Alumni Spotlight: Michon Ashmore

Michon Ashmore and mentor Dr. Pat Villeneuve

Florida State University (FSU) Department of Art Education alumna Michon Ashmore is currently a Program Officer, Advertising at New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA) and was recently accepted into The New York Community Trust Leadership Fellows.

As Program Officer, Michon manages NYFA’s online Classifieds section, which is the organization’s largest earned income program. Michon develops and executes strategies to promote NYFA Classifieds as a national resource for artists, builds and strengthens relationships with advertisers, and implements strategic partnerships in order to grow business and meet benchmark goals.

Michon joined NYFA in 2010. Initially, she worked as the Digital Advertising Program Associate for NYFA Classifieds. Michon has accomplished many things at NYFA. She is responsible for increasing NYFA’s revenue by more than $200,000 in three years by consistently exceeding sales goals (most recently by $86,000 in FY14). Michon also increased the number of Classifieds listings by more than 50 percent in three years.

Prior to joining NYFA, Michon managed communications to more than 40,000 students at FSU’s Thagard Student Health Center and worked as a journalist for The Tampa Tribune, where she wrote general assignment news stories. Her assignments covered topics such as cultural affairs, travel, politics, and human interest issues.

Michon graduated from FSU with a BA in Art History and MA in Classical Archaeology. Michon is a student and mentee of Dr. Pat Villeneuve, Professor and Director of Arts Administration for the Department of Art Education at FSU.

In 2014, Michon had the opportunity to interview Dr. Villeneuve, which was composed into an article titled “The Business of Art: A Q&A with Professor Pat Villeneuve of Florida State University.” In the article, Dr. Villeneuve provided advice and guidance for arts administrators and art educators.

The department is extremely proud of all Michon Ashmore has accomplished and looks forward to her future successes.