Creative Support for Individuals-Round 1

Iyabo Angela Ajayi: Angela Ajayi's first story, "Galina"? published in Fifth Wednesday Journal, won the 2017 PEN/Robert J. Dau Short Story Prize for Emerging Writers. Her essays, book reviews, and author interviews have appeared in The Common Online, Wild River Review, and the Minneapolis Star Tribune where she is a contributing critic. She holds a BA in English literature from Calvin College and an MA in comparative literature from Columbia University. In her fiction, she often seeks to explore the intersection of race, gender and class in cross-cultural spaces. She is working on her first collection of stories.; Carolyn Borgen: Borgen is the marketing and bookings manager at State Street Theater Company, where she has helped the theater grow from a small organization putting on four shows a year to a theater offering year around events. Borgen previously worked as executive director for Mankato Area Youth Symphony Orchestra, helping the organization grow from two groups and thirty students to five groups with ninety students. She graduated from Saint Mary's University of Minnesota in Winona with an BA in electronic publishing and Saint Mary's University in Minneapolis with a MA in art administration. Borgen also teaches string bass with the New Ulm Suzuki School of Music.; Kordula Coleman: Kordula is a German native who immigrated to the U. S. in 2000. Originally an art director, she started working in figurative clay sculpture after coming to Minnesota. She is a regular participant of the Northeast Art-A-Whirl and her work has been shown at many local venues including Artistry and the Minnetonka Center for the Arts. A photograph of one of her pieces is included in the picture frieze permanently installed at the Northeast Library. Another piece of public art by Kordula can be seen at the taproom of the local Hispanic owned brewery "La Dona Cerveceria," a lifesized Catrina sculpture.; Mary Knox-Johnson: Knox-Johnson is the president of Gallery North Art Gallery, an artist's cooperative in Bemidji, as well as serving on the board of Bemidji Community Theater. She has an MA from North Dakota State University (Fargo, ND). Knox-Johnson was a high school English and theater teacher for over 30 years and taught speech and theater at Bemidji State University for five years. She has directed over 100 theater productions, as well as designing costumes and scenery. She is a children's author and writer, having completed three children's books: Thoughts from Pudge, its sequel Thoughts from Pudge II, and Alphabet Jambalaya. She is also an artist and weaver.; Boris Oicherman: Oicherman, a scientist, artist, and museum curator, is primarily interested in extremely location and context specific collaborative art practices. As the Cindy and Jay Ihlenfeld curator for creative collaboration at the Weisman Art Museum of the University of Minnesota, Oicherman is establishing a new program of artistic engagement with research across disciplines and practices, exploring the potential of artists to become drivers of radically diverse knowledge in the academy. He is the recipient of the Asia Pacific Fellowship of the National Museum of Contemporary Art in Seoul (2012), the Artist in Residence fellowship at the Faculty of Life Sciences in The Hebrew University in Jerusalem (2013-2014), and the Curatorial Research Fellowship of the Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts (2018).; Cuong Phan: Also known as Simon-Hoa Phan, Cuong Phan is a filmmaker and has been associate professor of visual arts at Saint John's University and The College of Saint Benedict since 2003. He is a Benedictine monk of Saint John's Abbey. With his documentary and experimental films, Phan hopes to promote understanding and appreciation of the Vietnamese people, culture, and history, and to inspire young people of Vietnamese heritage to do the same with their talents and abilities. He has an MFA in film and video from the California Institute of the Arts, and a BFA in painting from Maryland Institute, College of Art. He was a recipient of Arts Board Artists Initiative grants in 2006 and 2015.; Karen Quiroz: Quiroz, a professional vocalist, is working to develop a thriving Brazilian music community in the Twin Cities. In addition to playing with local Brazilian band Batucada do Norte, she established her own band, Samba Meu, in 2010. A recipient of three Arts Board Artist Initiative grants and a Metropolitan Regional Arts Council Next Step award, she provides learning and performance opportunities for professional musicians and community artists with an interest in Brazilian roots music and dance. She is a professional grant writer with decades of experience in program development, evaluation, and fundraising in the fields of global food policy, youth development, alternative criminal justice, and the arts.; Christopher Rackley: Chris Rackley is a visual artist based in Rochester. His work has been exhibited nationally and internationally. In 2018 he was awarded an Art(ists) On the Verge Fellowship and an Artist Initiative grant from the Arts Board. He served on the board of directors and the artist advisory board for the Rochester Art Center. Rackley earned an MFA in painting from George Mason University in 2012 and a BA in studio art from Davidson College in 2000. Rackley taught drawing and 3-D design as an adjunct professor at Winona State University and George Mason University.