Nina Wurtzel, President

Nina has an eclectic professional background, and has reshaped Wurtzel Inc. to combine her skills. In addition to design, creative strategy, photography and retouching, Nina was also professional ballet dancer for many years. 

 

It's always been a tug of war to pursue all one wants, and growing up in Manhattan she was forced to decide which to pursue at a young age. With acceptances to Performing Arts for dance, Music and Art for art, and already attending the School of American Ballet, Nina decided to continue at the School of American Ballet and go to a "normal" high school putting art on the side.

 

Her high school art teacher created separate classes for Nina to be able to help her reach her potential. In his college recommendation letter he wrote that Nina was the best student he had taught in his 9 years of teaching. Her work was displayed in the lobby of the Metropolitan Museum of Art as part of the ATIS high school competition, and Nina later received several scholarships to art schools around the country. 

 

It was during her visit to Carnegie Mellon in Pittsburgh that Nina casually dropped in to see the Pittsburgh Ballet and was asked to join the company. The company director Patricia Wilde remembered her from New York and gave her a private audition on the spot. .

 

Bill Wurtzel, Nina's father, is an advertising creative director and brought Nina to photo shoots, TV commercials and radio recordings from age 5. She learned first hand about strategy, shooting and directing. When Bill had the Greek National Tourist Board and Olympic Airways as clients, he arranged to bring the family with him to Greece. Bill did some of his own photography and filming and added Nina to his crew of camera men and models at age 16. She started as an assistant photographer and her images were chosen for brochures and ads. While dancing in Pittsburgh Ballet, Nina was one of the company photographers and her work regularly used in their promotion.   

 

After retiring, Nina decided to learn advertising strategy, graphic design and copywriting with her father and his peers; Lou Dorfsman, Hank Seiden and Tony Isidore. It was a perfect fit. Nina sold the first campaign she presented and was included in creative strategy and development ever since.

 

Nina is self taught in retouching and incorporates her skills from realism drawing and oil painting, anatomy and knowledge of photography and lighting. She is now able to use all of her skills together to promote, design, photograph and retouch with a specialty in dance.