Nicole Polletta has over twenty years of experience establishing the platform, messaging and outreach strategies to effectively engage high-profile audiences and strategic partners for international corporate and nonprofit institutions, with a special focus on the contemporary visual arts.
From 2012 to 2015, Nicole served as the inaugural Director of VIP Initiatives at the Peabody Essex Museum (PEM) in Salem, Massachusetts. While there, she co-led PEM’s partnership with Art Basel Miami Beach Associate Sponsor Audemars Piguet to present Strandbeest: The Dream Machines of Theo Jansen. Nicole established VIP patron travel programs to Art Basel Miami Beach, Frieze New York and Santa Fe Indian Market, VIP cultivation events at Art Basel Hong Kong, The European Fine Art Fair Maastricht and in Palm Beach, and reinvigorated VIP museum-based events.
In the early 2000s and for almost a decade Nicole worked with FITZ & CO in New York City, becoming the inaugural Director of VIP and Sponsor Relations. While there, she conceived and realized more than 200 art-based experiences. She effectively connected individual collectors, museum trustees, collecting groups, and other key global constituencies for such high-level clients as Art + Auction, ArtReview, Art Basel and Art Basel Miami Beach where she led U.S. VIP and Sponsor Relations, Art Dealers Association of America, the Association of Professional Art Advisors, the Brant Foundation Art Study Center, Brant Publications, Fondation Beyeler, The Glass House, the Hugo Boss Prize, Madison Square Park Conservancy, MCA Denver, RFR Lever House Collection, Saatchi & Saatchi, Sharjah Biennial, Starn Studio, Watermill Center, and Walker Art Center, among others. Additionally, she activated sponsorships for numerous high-level brands including AXA Art Insurance Corporation, Cartier, NetJets, and UBS.
Nicole started her career at The American Friends of the Israel Museum and prior to that participated in the internship program at the Museum of Modern Art, both in New York City.
Recognizing the importance of mentoring the next generation of art world leaders, Nicole has spoken about her unique career path at ArtTable, Christie's Education, Fordham University, and the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, all in New York City. She has spoken about the art of superconnecting at the inaugural Art World Conference in New York City, RAISE: The Event Fundraising Conference in Chicago, Illinois and Women in Development in Boston, Massachusetts.
Nicole has been profiled in Flash Art and has given interviews for ArtFrankly, Forbes, Girlboss, and Women of Culture. She was also included in the Basler Zeitung, Boston Common Magazine and the Boston Herald, among others.
She is an Art Mamas Alliance Founding Member, ArtTable Executive and National Programming Committee Member, Forbes Boston Business Council Founding Member, and POWarts Member. In addition to her audience development work, Nicole has maintained an artistic practice for more than twenty years. She graduated from Fordham College at Lincoln Center in New York City.