BFA/BILLY FARRELL
Adam Abdalla, the senior vice president of arts and culture at the powerhouse New York public relations firm Nadine Johnson, will be leaving that company to start his own firm, which will be focused predominantly on the arts and is called Cultural Counsel. Abdalla worked at Nadine Johnson the last five years. In addition to his work in communications, Abdalla serves on the board of the New Art Dealers Alliance and is a co-chair of the Contemporaries of the Whitney Museum of American Art.
“The role of the marketing consultant in the art world has progressed significantly over the last five or so years, but in many ways, the thinking is still very binary,” Abdalla said in an e-mail. “Publicist A is a ‘media specialist.’ Company B is ‘great at events.’ I want to transcend that mindset because at the end of the day, clients want increased connectivity in a variety of ways. My hope is to offer the kind of holistic approach only made possible through living and breathing art and design.”
He added, “Nadine Johnson offered me a world of opportunity and I am extremely grateful to her for my tenure there.”
Cultural Counsel will be fully operational in August, Abdalla said.