With great sadness we must report the passing of John Ward, owner of National Art in New Orleans, LA. He was killed in a traffic accident during a Mardi Gras celebration early in the morning on Sunday, February 14th, 2010. Times Picayune Story details Our hearts goes out to his wife Nathalie, and daughters Charlotte and Isabelle. Relatives and friends are invited to attend visitation from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon with a Funeral Mass at 12:00 noon on Friday February 19th at the National Shrine of Our Lady of Prompt Succor at 2701 State Street in New Orleans. Interment will follow at Hope Mausoleum on Canal Street. In memory of John Michael Ward, donations may be made to the Lake Pontchartrain Basin Foundation at www.saveourlake.org.
Paula Puleo has joined Michaels as Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer, reporting to John Menzer, Chief Executive Officer. Paula will be responsible for leading and driving Michaels’ Customer Engagement Strategy. She most recently served as Executive Vice President – Strategy & Enablement, with RAPP, a Dallas-based Marketing Firm. Reporting to Paula are: John Rowe, General Manager – Strategic Marketing; Anthony Price, Sr. Director – Marketing; Jennifer Rawls, Sr. Director – Ad and Promotional Planning; Michael Duncan Director – Creative; and Renee Davis, Assistant to the Chief Marketing Officer.
Speedball Art Products has announced that it acquiring the Bienfang Artist Paper line from Elmer’s Products effective March 1, 2010. Bienfang was started in an artist loft in New York’s Soho 80 years ago by Sebastian Bienfang. Included in the transition will be all Bienfang paper pads, sheets and rolls including Graphic 360, Parchment 100 along with Bienfang Watercolor Brush Pens.
Kimberly Bolduc joins the Canson, Inc. Marketing team as the Fine Art Paper Product Manager. Previously she worked for The Getty and The Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA). She has her B.S. in Business Administration from Northeastern University and studied new media at Bond University in Australia. She will bring knowledge in social media advertising, blogging, consumer outreach, lead generation, and PR management to the Fine Art Paper Product Manager position.
Newell Rubbermaid, parent company of Prismacolor maker Sanford, posted a fourth-quarter profit on cost-cutting and lower raw materials prices but said its outlook was clouded by a currency devaluation in Venezuela.
Recently MacPherson’s employees stepped up to give generously in support of the relief efforts in Haiti. The total amount MacPherson’s people gave was $4,195 which was matched dollar for dollar by MacPherson’s for a grand total of $8390, $5600 went to the American Red Cross and $2790 went to Save the Children.
Following 26 years of dedicated service, Maxine Harnish has announced her retirement from Tara Materials, effective Friday, February 19th. Maxine started at Tara Materials in 1984 as a Customer Service Representative. She was promoted to National Accounts Manager in 1995 and later promoted to Director of National Accounts in 2005.
Marty Furman, COO at Pentel has resigned and has joined a company out of the industry in a similar capacity.
Preston Arts’ Louisville, KY store was featured on its local public television show (KET). Check it out! (Note: the Preston story begins approx 21 minutes from the start.) Preston Arts
Ken Haines of the Artist Colorwheel Co. wants us to take note of a new art form called “Fly Art”.
