Ellie Benedict Email & Phone Number

Baltimore, Maryland, United States

Santa Fe, New Mexico, United States

Supported by grant funding, I spent the summer in New Mexico discovering the artistic traditions of the area, experimenting in natural dyeing, and re-balancing after grad school. I found an artistic mentor who helped me explore how art-making has been used to connect people and build community in this state for generations.

Grand Rapids, Michigan, United States

I managed the day-to-day operations of this fast-growing, award-winning independent business with an eye to its bigger picture. I led my ambitious staff team to success while managing inventory, creating programming, and providing customer service.

I served the Director's Office by creating and implementing a Board of Directors Meeting Minutes spreadsheet which documented all resolutions made in the organization's recorded history. It is searchable and legible as a map or a document in and of itself.I served the Major Gifts team by conducting Prospect Research on potential donors!

Chicago, Illinois, United States

North American Students of Cooperation (NASCO) is a nonprofit organization that organizes and educates affordable group equity co-ops and their members for the purpose of promoting a community-oriented cooperative movement. I was elected in a nation-wide general election to the NASCO Board of Directors. I served a three-year term on this board, serving as Secretary to the board the last two and on the Education committee all three years.

When the term of my internship in the Exhibitions department was over, the Park hired me as an employee in the Education department. In this role, I developed educational programming for school field trips, improving upon existing programming. I staffed these programs with volunteers, coordinating many schedules at once and working with these generous individuals. I trained the volunteers in history and historic interpretation techniques, and coordinated fun events for the whole team. I also continued to participate in the living history events and programs alongside my volunteers. Working with the school groups, sharing history with kids in hands-on participatory ways was very rewarding, but the most interesting part of the job to me was setting up lasting institutional changes. I developed and implemented new systems for booking school field trips and coordinating volunteers which will benefit the organization for years to come by making these processes incredibly more efficient.

Hastings, Mi

Each year, Historic Charlton Park hires a summer Exhibition and Education Intern. As 2017’s Intern, my primary exhibition project was the development of the park's collection of 1800s-era farm equipment into a public exhibit. I organized, researched, and installed more than 300 pieces into a navigable exhibition. I designed and built safety and wayfinding barriers to keep patrons safe in the exhibition hall, and formulated a new comprehensive signage scheme that orients and informs visitors, while allowing for multiple levels of interaction and education to suit the widely-varying interests of our audience. In addition, I curated and designed my own temporary exhibit of additional livestock objects to accent the permanent collection. Because this was an ongoing project that will be picked up by next year's intern, I also designed and implemented a knowledge management system to direct the future of the project, including lighting suggestions and other improvements to be made as the park's budget allows. For the education side of the position, I interpreted history for visiting school groups as the schoolteacher in the one-room schoolhouse and as a docent and tour guide for park visitors in our 1800s stagecoach inn. Through this opportunity, I had the chance to participate in a unique living history museum and dip my toes into multiple aspects of museum operation.

Ann Arbor, Mi

Designed an interactive photography and artifact exhibition of over 100 objects, including a performance element of live dancers, by organizing the materials, creating and developing interpretive materials, and integrating information, artifacts, and photos to produce this public exhibit at Ann Arbor's Power Center.

Ann Arbor, Michigan

As an intern in the collections department at this museum, I was exposed to many aspects of museum registry. I learned loan processes, database management, archiving practices, and object handling. My primary focus was my object organization project, where I developed and implemented a re-housing plan for the ceramics portion of the collection. This project made the collection more accessible by arranging the ceramic pieces in storage by location, year, and type. As well as working on that project, I also used my familiarity with the collection to assist visiting PhD students with their research, assist visiting curators in developing rosters of objects for their shows, and oversee visiting educational groups in object handling. I also had the opportunity to assist in the construction and installation of a temporary exhibit, "Leisure and Luxury in the Age of Nero: The Villas of Oplontis near Pompeii." Upon completion of my internship, I later returned as a volunteer to this museum to continue to grow my knowledge and support them.

Ann Arbor, Michigan

As VP of the ICC, I worked with a team of Committee Chairs to guide and advise the organization per its Strategic Plans and the wishes of the directors. As the Chair of the Education Committee, I trained officers of the organization in their responsibilities, led a group of committee members to complete our directives for the year, and managed both officers and my committee. I also worked on a few solo projects for the betterment of the organization, including a complete reconstruction of our Knowledge Management System, training development, and event planning.

Detroit, Michigan

As Georg Vihos's apprentice, I collaborated with him on his mural-sized paintings, commissioned by institutions across Michigan and Wisconsin, and eventually worked by commission under my own name through his studio. As his assistant, I organized the gallery show "Sixty Years" from the planning stages (curating works which best exemplified his artistic development), through interpretation (writing labels for each work), to opening day (pictured below).

Master'S Degree, Arts Management

Awarded High Distinction for my Master's thesis "Crisis as Opportunity: Philanthropy's Response to COVID-19 and Inequity"

Bachelor Of Science - Bs, Art History, Criticism And Conservation

Bachelor’S Degree, History Of Art, Museum Studies

Activities and Societies: Arts at Michigan Arts Ambassador, Helicon Art History Society, Inter-Cooperative Council

High School