lecture participants & moderator

The evening lecture on Wednesday, October 26 featured three of the WOMN exhibition participants‚ Sue Crolick, Cynthia Knox, and Kelly Munson‚ and was moderated by Star Tribune Columnist Gail Rosenblum. 

Sue Crolick, lecture participant
Sue Crolick started her advertising career in the "Mad Men" era, and actually wore those stockings with the seams up the back. She was the first female art director at two of Minneapolis’ largest ad agencies. After 17 years as an advertising art director, she opened her own design firm in 1981. Sue won the top awards in her industry and served as a board member of AIGA Minnesota, organizing its first public service programs. She was so inspired by the hundreds of creatives who shared their talent with people in need she closed her design firm and started the nonprofit Creatives for Causes. Its program, Art Buddies, pairs kids from low-income families with creative mentors from advertising and design. In 2004, the Mentoring Partnership of Minnesota honored Creatives for Causes as the best mentoring organization in the Twin Cities.

Cynthia Knox, lecture participant
Since 1990, Cynthia Knox has been president and chief creative officer of Kilter, a marketing communications and design firm that specializes in creating brand experiences through brand identity, advertising, and product development. Clients include Adidas, Avon, Kangol, Nextel, Nike, Mossimo, russell+hazel, Sunglass Hut, and Target. Cynthia and Kilter have also been known in the industry as arbiters of the elusive Gen Y consumer. Kilter was asked to develop a new brand of woman’s beauty products for Avon geared toward the youth consumer. Cynthia worked hand-in-hand with Avon’s president and management team to develop all aspects of the brand proposition, brand identity, and marketing communications. The brand has gone from $0 to $70 million in three short years. Cynthia is now president of Viva la Card, a newly launched concept that provides consumers with customized, beautifully designed greeting cards and gift cards, created and ordered online.

Kelly Munson, lecture participant
A graduate of the College of Visual Arts, Kelly is currently a design director at mono, a Minneapolis firm specializing in inventive communication solutions. Mono was named Small Agency of the Year by Advertising Age in 2010. Kelly’s work is a mixture of print, digital, and video design for brands such as Apple, Parsons, Blu Dot, and Harvard Business School. Her work has been recognized by the Cooper Hewitt, Cannes Lions, The One Club, AIGA, and Good Magazine.

Gail Rosenblum, moderator
Gail Rosenblum is the social issues columnist for the Minneapolis Star Tribune, writing two to three columns a week on current issues, trends, and the complexities of human relationships. She is author of the just-released book, Hundred Lives Since Then: Essays on Motherhood, Mortality, Marriage and More (Nodin Press). Before coming to the Star Tribune, Gail worked for nearly 20 years as a reporter, editor, and essayist for many newspapers and national magazines, focusing on family issues and women’s health. Gail’s writing has garnered awards from the Associated Press, American Association of Sunday and Feature Editors, and the Society of Professional Journalists in Minnesota and Texas.