BIRMINGHAM, AL.- The Birmingham Museum of Art welcomes Kelly Margaret Smith as associate director of communications. Smith, formerly an editor at Southern Progress Corporation, joined the Museum staff on May 5, 2010.

“Part of our mission is to grow the presence of the Museum in the community,” said Nick Patterson, director of communications at the Birmingham Museum of Art. The communications department manages public relations and marketing as well as communications for membership and special events. “Kelly will help us tell the story of the museum to the public and our members, and she’ll also develop internal communication vehicles here at the Museum.

“Kelly brings a breadth of experience to our group, having distinguished herself in roles calling for both internal and external communications skills,” Patterson said. “She’s also passionate about art and the vital role that the Museum plays in our city and our region.”

Smith was editor of Lowe’s Creative Ideas for Home and Garden bimonthly magazine in Southern Progress’s custom publishing division from 2005 through April 2010. In that role, she managed many aspects of the custom magazine program tailored for the Fortune 500 company, from editorial planning to client relations. Smith helped grow Creative Ideas as a successful brand, including increased online presence.

Smith joined Southern Progress full time in 2000 as editor and communications coordinator for the corporate communications department, where she edited the company’s bimonthly employee magazine and assisted with internal communications, public relations, and charitable giving. Smith also wrote extensively for various Southern Progress magazines and Web sites, including Southern Living, Southern Accents, and MyHomeIdeas.com, on topics ranging from letterpress art to sustainable furniture. She was an editorial intern at Southern Progress’s Coastal Living magazine in 1999.

Smith graduated summa cum laude from Sewanee: The University of the South in 2000 with a major in English. She is completing a master’s degree in environmental studies with a focus on writing and communications from Green Mountain College in Vermont, writing a thesis in part about nature, art, and culture in Alabama’s clay art tradition.