have been her harshest critics, but she feels that is what helped her become such a strong writer. Michelle’s biggest compliment towards her professors is that they taught her how to look more critically at her own writing, which she says greatly improved her writing.

How She Found Her Position

About four years ago, an assistant position opened at a west Michigan art museum, and Michelle was hired into that position which quickly evolved into her current role as Marketing Manager. Before working at the art museum, Michelle advocated for a long-term care agency, and before that, she had worked for an art gallery in Kentucky. She jokes that she has “followed” her cousin, who, after working for the art museum, showcased an exhibit in Kentucky where Michelle worked.

Michelle’s previous work experience helped her obtain her position at the museum, despite not having a degree in marketing. In addition to having on-the-job experience at a museum gallery office and with marketing for a nonprofit organization, Michelle says that her flexibility, dedication, and ability to learn new skills allowed her to excel in marketing.

Her Workplace Writing

“Professional Writer” was not a title that Michelle would have labeled herself with until she was approached to be profiled for the “Writing a Professional Life in West Michigan.” After thinking about it though, she said with a laugh, she is both a professional and a writer, so the title fits. In fact, about 50%-75% of Michelle’s work-time is dedicated to writing. She even purchased a laptop so that she could do more writing for the museum at home.

Much of the writing that Michelle does is direct promotion for the museum. She writes press releases, text for posters and flyers, and updates content for the art museum's website. Other types of writing Michelle does includes proposals to potential and existing ad sponsors for art show programs (the small informational booklets for exhibits), correspondence with season ticket holders, and a new program that she started for college students that allows them to attend select exhibits at a discounted rate. “It’s not your grandfather’s museum,” Michelle says, which is why she wants to showcase the museum's modern innovation and appeal to a younger crowd.

Michelle takes her writing seriously, especially for press releases, because she knows that she is in competition with other local events to gain public awareness and interest. Michelle’s marketing strategy is unique because she has to appeal to two distinct audience groups: potential young artists and older experienced art veterans. Michelle has been able to strengthen the marketing strategies at the museum by adding what she learned in Tennessee and by adapting techniques from other art groups.

Her Personal Writing

Even before Michelle worked for the art museum, writing was a part of her life. She says that she has always loved writing and that she keeps a personal journal—when she has the time. Michelle is also the chair of a local 5K Suicide Prevention Walk which required writing for public relations and correspondence with donors. When she finds time, Michelle also likes to read, especially mysteries and other types of fiction. She says that she got “hooked” along with everyone else on Dan Brown (author of The Da Vinci Code). Other favorite authors of Michelle’s include James Patterson and Barbara Kingsolver.

With all of the projects that Michelle works on, both professional and personal, writing is a significant part of her life. Her dedication and hard work pays off, she says, when she sees the joy and excitement on the face of someone experiencing an exhibit for the first time and knowing that she was a part of creating that experience.