Mary Schepis Johnson

St. Cloud State University is one of the largest public universities in Minnesota with more than 15,000 students and undergraduate programs holding nearly every available national accreditation. As an Adjunct Professor within the School of the Arts I taught beginning and mid-level courses in Art 2D, Computer Studio, and Graphic Design along with mentoring students in their fields of study by fostering peer critiques and group learning strategies. Through active research and continued education kept abreast of new teaching methods and technologies for advanced learning.

A specialty food and gift store offering handmade, healthy and gluten-free options. As sole proprietor, launched and maintained all business, branding, marketing, sales, and inventory efforts for the store. Developed a loyal clientele base of customers. Used art background to create effective store frontage and displays.

The Art Institutes International is a system of over fifty schools throughout North America dedicated to providing hands-on education in the creative and applied arts. At AI, I taught mid-level college courses in Art Direction and Computer Illustration, designing a curriculum based on practical career lending experiences. As a higher education instructor, mentored students in their fields of study by instilling practical industry based learning strategies. Partnered with other instructors to promote a diverse skill set within the advertising curriculum.

Image Entertainment (now AMC Entertainment) is a leading independent licensee, producer and distributor of home entertainment programming. During my tenure at Image Entertainment, I established and lead a diverse creative services team of professionals, including a staff of art directors, senior designers, copywriters, pre-press and photography personnel. I directed the production of all packaging, marketing, sales and promotional materials for up to 75 HD, DVD and CD releases per month as well as developed and oversaw key art campaigns for theatrical and direct-to-video feature films utilizing both internal resources and outside agencies. Other contributions include: * Supervised the creative process for online banner advertising and web page designs. * Coordinated the transfer of domestic creative assets to international distribution and broadcast partners. * Initiated the addition of a digital workflow environment saving the company millions of dollars in external costs. * Performed at an executive level partnering with other key decision makers to affect company strategies and pivotal branding related opportunities. * Pioneered the introduction of green packaging strategies and sustainable product development efforts.