The Art of Advocacy: Sara Nordstrand Bricker ’14 Brings Legal and Arts Expertise Back to Campus
September 10, 2026
- Author
- Caroline Roy ’20
As a media and entertainment lawyer with WME Group in New York City, Sara Nordstrand Bricker ’14 works with all kinds of creators and artists.
Arts litigation gives her a professional outlet to continue advocating for creatives, something she’s done since her time as a Davidson College student.
On campus, she created arts programming as an intern with Davidson Arts and Creative Engagement (DACE), curated pieces for the Van Every/Smith Galleries and even wrote her English honors thesis on visual art. Now, she’s excited to serve DACE once again, this time as a new member of the advisory board.
“I always try to allocate my time and resources to the arts,” she said. “DACE has come so far in encouraging student-driven art and creativity. It’s the area of Davidson I’m most excited to watch evolve.”
Bricker came to Davidson from Omaha, Nebraska, certain she wanted to study literature. When Professor Emeritus Larry Ligo’s Survey of Western Art course opened her eyes to the many intersections of art and history, she knew Davidson was a place where she could learn more without changing her plans.
As a gallery intern, she helped curate pieces for the college’s permanent collection and worked with Former Director and Curator of the Van Every/Smith Galleries Brad Thomas to edit and publish Davidson Collects: 100 Writers Respond to Art, a hardbound, 275-page compilation of student essays on pieces displayed in the gallery.
Through her DACE fellowship, she helped Director Sherry Nelson create inclusive arts programming that supported both academic arts departments and students looking for an independent outlet.
“Coming back to DACE as an alum, I am most excited to learn what current students think about the arts at Davidson,” Bricker said. “The DACE Studio is such an important new space for encouraging all kinds of student creativity. I can’t wait to see what else DACE and the students envision for the future.”
Art and the NYC Alumni Network
The summer before her senior year, Bricker took a trip to New York City to meet with nearly a dozen alums working in different fields. She knew an up-close look at their work lives would help her decide what direction to take after graduation.
One of those alums was Elena Paul ’85, who at the time worked as the head of the legal department at the Alvin Ailey Dance Foundation. The way she described her legal work feeding her passion for art resonated with Bricker, but Paul advised her to build a foundation of basic legal skills before deciding to specialize. Bricker listened.
After Davidson, she moved to New York City for law school, discovered a love for litigation and accepted a position as a paralegal at a large firm. Since their early years as young alums, she and her husband, fellow Wildcat Noah Bricker ’14, have maintained relationships with the NYC alumni network and never pass up opportunities to help Davidson students connect to the arts.
Sara and Noah married in New York City in 2020. They were engaged at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, one of the couple’s favorite places in the city.
She joined Ligo’s student groups at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in Manhattan each year for a tour of the pieces they’d been studying in class. She attended a Davidson event when Yinka Shonibare's Wind Sculpture, now displayed in front of the E. Craig Wall Jr. Academic Center, debuted in the city. Last Spring, she shared advice with Nelson’s students on the Arts Career Trek, including current DACE fellow Tahir Henry ’27, who plans to pursue a career in arts litigation after he graduates.
When a position opened at WME Group, a leading talent agency representing all kinds of artists, Bricker viewed it as the perfect merging of her legal experience and passion for the arts.
“My job pushes me to think creatively about all the types of art clients create, especially in the digital space,” she said. “We represent content creators, digital artists and new forms of expression all the time. I’m grateful that my work as a lawyer gives me the opportunity to continually learn about the protection of creative works and the evolving legal issues affecting media and entertainment.”
Working in the arts sector again, Bricker knew she wanted to bring her expertise back to the people and programs who encouraged her to engage with art as a student. By joining the DACE Advisory Board, she gets to help shape the future of creativity at Davidson.
“I want to continue to emphasize accessibility,” she said. “To encourage students like me, who may not be traditionally involved in the arts, to learn from their peers, get inspired and see where it takes them.”
