Jodie Nelson is a curator, consultant, and artist advisor trusted by revered artists and museums. Jodie’s curatorial leadership is highly sought-after and chronicled in The New York Times, PBS, Seattle Times, Forbes, Hyperallergic, Culture Trip, and Art in America.
Her twenty-five year career leading museums and artists to realize their ambitious projects started in 1999, curating photography exhibits to raise awareness for river conservation. Experiencing the power of art firsthand, she continued her studies at the University of Washington in Museology, held a focus with the Female Agency in the Arts at Christie’s, and studied with the Artist Endowed Foundation Initiative from The Aspen Institute.
Nelson brings success to the art world with strategic programming as a senior curator, fine art leader, and champion for artists. She has expanded programming at Chihuly Studio, curated exhibitions at the Museum of Northwest Art (La Conner, Washington), Friesen Gallery and Seattle’s non-profit Center on Contemporary Art (CoCA), whose legacy includes Lydia Lunch, James Turrell, and Nirvana. In tandem, Nelson has worked behind the scenes with artists including Judy Chicago, Barbara Earl Thomas, and Dale Chihuly. She consulted on the inaugural Refract | The Seattle Glass Experience, the nation’s newest tourism initiative that highlights the American Studio Glass Movement, yielding 70+ satellite events including museum exhibitions, open artist studios, demonstrations, and gallery shows.
Fueled by her experiences and the power of art, Jodie launched a career culminating initiative, the School at Press Reign. This school has a program connecting artists with strategies to scale their career into legacy and a program for art lovers to become connoisseurs. From behind the scenes assisting amazing artists to fine art consulting, -these perspectives give participants a wealth of knowledge to learn from an expert and 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.
Jodie began her career as an award-winning research and travel grant recipient taking her to Mawangdui, an archaeological site located in central China. Inspired by the feminine divine, matriarchs, and goddesses she honed her photography skills by documenting and selling photos of UNESCO Heritage Sites
throughout Asia.
In 1999 while working in Nepal, Nelson began curating exhibits with National Geographic photographers to raise awareness for river conservation. Her photo credits are seen side-by-side these renowned photographers.
Relationships are key. After returning to Washington she continued river expeditions with global leaders of the industry while developing relationships with artists. Understanding the complexities of making hand-blown glass, Jodie interprets the process of the world’s foremost artists working in glass. Hand-selected, she produced and narrated hot shop demonstrations at the Museum of Glass audiences. Later continuing her education in Museology at the University of Washington.
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 Jodie also worked on Chihuly exhibition projects at Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Dallas Arboretum, Fairchild Tropical Botanical Garden, important legacy projects Chihuly Garden and Glass, and the Chihuly Sanctuary at the Fred & Pamela Cancer Center. 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 •
Known for her collaborative work style Nelson brings success to the art world with strategic programming as a senior curator, fine art leader, and champion for artists.
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 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. 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.