Press Reign is a boutique arts admin agency owned and directed by fine art veteran Jodie Nelson. A leading voice for artists, Jodie is a curator, consultant, and artist advisor trusted by revered artists and museums. Her leadership is highly sought-after and documented in esteemed publications like The New York Times, PBS, Seattle Times, Forbes, Hyperallergic, Culture Trip, KUOW/NPR, and Art in America.
As an advisor to artists working in a wide array of art media, she has helped them sell millions of dollars in art, grow their audiences, cultivate their creativity and gain confidence solidifying her as a key contributor to art movements including the Studio Glass Movement landscape, and Eco Feminism, among others.
Jodie has a unique work style because she has a ton of experience in the art world. She is where creativity meets strategy. She listens to her intuitive gifts. She listens to her client's needs.
The result: She has sold millions of dollars of art, is a maestro orchestrating seamless launches, published books, and editions, and is dedicated to artistic legacies. It is a style that makes an impact. It is why artists, museums, and collectors rely on Press Reign.
Ignited by necessity and the transformative power of art, Jodie started the School at Press Reign in 2019. This platform unites artists with strategies to make the business side of art easy, so artists make money and get back time to make art. It transforms art enthusiasts into connoisseurs. By providing behind-the-scenes support for artists to fine art consulting, participants gain valuable insights from an expert and seasoned art world veteran.
In Jodie's own words, "You’ll find my leadership and experience exceed expectations. I bring a lot of energy to transform and scale projects. My approach will be different for each project but one thing remains the same: I’m divinely guided. I come in like a storm and leave a reignbow. I make things happen! " Check out how these have been chronicled on PBS and quoted in the New York Times.
Nelson brings success to the art world with strategic programming as a senior curator, fine art leader, and champion for artists. Projects include work with emerging artists to highly revered master artists who create beauty, cause tension, and question the status quo. Working hands-on with JUDY CHICAGO feminist icon and Time Magazine's most influential people in the world 2018, BARBARA EARL THOMAS painter, author and essayist, and DALE CHIHULY, one of the most innovative artists working in the medium of glass. Joining the legendary team at Chihuly Studio in 2011 with a specialty in fine art prints and Glass on Glass. Legacy projects include: the Chihuly Sanctuary at the Fred & Pamela Cancer Center, Chihuly Glass and Garden, and exhibitions at Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Dallas Arboretum, Fairchild Tropical Botanical Garden. Jodie has an invaluable on-going role with team Chihuly.
Expertise making an impact include:
• Art Advisory • Curatorial • Strategic Program Design •
Jodie thrives while being hands-on, assisting world-renowned artists inside their studio. She is the true embodiment of the definition of a curator, "one who will take care of every detail."
Offerings include:
• Curatorial/Exhibitions • Curatorial/Collections • Studio Assistant (media variable) • (AEFI) Long Term Strategic Planning • Archiving • Art Fairs • Publishing Prints & Multiples • Sales Management • Commissions • Books + Merchandise • Arts Education • Public Speaking • Stragetic Programming •
Curator. Earth Creative.
(BAIT) Beyond An Inconvenient Truth offers a multi-media immersive experience to raise awareness about climate change, to advance climate justice for all, and inspire action to the viewer. With Publication.
Curator / on-going advisory.
A Precarious Edge. Museum of Northwest Art. In A Precarious Edge, Steve Klein and Meg Holgate incorporate different media to explore a contemplative dialog on the beauty, benefits, and boundaries of our essential habitats. Inside this immersive exhibition, one is also surrounded by a symphonic creation titled, Terra Nostra II, by Grammy-nominated composer Christophe Chagnard a delicate reality surfaces asking the viewer to reflect on a presumptive outlook with a new awareness.
2021 - ongoing. Curator. Funded by a grant, an ongoing consultant/curator role with the City of Shoreline (WA), A three-woman art exhibit titled, Connecting Systems. Artists included, Raya Friday, Kait Rhoads, Carol Milne. Programming included ( sold-out) live glassblowing demonstration.
Next: Key contributor to studio glass movement Dan Friday and Netflix Blown Away contestant. 2023 Event with Manolo Aguilera. With Publication.
Consultant. Programming Architect. Platform focusing on the American studio glass movement with over 70 events with museum exhibitions, fine art gallery shows, hotshop demonstrations, art center experiences, and open studio's with the world's most renowned artists working with the creative modes of glass. We answer the question, "Where can we see more glass?" with strategic concurrent events covering 4-days. Featured in Forbes, Hyperallergenic.
Curator, Program Manager, Sales, Drawing Assistant to Dale Chihuly. Specialty includes Glass on Glass and limited edition fine art prints.
Past projects include catalog raisonné, R&D Glass on Glass, copyrights, sales, publishing multiples, negotiating sales, high profile book signings, legacy projects including Chihuly Sancuary and Chihuly Garden and Glass.
Installation assistant to Judy Chicago. BE NO MORE an immersive dry ice installation commissioned by San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. Chicago speaking truth to power. Throughout the day and into the evening, thousands of onlookers were attracted to the installation which spelled out the word "truth" as a metaphor for a new and disturbing reality in the U.S., the idea of alternative facts. In the evening, the word was lit from within with pink flares, which turned the entire environment a pearly pink. After dark, there was a second lighting which caused the brightly lit word to be reflected in the adjacent glass wall of the museum. Then, the lights faded and slowly, the ice sublimated (or disappeared).
Studio Assistant. Cutter for Barbara Earl Thomas. Multiple projects including EXPO Chicago. Thomas is a northeast icon and is a graduate of University of Washington with Master of Arts in 1977. She counts herself most fortunate to have had mentorships with Michael Spafford and Jacob Lawrence who have both influenced her work.
Curatorial Team. Fine Art Gallery Show. Friesen Fine Art. Sanctioned by Seeds of Compassion-a 5-day collaboration with the Dalai Lama. Featured 40 Northwest artists and their unique interpretations of the question "What Does Compassion Look Like?".
Curatorial Team. Fine Art Gallery Show. Friesen Fine Art. Featured over 50 artists with variable art media. Select guest artists include Yoko Ono, Christo and Jeanne-Claude, David Hockney, Doug and Mike Starn, Patrick Dougherty, Mark Ryden. Traveling Exhibit. With Publication.
Curator. Center on Contemporary Art. Programming includes (Un)Sanctioned: 13 Pacific Northwest Urban Artists resulting in collective mural with Publication. Post Glamism. Glam art in the 21st Century with Publication. Many More.
1998 | Art Advising starts - Recognizes the need for better education materials highlighting womens presence in art history at University art history level. Wins travel and research grants to study and photograph the Chinese archaeological marvel: the matriarch Lady Di at Mawangdui.
1998- present | Continued pilgrimages feminine divine sites, she refined her photography capturing UNESCO Heritage Sites across Asia.
1999 in Nepal, she curated exhibits with National Geographic photographers, raising awareness for river conservation. Her credits stand alongside these celebrated names.
2000 - 2011 Understanding the complexities of handblown glass, she is hand selected to produce and emcee live glassblowing demonstrations at Museum of Glass.
Continues studies at University of Washington in Museology. Interns with Pilchuck Glass School & Museum of Glass.
Gains promotion to director of fine art gallery Friesen Fine Art. Triples gallery square footage.
Director at Center of Contemporay Art.
2011-2023 Assists trailblazers, Dale Chihuly, Judy Chicago, Barbara Earl Thomas
Christie's Education: Celebrating Female Agency in the Arts
Aspen Institute of Artists Endowed Foundations
Starts School at Press Reign
Studies at Western Neon
Workshop with Guerrilla Girls
Lead Programming with inaugural Refract
Arts Consultant | Creative Economy City of Shoreline
Curator | A Precarious Edge | Museum of Northwest Art
Venus Tour | 2022
Curator| BAIT: Beyond An InconvenientTruth | Earth Creative.
Board Member Earth Creative