19 Sep Member Spotlight Series: Kecia Benvenuto
Along with Co-organizing SheSays Boulder, Kecia Benvenuto is curator of contemporary art at Boulder’s madelife gallery and a Board Member for the DAM (Denver Art Museum) Contemporary Alliance.
Prior, she led content curation and strategy in the arts, design, travel and lifestyle sectors for Facebook’s award-winning mobile app, Paper.
She has an extensive background in artist-collaborations for global branding work, including events, publications, experiences and multi-platform advertising, and has commissioned artists for clients such as Nike, Coca-Cola, Heineken, Sony PlayStation and Maybelline. She has spoken at Digital Summit Denver, Camp 9600, the Colorado Creative Industries Summit and presented at BSW.
Her passion is bringing art, culture and commerce together to drive positive societal change.
We asked Kecia a few questions…
Name a book or blog that changed your life?
I’ve read and continue to read too many great books to choose just one. HBR’s website and magazines are a go-to for me in terms of my interests in startups and organizational culture, trends in business. I also read a lot of art publications. The mix of the two suit my two passions well.
Reading should be a part of everyone’s daily routine—you’ll never run out of things to talk about when networking and you’ll remain open to a variety of perspectives. More reading, less social media, and our country might be in a very different place right now. Additionally, How I Built This is one of my favorite podcasts.
In 5 words or less, describe what has been most important to your success in your career?
Always be learning, stay curious.
What are you working on now?
For the last two+ years I’ve been running the gallery at madelife on Pearl Street, putting together shows, as well as curriculum, workshops, events and talks in the area of creativity, making, branding and marketing with artists and experts in the field. I’ve immersed myself in creative direction, marketing, learned to work in Mailchimp, Shopify and WordPress, created partnerships and designed experiences. It’s been very much akin to working at a startup.
I quit a much better-paying FT job to pursue this passion and the experience has taught me so much. I’m really proud of everything I’ve built in these last 2 years, especially—
- Vibrant Femmes, an initiative focusing on women & non-binary artists and creatives
- the Community HangOut
- the UNshow series which takes people inside the artist’s creative process
I’m also super proud of what Mandy and I have been able to grow with SheSays Boulder over these last 5–6 years—this is such a strong community of supportive, inspiring and engaged women.
If you could give your 20-year-old self-advice, what would it be?
For every success or accomplishment we see, there are likely 5 failures out of view – these are equally as valuable and have so much to teach us. Don’t fear the momentary stumble or fall.
Every month we spotlight an amazing woman who is part of the SheSays Boulder community. Some have shared their story as a speaker at our events. All are women who’ve inspired us with their work, heart, and vision. Want to connect with an amazing community of woman making a difference in the digital world? Follow us on MeetUp, sign up on the email list or find our next event on Event Brite and join the fun.
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