Creative Support for Organizations-Round 1

Matt Connolly: Matt Connolly is an assistant professor of film studies in the department of English at Minnesota State University, Mankato. He received his MA and PhD in communication arts with a focus in film studies from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. His scholarly work on LGBTQ cinematic history has been published in Cinema Journal and Spectator. Connolly writes film criticism, which has most recently been published in Film Comment and Reverse Shot, the publication for the Museum of the Moving Image. He is a former programmer for the Wisconsin Film Festival and has been a judge for the Speechless Film Festival.; Christina Cotruvo: Living on the shore of Lake Superior inspires Cotruvo's music. Her arrangements and recordings include celtic, new age, folk, ethnic, and therapeutic harp music. She helps those with challenges through her Harp-Abilities program and provides music at medical facilities and residences as a certified case manager. She has been a music coach to those with visual disabilities as founder and publisher of No-C-Notes audio music score publishing. She has a thirty year career as a nonprofit accountant, grant writer, and software consultant.; Amy Cousin: Amy Cousin is a jewelry artist whose work revives surplus or discarded items and recycled precious metals, juxtaposed with gemstones associated with healing properties. Before focusing on wearable art, Cousin owned and operated a brick and mortar book, gift, and art boutique in both Minnesota and South Carolina. Previously, she served as a senior community health worker for the Hennepin County Healthcare for the Homeless Project. Cousin also was a consultant to the Women's Bureau of The United States Department of Labor during the development of the Work and Family Clearinghouse. Cousin has a BA from Tulane University in communication.; Marisa Gaetgaeow: A native of Bangkok, Thailand, Lily Gaetgaeow recently graduated from the University of Iowa with a master of arts in musicology. Her academic interests centered on authenticity and identity, especially as they intersect with folk music revivals. Gaetgaeow was a writing tutor at Knox College and continued to help students as a graduate teaching assistant at the University of Iowa. As events and room scheduling assistant for the UI School of Music, Gaetgaeow deftly managed logistics while encouraging student musicians. Her experiences inspired her to seek opportunities outside of academia to advocate for the arts, which led her to Minneapolis.; Sean James: James is the owner of gifted compositions, LLC, a small yet powerful design company, that he created to help small businesses get access to best in class designs. He also operates dotado?? apparel, a clothing company, that designs fun and socially conscious apparel. James currently is the digital content specialist and UX specialist at Nature's Way. He graduated from the University of St. Thomas with a BA in journalism and currently serves on its student advisory board.; Sophia Kim: Sophia Epony Kim is an actor and writer. She is the recipient of a Hertog Fellowship and multiple Arts Board Artist Initiative grants. A founding member of Theater Mu, she has acted in theater and television in the United States and Korea. She obtained a bachelor of arts in English from Macalester College and attended the MFA Creative Writing Program at Hunter College (CUNY) for a year. She is currently working on her first novel about Koreans in the diaspora.; Walter Olsen: W. Scott Olsen is the author of twelve books of narrative nonfiction. For 23 years he was the editor of the literary magazine Ascent. His work appears in many literary and commercial publications such as Kenyon Review and Pilot. He is also an award winning photographer, book critic, and journalist, with work appearing in places such as the Minneapolis Star Tribune, The Forum, LensCulture, and Frames. He teaches at Concordia College in Moorhead; Martha Weitekamp: Weitekamp works as the rigger and boathouse manager for the women's rowing team at the University of Minnesota. Previously, she worked at Urban Boatbuilders teaching wooden boatbuilding. Weitekamp received funding from the Arts Board in 2019. She graduated from Colorado College (Colorado Springs, CO) with a degree in geology and has volunteered for multiple nonprofit arts organizations in the Twin Cities.