The Top PR Firms for the Visual Arts
As the art world evolves, these firms are helping institutions change with the times so they can continue to connect art and audiences in meaningful ways.
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Change is constant in the art world, which remains rooted in tradition but now operates in ever-shorter cycles dictated by a packed annual art fair schedule in what feels like a contracting world. Add to that diminished attention spans and micro-audiences, and communications firms in this space must be unfailingly agile, inventive and ready to pitch new—sometimes virtual—initiatives.
Staying open-minded is crucial, given that on top of it all, what constitutes both art and culture is rapidly shifting. It’s a change for the better, Bow Bridge Communications co-founders Libby Mark and Heather Meltzer tell Observer, with more diversity and inclusivity and a broader range of programs. Emerging social apps and digital tools and platforms add yet another layer of complexity.
The firms on this year’s PR Power List Visual Arts Honor Roll are not only driving awareness of exhibitions and art events but guiding museums, galleries, art fairs and cultural institutions as they grapple with questions around how to drive audience engagement in an increasingly virtualized world.
“The landscape of best practices, platforms, tools and other ways of reaching key audiences and managing reputation is constantly and rapidly changing,” David Resnicow, President of Resnicow and Associates, tells Observer. And while it’s unlikely that algorithms and augmented reality will supplant IRL experiences any time soon, according to Hunter Braithwaite, a senior vice president at the firm Cultural Counsel, comms agencies working in the visual arts still need to keep up with the times.
Museums must innovate to grow their audiences—and tell stories that draw in the younger visitors that will become the next generation of funders. Galleries and auction houses feel the pressure to expand, both geographically and into virtual realms, to stay relevant in a crowded marketplace. And art fairs can no longer coast on cultural cachet—the most successful have merged into multi-fair behemoths complete with schedules of parties and events where celebrities and art-world VIPs go to see and be seen.
It’s not about ‘out with the old, in with the new.’ Deep ties in the art world remain an indispensable element of PR success, even as more institutions expand into new nations and new markets; ditto for the fervent belief that in-person engagement with art is vital to our collective well-being. But, Braithwaite tells Observer, you have to meet the public where they are. Today, that could just as easily be on TikTok as in the pages of the Times. Or, if the art in question is digital or has been digitized, in the metaverse or on the blockchain.
What PR professionals in the visual arts need to do to drive conversations and promote awareness has changed a lot in the past decade—and will keep changing from year to year. But what constitutes success hasn’t changed much: the goal remains to connect art and audiences in meaningful ways.
Visit our Power Index to view the entire 2024 PR Power Series.
The Top Visual Arts PR Firms in 2024
Bow Bridge Communications
- Libby Mark, Co-Founder/Managing Principal & Heather Meltzer, Co-Founder/Principal
Bow Bridge Communications is a young boutique agency with an impact that’s anything but small. The Asian Cultural Council, Toronto’s Gardiner Museum, and Marie Selby Botanical Gardens were among the major arts clients the four-person firm onboarded last year.
With offices in New York City and Toronto, Bow Bridge was established in 2012 by Libby Mark and Heather Meltzer—both of whom honed their skills at Jeanne Collins & Associates. With a hands-on operating model that prioritizes the personal touch, the agency has amassed an impressive roster of institutions, foundations and cultural projects; from the Smithsonian’s Archives of American Art to Brown University’s Brown Arts Initiative.
Sure, opportunities for traditional arts coverage have declined in recent years, say co-founders Libby Mark and Heather Meltzer. But you wouldn’t know it by looking at Bow Bridge’s communications campaigns for museum shows over the past several months, which led to several placements in the coveted Museums section of The New York Times. Such coverage “shows that the definitions of ‘arts’ and ‘culture’ are shifting to embrace more inclusive subjects, diverse themes and a range of programs," Mark and Meltzer tell Observer.
The firm’s successful placements included articles on an exploration of the symbolism of the guitar in American art at Nashville’s Frist Art Museum and a celebration of the nature-inspired artistry of Louis Comfort Tiffany at Marie Selby Botanical Gardens in The Times’ coveted Museums section. And that’s besides its work on the long-awaited second edition of the Toronto Biennial of Art in 2022, which is gearing up for another run later this year.
“Institutions need to ask, listen, and when needed, implement change,” say Mark and Meltzer. That’s where the firm comes in. Bow Bridge offers public relations audits for its clients, assessing how institutions with limited resources can best utilize communications tools. With the intimate relationship forged between Bow Bridge’s small team and its clientele, some even call upon the agency to support their own in-house public relations staff or contribute to larger institutional strategies.
Cultural Counsel
- Adam Abdalla, Founder/President
Entertainment behemoth A24, the Armory Show and the Whitney Museum are just some of the clients repped by Cultural Counsel, which has gone from strength to strength since its 2015 founding.
Founded by Adam Abdalla, formerly of Nadine Johnson, the New York-based firm has made a name for itself with deep ties to the art world and exclusive events. This past December, for example, Cultural Counsel helped launch Harmony Korine’s new design collective EDGLRD with a Boiler Room party at Art Basel Miami Beach. “In a moment where everyone craves in-person experiences, you have to meet the public where they are: IRL,” Hunter Braithwaite, a senior vice president at the firm, tells Observer.
In 2023 alone, Cultural Counsel unveiled Mumbai’s Nita Mukesh Ambani Cultural Centre, the largest center of its kind in India, and helped the Art Dealers Association of America (ADAA) attract a star-studded crowd for its annual art show. Not to mention its work on centennial programming celebrating artist Ellsworth Kelly, which culminated in the creation of an Ellsworth Kelly Day in New York City and Austin, Texas.
Abdalla’s firm also frequently steps outside the box of traditional communications projects. In addition to operating a programming series with partners ADAA and the New Art Dealers Alliance and running an affiliate firm known as Digital Counsel, it also recently launched its own digital publication known as Discovery.
And a team stacked not only with communications specialists but writers, artists and musicians keeps long-term clients like the Perez Art Museum Miami and Prada Foundation coming back for more. “Beyond that, we go for friendship—with our clients, with journalists, and with people across the field,” says Braithwaite. “There’s a reason people keep returning to our art week parties.”
FITZ & CO
- Sara Fitzmaurice, Founder/CEO
Fitz & Co may be gearing up to celebrate its 30th anniversary next year, but the enterprising firm still has its finger on the art industry’s pulse.
Don’t be fooled by its client list of well-established institutions, which include Art Basel, the Storm King Art Center and new clients like UBS and Sotheby’s. Sara Fitzmaurice’s agency has a knack for identifying and responding to new forces shaping the market—something that has lately seen the agency supporting clients through international expansions and repping leaders across a digitally native art market.
With experts in New York, Los Angeles and London, FITZ & CO has recently scaled into Asia under the leadership of vice president Yun Lee. In addition to bringing on Japan’s Art Collaboration Kyoto, its footprint in South Korea has grown with new and renewed contracts for the Korea International Art Fair, Korea Arts Management Service and Johyun Gallery. “FITZ & CO’s knowledge of the global arts landscape has placed our agency in a unique position to bring these international clients to the forefront of culture,” FITZ & CO founder Sara Fitzmaurice tells Observer.
FITZ & CO’s scope isn’t just expanding globally—new hires include Bella Clemente, a senior account executive who brings her background in the blockchain to the agency’s digital team. Her expertise will enable increased digital service offerings at the firm, which Fitzmaurice describes as “always striving to be among the early adopters of the newest technologies that are being intertwined into the arts and cultural spheres.”
The agency is already a force in the world of digital art, representing major players in the space like artist Refik Anadol and collector Pablo Rodriguez-Fraile. The agency has its eye on the increased visibility of digital art in museums and galleries, and Fitzmaurice predicts this integration will only become more prevalent. “FITZ & CO is uniquely poised to bridge the digitally native and ‘traditional’ art worlds, as we foster a fluid integration between the two, and we plan to continue tailoring our unique competitive offerings accordingly,” she says.
Sutton
- Calum Sutton, Founder/Group CEO & Jennifer Benz Joy, President/Managing Director
To say Sutton offers an international approach to arts communications would be an understatement. With a team that speaks more than ten languages and a website available in five, the firm, which counts numerous locations across the U.S., Europe and Asia, undoubtedly has a wide reach.
Last year in France, it served as cultural advisor to Guerlain, the LVMH-owned beauty brand, as it prepared activations at Paris+ par Art Basel. In Beijing, the firm helped BAPE Gallery launch its first outpost outside of Japan. And in New York City, Sutton launched a showroom for luxury manufacturer Lucifer Lighting.
In the hands of president Jennifer Joy and CEO Calum Sutton (an arts publicity veteran who formerly worked for the Saatchi Gallery), the agency has become the go-to comms partner for high-profile art fairs like Art Basel, Art Week Tokyo and Art SG in Singapore. It even reps Arcual, the tech startup that recently partnered with Art Basel to launch an initiative urging collectors to make philanthropic donations when buying art.
“From Dallas to Chicago, Miami to Detroit, Mexico City to Montreal, we have deep knowledge of the cultural scenes in leading cities across the continent,” Jennifer Joy, President & Managing Director of Sutton Americas, tells Observer. In the past 18 months, Sutton has onboarded new museums like The Contemporary Austin, High Museum of Art and El Museo del Barrio to a roster already filled with art world heavyweights, in addition to expanding its team with the recent additions of U.S. business director Stephanie Adamowicz, formerly of LGDR Gallery, and London director Christopher Bramah-Calvert, who comes from Brunswick Group.
Moving forward, Sutton is gearing up to take on the Venice Biennale with an international roll call of pavilion clients that includes Iceland, South Korea, Denmark, Spain, Romania and Taiwan. It's also looking forward to celebrating the 10th anniversary of its New York office in 2024, complete with a series of yet-to-be-announced partnerships and events.
Resnicow and Associates
- David Resnicow, Founder/President
In 2023, Resnicow and Associates reported record revenue and snagged more content strategy assignments than ever before—no small feat for a firm that has been around for more than thirty years.
The New York agency, founded by David Rescnicow in 1992 and beloved by established art institutions, recently picked up a powerful batch of new clients, including the Smithsonian American Art Museum, SITE Santa Fe and John Hopkins University. It also led communications campaigns for organizations like the Foundation for Advancement in Conservation, which resulted in a surge of volunteer interest for the National Heritage Responders Hotline.
The firm shows no signs of slowing down in 2024 as it prepares four projects for the upcoming Venice Biennale. In addition to representing the U.S. Pavilion, which will feature Jeffrey Gibson (the first indigenous artist to present a solo exhibition at the U.S. Pavilion), Resnicow and Associates will aid presentations for artists Shahzia Sikander, Elias Sime and Federico Solmi.
And don’t forget about the Frick Collection, which is gearing up to reopen its renovated Manhattan home this year in the culmination of a major expansion plan aided by an eight-year partnership with Resnicow and Associates. The museum is one of several long-term clients that have stuck by the firm for its hands-on and comprehensive approach—as a matter of fact, Resnicow + Associates, which saw 79 percent of its clients renew their partnerships in 2023, has maintained more than half of its client list for over five years.
Flexibility and adaptation are key to sustained success, according to David Resnicow, President of Resnicow and Associates. “The landscape of best practices, platforms, tools, and other ways of reaching key audiences and managing reputation is constantly and rapidly changing every day, as is the arts and culture sector itself,” David Resnicow tells Observer.
