Category archives: Painter

  • Nasrene Haj and the Creators Collective: Helping Out the Brooklyn Art Scene

  • 10 years ago
  • In the fall of 2012, Nasrene Haj and Mila Pinigin formed the Creators Collective. At the time Haj and Pinigin, who had recently graduated from Sarah Lawrence College, were interested in creating a collaborative space in which other artistic individuals could come together to network, generate discussion and develop projects and events which challenged the status quo. In the two years since the Creators Collective was founded, Jeremie Gluckman joined the organization as Research Director while Haj has remained at the helm guiding the Creators Collective forward, always seeking out new and innovative ways to engage the arts on a micro and macro scale. I spoke with Haj who is the Director and Co-Founder of the Creators Collective, about what it is like being a working artist in Brooklyn today, what challenges she faced starting an organization, and what changes she has seen in the Brooklyn arts community having grown up here Anni Irish: How was the Creators Collective formed? And what was your intent for this organization? Nasrene Haj: I founded The Creators Collective with one of my best friends from college, Mila Pinigin. One evening, while studying abroad in Italy our junior year, we were having dinner and started throwing around ideas for projects we’d like to work on together. We thought about how amazing it would be to create a small collective in Brooklyn that would engage these various projects with other friends and community members. A few months after gradu[...]

  • Biography

  • I started my career as an illustrator and painter.  Some of my paintings have been integrated into the advertising and publishing fields, used to illustrate a story or article. Over the years my career turned more toward design and advertising.  I continue to paint and do consignment portraits for clients as well as continuing my graphic design career. I have solved marketing and design problems for firms ranging from Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood to Morgan Stanley Smith Barney.  I have worked for multiple business segments including retail (McDonalds, Kaufmann’s Department Store); consumer goods (Rolex, Kodak, Westinghouse Electric, Rockwell International); publishing (Glamour, BabyTalk Magazine, Business and Aviation, Scholastic Publications); finance (Credit Suisse, Citigroup, USAlliance, Treasury Department Federal Credit Union); pharmaceuticals, high fashion and others. I’ve used my sense of design to create and oversee integrated campaigns in direct marketing, print, sales promotion, and online— taking the work from conception through final production and distribution. On time and on budget.

  • Contact

  • diane@dianelarajadesign.com or 212 243-3240