CARA CATALLO

CURRICULUM VITAE

MSJ, Magazine Publishing, Medill School of Journalism, Northwestern University, Evanston, Ill.

BA, Comparative Literature, Bard College at Simon’s Rock, Great Barrington, Mass.

(2023+) Co-founded and currently co-manage the Main Street Clarkston 501(c)(3) nonprofit to connect the City of the Village of Clarkston with Main Street Oakland County and the national Main Street America program. We work to bridge the gaps between the local business district, the government, and the neighborhoods. We seek solutions—oftentimes through economic development opportunities—to help our entire community thrive.

Main Street Clarkston

Archivist (2020-2025) Research and accession artifacts and ephemera within the collection and assist with curating exhibitions and PR.

Clarkston Heritage Museum

Editor (2020-2023) Coordinated all editorial aspects of this Southeastern Michigan food magazine, including editorial planning, following. and establishing style, assigning articles, writing and reviewing, editing copy, and working closely with the publishers, photo editor, designer, and all contributors to ensure storytelling was consistent and on point.

edibleWOW

Pewabic Pottery

Communications Coordinator. (2017-2020 pandemic) Crafted copy for media releases, e-mailings, blogs, brochures, rack cards and the website as well as other print and electronic pieces for this historic Detroit pottery; engaged and managed all media and outside communications, including preparing Pewabic staff for on-air demonstrations and press interviews; worked closely with the nonprofit’s designers, makers and educators, and marketing, retail and administrative teams to ensure storytelling was on point and followed style; initiated and maintained relationships with local and national media and metro Detroit tourism and arts organizations.

Author of Pewabic Pottery: A History Handcrafted in Detroit, History Press, 2017, and Images of America: Clarkston, Arcadia Press, 2015. Frequent presenter about Pewabic, Clarkston history and historic district information, for local and state groups and libraries. Plus, research, write, copyedit, and edit for publications, companies, independent schools, universities, and nonprofit organizations.

Author, speaker, writer, editor

As arts writer and columnist, I covered all aspects of fine and performing arts from 1A to features to special sections—including assigning and editing reviews—for the (then) 100,000-circulation daily newspaper in Greensboro, N.C.

News & Record

Detroit Free Press

Wrote and compiled event and largely celebratory stories for Wayne and Oakland County sections and wrote feature articles for the metro, auto, home, lifestyle and Yak! sections.

  • From 2010-2017 I was a commissioner, co-chair and chair of the Clarkston Historic District Commission.

  • Presented “A Look at Architecture from the Late Nineteenth Century and How it Applies in the Modern World” with Oakland County Preservation Architect Ron Campbell, orchestrated walking tours for Main Street Oakland County and Clarkston's DIA InsideOut exhibition, and served as the liaison between Clarkston City Council and MSOC.

  • Was awarded a scholarship to Michigan Historic Preservation Network’s Statewide Preservation Conference, May 2017.

  • Named Knight Center for Specialized Journalism fellow, “The Nonprofit World,” about covering the nonprofit sector, University of Maryland

  • News & Record recognized me for my quick grasp of the newspaper’s arts beat; my in-depth coverage of the area’s inaugural jazz festival; and for penning a compelling sports column about the tragic death of NASCAR legend Dale Earnhardt.

And the rest….