Introducing Savannah Raley

Basin Arts
3 days ago
3 min read

Savannah Raley is a digital communications specialist, graphic designer, and event coordinator currently based in New Orleans. Previously Basin Arts’ Operations and Engagement Manager, Savannah recently brought her design and communications expertise to Brechtel Hospitality’s team in New Orleans.

Though her creative practice looks a little different from that of a traditional studio artist, Savannah’s work lives at the intersection of art and communication. Through graphic design, typography, photography, and video, she approaches visual storytelling as an art form in its own right, using creativity and experimentation to shape how people experience businesses, organizations, and creative communities.

Born and raised in Shreveport, Savannah discovered her love for the arts in AP Art History class and by observing her brother, Parker Raley, as he drew and honed his craft. Savannah attended the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, where she graduated with a Bachelor’s in Strategic Communications with a concentration in Advertising. With her love of fine art and food, she focused her studies on entering the arts, nonprofit, and restaurant marketing worlds. While working at Five Mile Eatery, she began experimenting with the new business’s Instagram and TikTok pages.

After graduation, Savannah took on an official role at Basin Arts following a semester-long internship. At Basin Arts, she created original content such as “Your Guide to Local Artist Opportunities,” which connected Acadiana artists with opportunities, as well as BARE Walls Collection Features highlighting local artists and their media.

While at Basin Arts, Savannah also began creating content for local artist and business owner Colette Bernard. Through her work with Colette, Savannah was able to experiment with her design style, create playful product-based content, and reach up to 4.5 million views across multiple platforms and pieces of content.

Now living in New Orleans, Savannah serves as Brechtel Hospitality’s Head of Socials and Community. In this role, she uses her skills in design and strategic communication to create content for Copper Vine Wine Pub & Inn, Fulton Alley, Vintage Rock Club, and The Whit NOLA. She has also begun managing event programming across the company’s locations, bringing excitement and community to each space.

You can contact Savannah for contract design and content work through her creative page, @raleycreativeco.

Who makes up your art circle?

My Art Circle is made up of the community I met through working at Basin Arts and my brother, Parker. I fell in love with Art History in high school, but I wasn’t artistically inclined in drawing or painting. I wasn’t sure what to do with this fascination for the arts since I wasn’t an artist like my brother.

During college, while studying Communications, I quickly realized how many different sectors need communications professionals. I learned early on that I could take my love for design, typography, and video editing to businesses and organizations that aligned with my passions and create content that was fulfilling for me to make while also being helpful for the business.

When I began interning at Basin Arts and eventually working in an official position, my Art Circle became so much bigger than I ever expected. I sat by the front door at Basin Arts and was able to meet visual artists, dancers, musicians, photographers, and more. Being able to connect with Basin Arts’ community was a huge blessing and incredibly insightful as I grew my creative career.

How do you expand your art circle?

To put it frankly, making myself go to things and making myself talk to people. I think it’s so important to engage with your local museums, galleries, and nonprofits. There are so many affordable or free ways to attend your local institutions and meet people.

Put yourself out there, and don’t get in your head about your artistic skill. Lafayette especially has such a large arts community, and it’s so fulfilling to connect with them.

What value do you see in having a creative community?

Having a creative community and being in creatively fueled conversations is what keeps my work progressing. I feel like my design style and quality of content have significantly improved since I built a creative community around myself.

I felt constantly inspired and creatively challenged just by being around that many artists. A creative community keeps my designs fresh, basically.

How does your artistic approach contribute to your community?

My artistic approach contributes to my community in a very literal way. Since I’m in marketing, my goal is always to get people in the door, sell something, and create a meaningful experience for them.

I contribute to my community by providing locally owned businesses with content for their pages to bring in traffic and build brand awareness. Specifically at Basin Arts, my goal was to contribute to the thriving arts community by connecting artists to opportunities they may not have heard about otherwise.