About Me

James Forrest is the Principal of Ambalogic, the former Creative Director of Berkleemusic at the Berklee College of Music, and also the award-winning former Web Creative Director of the Peabody Essex Museum, the oldest continuously operating museum in the United States.

With a background in creative direction, new media design, information architecture, user-experience design, online community building, animation, storytelling, fine art, and sound design, Jim’s work presents new possibilities for the changing experiential landscape online and beyond.

Jim’s work has been featured in many articles, presentations, and shows about personalization, online outreach, social media, personalization, cultural exchange, and community outreach.

Awards

• National Award of Merit from the American Association of State and Local History for ECHOES - A film about Lumberjack History in N.H.
• Talking Hands Award for interactive art-
  Joseph Cornell: Navigating The Imagination, 2008
• Storefront E-commerce Ubiquity award, 2005
  
• Macromedia "Site of the day", 2004
  
• American Association of Museums Muse Awards, Collection Database/
  Reference Resource, Honorable Mention, 2004
  
• Zoomify.com featured project for Nathaniel Hawthorne
  
• Marblehead Arts Festival–Best in show for Printmaking, 2001
  
• Presidental Scholar–Salem State College 1999, 2000-01

Publications

• Author of Data Unity, Published as part of the Art Museums Library Symposium at the Peabody Essex Museum. Read it here >
• Co-author of Learning from the People: Traditional Knowledge and Educational Standards
• The website for Joseph Cornell: Navigating the Imagination was featured in Core77's famous Industrial Design blog. - July 2007
• Salem Gazette – Machine 475 album review - November 2006
• Lynn Item - 2004
• North Shore Surfer–November 2003
• Associated Press–November 2003

Appearances

• PEM's  Art Museum Libraries Symposium, 2010
  Topic- Data Unity in Museums and Libraries.
• New England Museum Association, 2009
  Topic-Museum Mapping Projects: Charting a New Course
• South By Southwest Interactive Conference, 2009
  Topic-Remixing the Museum Exhibition
• Museums and the Web Presenter, 2008
  Topic-Learning from the People: Traditional Knowledge and Educational Standards
• Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) grant review board
  Topic - Building Digital Resources Panelist
  
• Museum Computer Network presenter, 2006
  Topic-Extending the Visit Beyond the Museum
• Museum Computer Network presenter, 2005
  Topic-Innovative Access to Collections on the Web: Connecting the Physical Museum Visit with the Online Collection through Personalization, Handhelds, RFID, and Audio Guides.
• Salem Cyber Space Program presenter, 2005
• Museums and the Web demonstration, 2004
  Topic- Peabody Essex Museum's Artscape.
• Salem State College Art Dept. Lecturer, 2002
  Designing online experiences.
  

Shows + Performances

• Arts After Hours, Peabody Essex Museum, sound art performance, 2010
• Lookout, Lynn Museum, sound art installation for Lynn Woods exhibit, 2010
• Sunset Hang Electronic Music Festival at Salem Willows, 2010
• Machine 475 Project - experimental electronic band 2006-10
• Lab De Loops, Brooklyn, 2009
• Soundtrack for a "Media Mosaic" at PEM - featured in exhibit Wedded Bliss: The Marriage of Art & Ceremony, 2008.
• Peabody Essex Museum 2005-06, Owls in Art and Nature , 4-channel sound installation and 2D print
• Boon Gallery 2005, sound collaboration with fellow musician Nate Douglas
• Movies with Live Soundtracks, sound and silent film collaboration with filmmaker/animator Shawn Morrissey at the Coolidge Corner Theater, Brookline, MA, 2004
  
• Gallery of Social & Political Art, Boston 2003, exhibited 2D prints
• Marblehead Arts Festival 2001, 2005
• Salem State College Alumni Exhibition 2003
  
• Solo Exhibition–Winfisky Gallery 2001
  
• Mass Art Film Society, Sound collaboration with Shawn Morrissey
  
• Massachusetts Institute of Technology
  
• La Fete Du Sisk, Exhibited 2D prints
  
• Berwick Research Institute, Sound collaboration with Animator Shawn Morrissey
  
• Front Street Coffee Shop, Simple Ordinary Life, a collection of 10 monoprints
  
• Winfisky Gallery
  
• Essex Camera Gallery
• Rockport’s First Night, Sound collaboration with Animator Shawn Morrissey
  

Contact Info

Resume (PDF)
LinkedIn >
Cargo Portfolio >

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Above: Waking up in Perugia,
Italy 2005. Photograph by
Melanie Salerno

Client List

Art & Design
Bishop Museum-Hawaii
Boon Gallery
Cahill Design
Chrissa Markos Photography
Cook Inlet Tribal Council
Essex Image Vault
Fireheart Communications
Harvard University
Institute of American Indian Arts
Kenaitze Tribe
Leeann Leftwich Zajas Design
New Bedford Whaling Museum
Peabody Essex Museum
Salem State College
Salem Theatre Company
Segal Design
Two Spirits Gallery

Music
Berklee College of Music
Raffi Besalyan
Jonathan Biss
Boston Conservatory
Gabriel Kahane
Meet the Composer Studio
Notes from the Underground
Yuja Wang
Alisa Weilerstein
Weilerstein Trio
Wu Man
Zitta Zohar
Zumix!

Commercial
Applied Value International
Brenton Gray Development
Fuddruckers
Structures North Consulting Engineers
Techevolution
TJX
Wedding Window