Adam Abdalla with artist Marco Brambilla. Photo: Billy Farrell/BFA.

Adam Abdalla, who has been the vice president of arts and culture at Nadine Johnson & Associates for almost six years is exiting the art savvy public relations firm to begin his own consulting agency, Cultural Counsel.

Cultural Counsel will also focus on contemporary art, design, and architecture clients. “The crux of the Venn diagram in which contemporary art overlaps with marketing, branding, and public relations has always been considered a murky place,” Abdalla wrote in a previous article in the Miami Rail.

The former VP told artnet News that he hopes to foster a more holistic approach to addressing the needs of artists and organizations alike, including the promotion of seamless “activations” between the art and design spheres and the worlds of fashion, real estate, and hospitality.

“Artists are some of the world’s greatest problem solvers,” Abdalla told artnet News via email. “Through a research-based approach, my intention with Cultural Counsel is to nurture relationships with artists and those who support them, providing them with an array of different opportunities, ranging from media exposure to public projects.”

During his tenure at Nadine Johnson, Abdalla represented art world heavy-hitters like the Garage Museum of Contemporary Art, Museo Jumex, the Brant Foundation Art Study Center, the Whitney Museum, Independent Curators International, the Bass Museum of Art, and the New Art Dealers Alliance.

Prior to joining Johnson’s firm, he served as a senior account executive at Susan Grant Lewin Associates.

“Nadine Johnson offered me a world of opportunity and I am extremely grateful to her for my tenure there,” Abdalla stated in an email.