Creative Support for Organizations-Round 2

Amy Barr-Saxena: Barr-Saxena is a volunteer with the Land Stewardship Project. Barr-Saxena previously worked at the Hispanic Health Council in Hartford and held volunteer positions at Family Life Education, the Health Advisory Committee, and First Steps. She graduated with a BA in international relations from the University of Minnesota and a MPH from the University of Connecticut.; Dhana Branton: Branton is an award winning playwright and essayist. Her plays have been produced in Chicago and New York. The author of eight plays and two screenplays, Howl and The Original Girls, she has received fellowships from the Arts Council of Illinois and the Minnesota State Arts Board. Branton has been a fellow at the National Playwrights Conference at the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center and attended artistic residences at Vermont Studio Center and Bread Loaf. Her plays have received staged readings at New York's Ensemble Studio Theatre and Hartford Stage. She works as a freelance writing instructor in the Twin Cities and earned her MFA in creative nonfiction from the University of Minnesota. She has taught at the Loft Literary Center and is the artistic director of Brainboat Literary and Film. Minors of the Universe, the first book in a YA trilogy will be released this year, and Brainboat's first cable pilot, Postal, was chosen for the final round of the Sundance Institute's 2016 Episodic Storytelling Lab. Her essay, Planet Rock, is published in the literary anthology Growing Up Chicago released in May, 2022 by Northwestern University Press. An essay collection, Things for Peggy Miller: Reflections on Family, Work and Class, will be self-published later this year.; Ernest Gillman: Gillman is an artist focused on graphite pencil and black and white photography to document Americana with a timeless nostalgic quality. He began architectural drafting, then continued his education at the University of Minnesota, focusing on black and white photography. Gillman worked with Brodin Studios to learn three-dimensional shaping in the ancient method of "lost wax? bronze casting. He works to capture intimate memories of family and strength. He has also collaborated with Anishinaabe story tellers to illustrate their poems and stories and capture the spirituality passed down in their oral traditions. In addition to his art, he has fostered many high-risk, abused, and intellectually disabled children. His current professional goal is to renew his focus in the arts, expand in new media, and collaborate with underrepresented groups to help them express their cultures through art.; Kendall Hames: Hames has served as a previous grant application reviewer for the Minnesota State Arts Board. She is a staff attorney at the Minnesota Justice Foundation. She graduated from Boston College with a BA in English and in Hispanic studies and earned a JD from the University of St. Thomas School of Law. She has also volunteered with the Volunteer Lawyers Network.; Theresa McConnon: McConnon is currently retired from her job as a Social Worker for the last 36 years with Ramsey County Human Services. She worked with vulnerable adults and often referred her clients to local arts organizations who were interested in developing their artistic skills. She has a B.A. degree from the University of St. Thomas in Saint Paul, MN. She has over 2 decades of experience as a performing artist with local metro area theaters including LakeShore Players, Ashland Productions, Locally Grown Theatre and the MN Opera, to name a few. McConnon continues to participate int the arts by performing in commercials, videos, along with short and feature length films. McConnon has experience working with the Arts Board as a grant reviewer. She was also a grant reviewer for the Metropolitan Regional Arts Board in the last year.; Noboru Nikaido: Nikaido is a Japanese photographer and musician. Nikaido teaches the community a photo workshop at a Japanese restaurant; students learn its history, technology, and how to approach the media. Recently, he received two grants: Creative Support for Individuals, Minnesota State Arts Board; and Arts Impact for Individuals, Metropolitan Regional Arts Council. Currently, he works in design department at Walker Art Center. He got a BFA degree from University of Minnesota, a post-baccalaureate from Minneapolis College of Art and Design, and attended the MFA program at the School of Visual Arts (New York, NY).; Ronald Salazar: Salazar was born and raised in Costa Rica and for the last 29 years has called Minnesota home. For the past fourteen years, he has dedicated himself to working with underrepresented communities with a significant percentage of Latino/Hispanic families. His current position is the principal of the Birch Grove Elementary School for the Arts in the Osseo School District. Previously, Salazar worked for the Minnesota Transitions Charter School and the Folwell Elementary School for the Performing Arts. Among his many achievements, Salazar is a Bush Leadership Fellow, an undergraduate Fulbright CAMPUS scholarship recipient, and a recipient of the Japan-USA Fulbright Commission three-week educational trip to Japan.